Make A Dreidel Bracelet

Before: Dreidel

It's Chanukah and there are many dreidels floating around the house. Gather a few extras and create a fun bracelet to celebrate the holiday.

Happy Chanukah!

Materials
Dreidels
16-gauge copper wire

Tools
Size 52 drill bit
Flex shaft, Dremel or drill press
14-gauge cup burr or wire rounder
Needle files

Order the dreidels

Step 1
Select the dreidels and arrange them in the order you like. We used seven dreidels but the number you need will depend on the size of the dreidels. The size links you make and the length you need for your bracelet.

Wash the dreidels with soap and water. Some of our dreidels had smudges of chocolate on them since some of the game players ate their loot.

Mark the dreiel

Step 2

Drill the dreidel

Mark the dreidel with a center punch and then drill a hole in the dreidel to create a bead.

Step 3

Feed the wire through the dreidel. Use pliers to create a medium sized loop on either side of the dreidel.

Step 4

Assemble the bracelet. Attach the dreidels link by link until the bracelet is the desired length.

Step 5
Make the hook and eye clasp. Make a few chains of links to create several eyes so the bracelet is  adjustable.

After: Dreidel Bracelet by GeltDesigns.com

Step 6
Attach the hook and eyes of the clasp to the bracelet.

Related Tutorials
Make Chanukah Menorah Earrings from Plastic Bottle Caps
Make a Dreidel Pendant
Make Dreidel Earrings 

Further Reading
"500 Judaica: Innovative Contemporary Ritual Art (500 Series)"; Ray Hemachandra, Daniel Belasco.
"500 Bracelets: An Inspiring Collection of Extraordinary Designs (500 Series)"; Lark; 2005.

Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: dreidels, sivivon
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Crab Pendant from a Toy

Before: Toy and Screw Eye

The toy box is a great source of interesting items to make jewelry. When we first found this toy, we thought we might electroform it.... but we liked the colors and decided against covering the crab with a coat of metal.

Materials
Toy
Screw eye

After: Pendant by GeltDesigns.com

Tools
Center punch
Chain nose pliers

Step 1
Gather your tools and materials.

Step 2
Use a center punch or nail to create a divot in the top of the toy where the finding will be inserted.

Add screw eye as finding

Step 3
Screw the screw eye into the divot. We used chain nose pliers to get greater leverage. There is no need to drill a hole first.


Step 4
Feed a chain through the eye.


Related Tutorials
Make a Necklace from Lock Washers & Toys
Make Wine Cup Earrings
Make a Charm Bracelet from Toy Figurines
Make a Cartoon Pendant
Make a Spider Pin from a Toy
Make a Necklace from Figurines
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make Dog Earrings from Toys  

Further Reading
"500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments (500 Series)"; Lark; 2008.
"500 Plastic Jewelry Designs: A Groundbreaking Survey of A Modern Material (500 Series)"; Lark; 2009.

Day 107. Month 5. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent: 0
Found materials: toy
New Jewelry a Day. 

Make a Necklace from Lock Washers & Toys

Before: toys and lock washers

I am not sure what type of toys these are; my daughter thinks that they belonged to one of her brothers. She thinks they were used to build action figures that were "like tranformers but not transformers." 

After: Necklace by GeltDesigns.com

Whatever they were, we both thought they were interesting to look at and the hole made them prefect to use as beads. We used lock washers as spacer beads and strung them simply on 2 mm satin. OK, not the most innovative project we've done this year... but it was quick, easy and made a  cheerful, fun accessory.

Materials
4 lock washers
2 toys
2mm satin cord & findings


Related Tutorials
Make a Necklace from Figurines
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make Dog Earrings from Toys
Make Post Earrings from Vintage Game Pieces

Day 87  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: toys, lock washers
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Necklace from Shoe Lace Charms

Before: Shoe charms

My daughter saw these shoe lace charms and said they remind her of the "foot prints of love." Today is project seven of our V-Day series and we decided to make a simple necklace using shoe lace charms and our imitation leather.

