Browsing Category

DIY Jewelry Projects

Twelve Days of Christmas Jewelry Designs: 3 – Lampwork Glass Bead Zipper Pulls

November 15, 2011
candy-glass-zipper-pulls

Candy bead zipper pulls make a great gift for someone sweet!

Quick, cute and affordable gift idea: zipper pulls! Zipper pulls are actually quite functional when you’re wearing gloves or mittens – why not make them pretty, too? Here are the three things you must do to make beady coat decorations strong enough to withstand a blustery winter.

split ring pliers

That hooked jaw will save your manicure.

  1. Use beads that are large enough to grasp when you’re gloved up. If the bead holes are large, like on many of the holiday lampwork glass beads I used, add small beads on both ends. (Small Czech glass flower beads make convincing cellophane wrappers on silver-foil glass bead candy.)
  2. String beads on a headpin and make a wrapped loop. A basic loop won’t cut it here.
  3. Use split rings instead of jump rings to attach your baubles to a swivel clip or clasp.
split ring pliers

Pliers make this so much easier!

You’ve heard the song “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy”? Well, save your nails – use split ring pliers! Just insert the hooked jaw into the split ring and squeeze. Now slide both the swivel clip and beaded pin onto the ring.

peppermint candy zipper

Mint candy freshens up any outfit.

Well done. You’ve just learned how to make great gifts for under $1 each! ~ Cindy

Twelve Days of Christmas Jewelry Designs: 1 – Swarovski Crystal Tree Earrings

November 11, 2011

Hi bloglandia! The holidays are sneaking up on us like stealthy ninjas. Whether you have been making jewelry for years or would like to make your very first pair of earrings, these super sparkly crystal Christmas tree earrings are a fast and fun way to whip up some holiday spirit. Over the rest of November, I’m going to share twelve holiday jewelry designs, most of which are simple and sweet. All of them make great DIY gifts or highly sellable products for your next craft show. Today’s detailed instructions for how to make beaded earrings should make it possible for you to make a variety of jewelry designs – the more you practice making wrapped loops on head pins, the easier it gets!

Supplies for one pair of Crystal Christmas Tree Earrings

crystal-tree-earring-parts

Earring parts – you’ll also need a set of the basic jewelry pliers.

  • One pair of ear wires (I’m using sterling silver filled – less expensive than sterling, but the same look and quality for people who can’t wear base metal. Learn more.)
  • Two 2″ head pins (since the pin won’t touch the wearer, I think it is ok to use silver-plated pins if you like, instead of sterling silver. 1.5″ head pins will work too, but longer pins are easier for beginners to wrap.)
  • Three to five graduated sizes SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS crystal margaritas in one color (I used Crystal Vitrail Medium in 8mm, 10mm, 12mm and 14mm)
  • Two 4mm crystal cube beads
  • Two 3mm crystal bicones (I used Fuchsia)

Step by Step Photo Instructions for Making Crystal Tree Earrings

stack-a-bead-tree

Stack the crystals on a head pin.

grip with round nose pliers

Grip the pin with round nose pliers.

Bend wire away from you.

rotate pliers

Turn just your wrist to rotate the pliers a quarter turn away from your body, like so.

bend-wire-fwd

Pull the wire back towards your body, looping it over the top jaw of the pliers.

wire-facing-you

Now the wire is pointing back towards you.

rotate-pliers-again

Rotate your wrist towards you again to move the pliers into this position.

close the loop

Now there is room to close the loop (push the wire away from you).

grip the loop

After you’ve closed the loop, switch to chain nose pliers to grip the loop.

wrap wire tail

Grip the tail with flat nose pliers and wrap it around the wire.

wrapped wire loop

Stop wrapping when you reach the crystal.

Trim the excess wire.

Trim the excess wire.

tuck the wire tail

Squeeze gently with chain nose pliers to tuck the wire tail in tight with the wrap.

attach ear wire

Open the ear wire just like you’d open a jump ring. Add the crystal tree and close the ear wire.

complete crystal tree earring

Ta da! One sparkly tree earring. Now repeat all the steps to make its mate!

Green and red make the classic color combo, but there are plenty of other options. Foiled crystal margaritas look like icy trees, especially when paired with blue trunks and stars. Fern Green is an even “greener” green than Emerald, while the Crystal Vitrail Medium I used are mostly green with all kinds of reflected colors. I paired it with pink for a slightly less traditional look. I like to use the “Browse by Crystal Color” page on Rings & Things website to pick crystal color combos. Here are a few other crystal Christmas trees made with SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS:

crystal tree options

More sizes and colors of Christmas tree earrings – the smooth one is made with a Fern Green Artemis bead instead of margarita crystals.

