How to make a vintage style necklace

Trawling through my bead collection the other day I found a selection of old earrings looking tired and dated. So I decided to make myself one of those wonderful, long necklaces that I keep seeing in the shops, but never get round to buying. Why do I always see something and believe that I can make it better myself? Ho hum, many many projects...so little time.

So this is how I made said necklace with a small length of grey chain, some 0.6mm grey coloured copper wire and the beads.

The tools I'll be using are some round nosed pliers, flat nosed pliers and a little file.

This necklace will be a combination of beads on straight wire with chain inbetween. First you need to cut a length of wire with enough room for maybe 3 beads and coils on each end. I find that a thumb width is enough for each coil.

Clamp the very end of the wire in the round nosed pliers and using your thumb, roll it into a loop. 

Keep rolling the loop until you have almost 3 layers. I stop there as I find that any thicker coils don't fit inside the chain links. 

TIP: Don't forget to place whatever you are attaching this loop to inside the coil before you complete the first circle. Don't worry, this can be fiddly, but managed with a bit of patience.

Finally here comes the fun bit. Start adding on bead in whatever order takes your fancy. This one was a bit vintage so I didn't need to worry about making it completely symetrical. Just enough to provide balance.

Each straight bead section was quite small to stop it from being too rigid. This also saves on chain, which can be more expensive than wire. I also made sure that the necklace was long enough to slip over my head so that I didn't have to worry about a clasp.

I hope i've inspired you to upcycle some of your old, unwanted jewellery. I think it looks just as good as the ones on the high street.

Let me know what you think!

My earrings are in a gallery!

Hi everyone, sorry I've been quiet for a while, but I was asked if I wanted to put some of my jewellery into the Hayloft Gallery in Christchurch and I discovered that I needed to do a serious amount of crafting to create a decent display.

So, 25 pairs of earrings and a necklace later, I have a display to be proud of. I learnt a few new techniques for making jewellery along the way which I'll share over the next few weeks. In the meantime, if you're in the area of Christchurch, Dorset, please feel free to drop in and have a look. The display is there all week alongside some of my Mum's paintings and other arts and crafts.

How to make dangle jangle earrings

Making your own earrings is a really great way to express your inner style. If you’re anything like me, having the courage to be your most elaborate self can be tricky. This is why I like to indulge in alternative jewellery and especially earrings as they are so easy (and cheap) to make.

The earrings that I’m going to show you how to make in this blog are super easy, super cheap and satisfyingly creative.

Stuff you’ll need:

•                    Wire cutters

•                    Round nose pliers

•                    Earring findings

•                    Wire pins

•                    A selection of small beads (1mm,2mm or 3mm is fine)

•                    Metal file

I’ve chosen a selection of acrylic beads in lemon and lime colours. They’re not fancy, but when you put them together they look really pretty. Feel free to use any colours that you like; I prefer use beads that have the same tone and texture, but whatever floats your boat is fine.

Step 1:

First things first, you’ll need three wire pins to put your beads on. Play with different combinations until you get a set that appeals to you and then make a matching pair. I’ve made three pairs with between three and five beads on each so that they hang more evenly next to each other.

Step 2:

Each pin now needs to be cut to the same length so that it hangs to the same point. Don’t worry if you have lots of the wire pin still showing, just make sure that you have at least 1cm of space at the top to make the loop. You might find that the ends of the pins are a bit rough, so use the metal file to smooth the end (I tend to steal Mr’s hobby file for this).

Step 3:

Now we need to make a loop at the end of each pin to attach to the earring finding. To do this you need to grip the end of the wire pin with the round ended pliers, almost at the tip and then roll the pin down your thumb, creating a loop. Gently roll the base of the loop backwards until the loop is central to the pin. And finally softly squeeze the loop closed.

Step 4:

The final step is to place each pin onto the earring finding. Before you close the loop on the finding, lift your earring up to check that you are happy with how the pins are hanging. You can always re-order the pins to change the look; just make sure that both pairs match.

So there you have it; a new pair of completely unique baubles for your ears. Have fun playing around with different combinations and let me know what you think of these.

My First Experiments with Air Dry Clay

Since I was a little girl I’ve loved making my own jewellery (off and on in-between life, puppies and work), so why has it taken so long to decide to make my own beads? Well the time has come and I’m starting with cold porcelain clay. This is an air dry clay which I’m told is great for creating delicate and small pieces. There are loads of people who make their own clay and I’ll probably have a go, but I wanted to start with some commercial stuff first whilst I get my hand in.

So off I pop to the craft store to pick up some cheap DAS air dry clay and after a bit of internet research on tips and tricks, I break off a chunk and off I go with some simple (?) round beads.

I never realised how hard making a sphere was! Plus I’m not sure if I’m meant to knead it more first, but it took a while to remove the fold lines in the clay.

Anyway, a bit of playing later and I’ve made a few round (rustic) beads, a couple of pear drop shapes and some decorative flats. 

I found an old button and pushed this into one of the flats to see what would come out. Not convinced, but maybe a bit of paint would help, so I left it to dry in a safe place away from cats, dogs and Mr clumsy.

Four days later I finally get around to checking on the beads and I’m a bit surprised to find that they haven't hardened, which is probably a good thing as I left them on the wires I used to make the holes. This clay shrinks as it dries so it might have gotten stuck had it actually dried!

Next week, let’s see how I get on painting these. Hopefully they will be dry by then.