Tomorrow is the big day. Valentine's Day in our house is all about crafts and chocolate. We reject the commercial aspects of the holiday, but love a theme for making stuff. And, of course, we love chocolate. And ice cream.

When my kids were little, I loved working with them to make Valentine's Day cards for each of the kids in the class and all their teachers ... today its all about wearing our hand crafted jewelry and eating chocolate...and reminding each other (and our friends) how much we love and appreciate one another.

Materials
2 shoe charms
2mm leather, imitation leather, satin or other stringing material
Findings (end caps and clasp)
Glue (optional)

After: Footprints of love by GeltDesigns.com

Step 1
Select the charms.

Step 2
Feed the charms on the stringing material and attach findings.

You can glue the charms to hold them in a particular position or allow the charms to dangle and clang.

Related Tutorials
Make Earrings from Shoe Charms 
Make Heart Earrings from Copper Staples 
Make a Beer Bottle into a Heart Pin 
Make "Kiss Me" Heart Earrings 
Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile 
Make a "True Love" Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles 
Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Copper Washer
GeltDesigns Tutorials by Topic
NJAD Index (Days 1 to 60) by Type of Jewelry
NJAD Index (Days 1 to 60) by Type of Found Object  

Further Reading 
"500 Plastic Jewelry Designs: A Groundbreaking Survey of A Modern Material (500 Series)"; Lark; 2009.
"500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments (500 Series)"; Lark; 2008.
"500 Necklaces: Contemporary Interpretations of a Timeless Form (500 Series)"; Lark; 2006.

Day 85  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: shoe lace charms
New Jewelry a Day.

Have a great week!

Make a Valentine's Day Pendant from a Scrabble® Tile

Today is project three of our get ready for Valentine's Day count down. We had so much fun playing with Scrabble® tiles yesterday that we decided to make a pendant to coordinate with yesterday's bracelet. 

Before: Paper from catalog

Every year around Christmas time we are inundated with catalogs from department stores. The folks on Madison Avenue spend a LOT of money trying to make the paper images as appealing as possible....and that makes catalogs a great source for attractive paper to use for decoupage.


Materials
Scrabble®  letter
Scrap paper
Glue stick
Black Sharpie Marker
Mod Podge
Transparent embossing powder
18-gauge round brass wire

Tools 
Automatic center punch
Drill
Size 41 bit
Xacto knife
Heat gun

Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers

Pick a tile

Step 1
Select a Scrabble® tile. Mark the top center of the Scrabble® tils with an automatic center punch and then drill a holes in the tile for the finding.

Step 2
Select some attractive paper or fabric. We used some paper cut from a Bloomingdales catalog sent to us in the mail, but any attractive paper or fabric will do.

Step 3
Glue the paper to the tile and cut off the excess paper using an Xacto knife or scissors. My daughter then used a black Sharpie to draw a design on the paper.

Step 4
Coat the paper with a layer of Mod Podge. Sprinkle the transparent embossing powder on the glue. Tap off the excess embossing powder. Use a heat gun to heat the embossing powder until it melts. The embossing powder will protect the paper and make the pendant water resistant but not necessarily water proof. Set the pendant aside and allow the embossing powder to cool to room temperature.

After: Pedant by GeltDesigns.com

Step 5
Make the pendant bail from 18-gauge round brass wire and attach the bail to the tile. Slide a neck ring chain through the bail to wear the pendant.

Related Tutorials
Make a Bracelet from Scrabble® Tiles
Make a Pendant Bail
How to Drill
How to Use a Drill Press for Jewelry Making
How to Use a Dremel to Make Jewelry
How to Use a Flex Shaft to Make Jewelry

Further Reading
"500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments (500 Series)"; Lark; 2008.
  
Day 81.  Month 4. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: scrap paper, Scrabble® tile
New Jewelry a Day.