Now that you know how to make these crystal tree charms, you can attach them to anything: use them as pendants, zipper pulls, cell phone charms, tree ornaments or wine glass markers if you like! ~ Cindy

How to make a knotted pearl necklace

November 4, 2011

knotted-crystal-pearl-necklace
Tradition. While often we just mindlessly follow it, sometimes it is nice to understand the reasons why. For example, pearl necklaces are traditionally knotted on silk cord. Why is this?

  1. If the strand breaks, the pearls don’t go flying every which way.
  2. The knots provide space and cushion, which prevents the pearl’s delicate nacre coating from getting damaged.
  3. It just looks good!

Ok, so #3 isn’t an official reason, but it must be as true as the first two. People have been making pearl necklaces for hundreds of years, so I’m sure someone would have figured out a different method if this one wasn’t attractive. But knotted necklaces are attractive. What I only recently came to understand is how attractive they are to make. Knotting seems like a lot of work. Thread and I often do not get along, but I am a huge knotting fan now due to one simple tool:

cord knotting toolThe knotter. The cord knotter is described as “an awl and tweezers in one handy tool.” I initially found this marketing claim to be discouraging, as anything involving tweezers sounds extremely tedious. But the knotter tool really does make a process that might otherwise require extra hands, several tools and loads of patience into something anyone can do. Watch this little video and you’ll see what I mean.

How to pick the right thread or cord for your necklace:

Conventional wisdom says silk cord is for pearls, while gemstone, crystal and other beads should be strung on nylon cord. The reason given is that sharp bead holes may damage the silk. However, one of the features of SWAROVSKI ELEMENTS redesigned 5328 crystal bicone beads is a smoother bead hole, which makes it less likely to damage the thread. As long as the cord isn’t jammed into the hole too tightly, and the beads aren’t too heavy, I’ve had good results with a variety of beads on silk cord. I prefer using the silk cord that comes with a needle end – it makes stringing so much faster!

Freshwater pearls come in beautiful colors and have interesting variations in shape, but if you are looking for classic round pearls at an affordable price, crystal pearls are your best bet. They have consistent hole sizes and are much more durable than natural pearls (ie, a misplaced spritz of perfume or hairspray won’t ruin their finish). When you buy SWAROVSKI crystal pearls from Rings & Things, the pearls are already strung on a long, color-coordinated cord, which means you can completely eliminate the stringing step! Larger crystal pearls have larger holes, so sometimes the cord is doubled. I used 8mm pearls for this necklace, and found it wasn’t any harder to knot doubled cord.

How to add a clasp to a knotted necklace:

Most pearl necklace tutorials require that you ream (enlarge) the holes on the pearls closest to the clasp. This is so you can add French wire (bullion) over the cord end before tucking it back through a few beads and doubling a few knots. I chose to finish my necklace with bead tips instead. Bead tips are little clam-shell shaped findings that allow you to connect the thread to metal findings.

bead tip on silk cord necklaceThe best kind of bead tips are the “secure” type: adding a jump ring through the loops effectively seals the tip shut and allows you to attach a clasp or extender chain.

how to use a bead tip to finish a necklaceTying a seed bead inside the bead tip is the best method for ensuring that tip doesn’t slide off the end of the cord.

Amy, another of our designers, makes a lot of knotted necklaces. She likes to use French wire to finish the ends, but simply knots the end, secures it with a dab of Super Glue or Bead Fix, and hides the knot under a crimp cover. Her method avoids the reaming too!

More knotted necklace options:

  • Make it “endless” (long enough to fit over your head, or even long enough to wrap several times) – this way you don’t even need a clasp!

  • Instead of knotting the pearls or beads right next to each other, use gaps of cord as a design element. To make even spaces, wrap the cord around a piece of cardboard or other fairly sturdy material that you’ve cut notches into. (I recycled a plastic gift card). [2019 Editor’s Note: Beadalon now makes a “Tin Cup” knotter tool that you can adjust for evenly spaced knots, too! And yes, Wyatt has a great video for it, too.]

Thank you for putting up with the Oz-like transitions from color to black and white to color again in my photos – the light here has been gloomy and strange, making it hard to get good photographs! But when the weather is gray, it is a great time to play with a new jewelry tool like the knotter! 🙂 ~ Cindy

Copper Washers: A beautiful addition to your Jewelry Designs

October 31, 2011

Earrings made with copper washers and copper wire

Copper washers may seem overly industrial for jewelry, but with a little manipulation, they work great. Ever since we started carrying them a couple of weeks ago, I have been experimenting and the results have been fabulous! And I have only scratched the surfaced. These washers would be great linked as bracelets, soldered together for fabulous bib necklaces or dapped into pretty dome shapes!

Everything you need to create hammered copper links: Washers, steel block, and hammers. Oh and some copper wire can add a nice touch!

I chose to distress the washers using a steel block and multiple hammers. Then I used a little liver of sulfur to blacken the washers and some steel wool to buff them up. The result is the antiqued hammered links that can be used anywhere you would use any other link.

Cool lines created by a texturizing hammer!

Hammered look created using a ball pein or chasing hammer

Look at all the pretty washers! The assortment pack is great because there are several sizes.

In the center are the earrings seen above before being antiqued!

A little liver of sulfur will easily blacken your washers since they are solid copper. These are all the same washers as above!

Earrings made with copper washers and cubic zirconia briolettes! I love the new cubic zirconia briolettes that we are carrying!

Hammered copper washers with a little chain 🙂

Two sizes of hammered washers, slightly sanded to show off the deep hammering

Well I hope you have enjoyed my washer blog! Please feel free to ask me any questions about the washers, tools or beads that I used. :0

~~Tiffany

Suggested supplies for the designs in this blog:

Solid copper jump rings are nice, because it’s great to say that nothing in your design is plated. But they are only available in a few sizes, so I love to have the assorted copper jump ring mix on hand too, because then I always have the right size.

Three Great Ways to Incorporate Swirls into your Jewelry

October 12, 2011

Swirly Curly Jewelry!

For as long as I can remember I have loved making swirly curly-Q designs. In middle school, my favorite pee-chee folders were covered in them. Well I’ve grown out of my doodling habits, mostly, but I still love those swirls! Unwilling to give up on swirls altogether I have found three great ways to incorporate them into your jewelry with the help of a little wire. Adding a simple curly-Q can take any design idea from ordinary to whimsical! You can make your swirls free form using pliers or try this great Spiral Maker to eliminate marks from pliers! (Editor’s note: We now have THREE spiral makers plus a variety of coiling Gizmos!)

All of these projects can be made using your basic tools and 18, 20 or 22 gauge wire. The tools here are a from a fabulous mini tool set that I keep at my desk. The set is only $12 and includes these three tools plus tweezers and a mini bead board!

1. Swirly Head Pins

The first and easiest way to add some swirl power to your jewelry is to make curly-ended headpins. Making your own headpins out of wire is easy and gives your jewelry an even more hand-crafted look. I recommend using either 18, 20 or 22 gauge wire. (18 being the thickest, 22 being the thinnest) Keep in mind the size of beads you plan to use. If your beads have smaller holes, you will need thinner wire.

Use your Round Nose Pliers to Start the Loop

Use your chain nose pliers to create the swirl

Make a right angle with your chain nose pliers so that your head pins have nice perpendicular look at the end.

Completed head pins ready for use!

Finished jewelry made using swirly head pins. Both earrings have been antiqued to emphasize the swirl design.

2. Swirly Post Earrings

Making your own swirly post earring findings is actually quite simple. I personally like to use 18 gauge for sturdiness, though standard earring wires are not usually that thick. Most earring findings are no thicker than a 20 gauge. It’s up to you, though know if you do use 18 gauge, you will probably have to use a rubber earring back as most metal nuts won’t fit that thick of wire.

Use a piece of wire about 2 inches long. Make a 90 degree bend in the wire at about 3/4 inch

Make a loop where you bent the wire.

Using your chain nose pliers, build the swirl like you did with the head pins.

You can see the earring being formed. The post that goes into your ear is coming from the center of the loop.

Make a loop to complete your Swirly Earring Post. Also, make sure the ends of the post are smooth. You can do this with either a metal file or a cup bur.

To finish, I used Liver of Sulfur to give the earring wires a patina, then buffed them with steel wool. To prevent your ears from turning green, seal the post with a little Renaissance Wax or clear nail polish.

Two completed earring designs using Swirly Earring Post!

3. Egyptian Coils!

Now that you have mastered head pins and earring post, you can move onto the ultimate swirly design, the coveted Egyptian Coil! This design feature multiple swirls and looks so pretty at the top of dangly earrings or as an entire bracelet.

Start by making two-sided swirls. Make sure that they are all the same size.

Bend the wire in the center using your round nose pliers.

Use your chain nose pliers to flatten links like so. Don’t be alarmed, it is supposed to look kind of phallic at this point.

Use your round nose pliers to bend the loop back. You now have links!

Connect links to make a chain

View of links from the back

Finished Earrings using Egyptian Coils

Well I hope you enjoyed my swirly blog post and are now inspired to try out some of these ideas. For all of these earrings I used bare copper wire and then oxidized the wire with Liver of Sulfur to antique it. I then buffed the designs with steel wool to expose the bright copper. I highly recommend doing this with your swirl designs because is really makes those curly-Q’s stand out.

~~Tiffany in the Showroom

Feel free to ask me any questions about how I did anything or what materials I used for all the designs.

Upcycle cans and tins into jewelry!

October 7, 2011

Metal shears, a metal tin and the completed metal pin!

We all know recycling is a good thing, but upcycling is even better! Aluminum and tin cans can easily be turned into jewelry, but there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

  1. Metal edges can be wicked sharp. Make clean cuts and file off any jagged points. Quality jewelry metal shears make this much easier! Most tin snips and other shears from hardware stores are difficult to grip.
  2. Aluminum cans and most tins are too thin to be durable enough for jewelry by themselves. We suggest layering the metal you cut from recycled items. Three ways of doing this are riveting, gluing and/or coating the metal pieces.

Here are a few examples of how to turn packaging into lovely adornments:

pollys-tin-pins

Polly’s tin pins and pendants

Polly sandwiched her recycled metal elements between brass fairy doors, disks and gears. She riveted the pieces together using Crafted Findings’ riveting tool. Learn more about the riveting tool system here.

soda pop can necklace

The holes are lined with large eyelets from a scrapbooking supplier.

For this Soda Pop necklace, we cut disks out of cans and then glued them to brass disks to make them thicker. A circle template (commonly found in Art Supply stores and sometimes Craft Store) makes this task easier. Get more info in our design gallery.

soda can bobby pins

Layers of flowers punched from soda cans form these fun bobby pins.

Instructions for how Toni coated these pins with liquid polymer clay to make them safe to wear are in our design gallery.

Start looking at soda cans and other product packaging in a different way! I for one always check the bottle cap design when deciding on a beverage.

How I wish every city had an Upcycle Exchange Market (yikes! Link removed in 2019 … that link goes to something COMPLETELY different and unsavory now). It is a brilliant idea for reusing and redistributing crafty supplies and recyclables! Until then, ask your friends and family to help collect interesting materials for you. You might just upcycle something wonderful!

How to do a Herringbone Wire Wrap

September 30, 2011
Earrings made using a Herringbone Wire-wrapping Technique

Earrings made using a Herringbone Wire-wrapping Technique

Wire-wrapping has become my newest jewelry making addiction! I am always browsing the internet and looking for new inspiration and techniques that I have yet to master. My latest accomplishment was learning how to create the oh so complicated looking herring bone wrap. I have admired this style of wire wrapping for years but was always too intimidated to attempt it. A couple of weeks ago, I decided it was time to learn it. And guess what? It was really pretty easy! Now I will pass my knowledge on to you, fellow bloggers and bead addicts, so you too can feel that sweet satisfaction that comes from creating something new and beautiful! (not to mention the compliments you are sure to receive by your coworkers!)
Continue Reading…

A quick guide to beading needles

August 23, 2011

Hello, bloglandia! Today I finally decided to finish the ends of a flat braid I made with a square Kumihimo disk. I recently blogged how to finish the ends of round Kumihimo braids (versions of which can be made with either the square or the round disk). What stalled me on finishing my flat braid was lack of a needle.

It just takes a few quick stitches to secure the braid before you cut off the knot and add a cord end. Make sure to use thread that matches your project so you don’t notice the stitches.

Since the flat braid is well, flat, you need stitch through the braid to keep it from unraveling. Sadly, needles and I don’t get along too well. It is never the poor needle’s fault. It is my fault for not choosing the right needle. When you treat all needles the same, instead of appreciating their unique qualities and character quirks, you can quickly run into frustration.

So today when Amy loaned me a needle, warning me it was a size 15, I said, “oh, that’s fine!” even though I had no idea what she meant. After several frustrating minutes trying to thread the darn thing, I learned. Size 15 is tiny. Check out this great bead needle and thread size chart from New Native Nation. You gotta love Spudmama!

While I’d long suspected that beading needles must be different than regular sewing needles, now I know why. As Spudmama explains, beading needles don’t “bulge” around the eye – this is what allows them to pass through seed beads multiple times for bead stitching and bead weaving projects. The smaller the number, the bigger the needle. (ex. size 10 needles are larger than size 15). Plus, “sharps” are stiffer than standard beading needles. Therefore, the smaller the project, the tinier and flex-ier the needle should be.

So, if you need a needle for something other than seed beading (like finishing a flat braid or making a wrapped leather bracelet) I recommend using size 12 sharp beading needles since they are (relatively) large and sturdy.

I used “choker clamps” designed for flat ribbon, such as velvet and organza, to finish the ends of my braid. There are teeth inside the clamp, so once you flatten the clamp firmly with pliers, it won’t slide off.

If you are brave enough to make tiny seed bead jewelry, refer to Spudmama’s chart and stock up on aspirin and magnifying glasses! Oh, and needle threaders! ~ Cindy