Make Chanukah Menorah Earrings from Plastic Bottle Caps

Before: Bottle Cap

Only two more nights of Chanukah, so we decided to continue our Chanukah themed projects. This project begins with plastic bottle caps collected from Seltzer bottles. Bottle caps make great raw materials. You can make bottle caps into beads and you can use bottle caps as bezels. Change the bottle cap and you change the look.

For this project, we embellished the bottle cap with a Menorah to continue our Chanukah theme, but if you do not celebrate Chanukah you can easily create a similar project for your holiday celebration.

After: Upcycled Menorah Earrings by GeltDesigns

Materials
Plastic bottle cap
Glue and paper or craft sticker
20-gauge brass wire

Tools
Size 51 drill bit
Flex Shaft or drill

Wire Wrapping Tools
Nylon jaw plier
Wire rounder
Round nose pliers
Mandrel or three step pliers
Flush cutter or a side cutter

Step 1
Select to identical plastic bottle caps. We picked two blue bottle caps from seltzer bottles, but you can use any bottle cap.  Plastic is light weight and yet creates a sizable earring. Look for a bottle cap that has little or no lettering or decoration that may conflict with your design.

Step 2
Locate menorah stickers or cut out a piece of paper in the shape of two menorahs (one for each earring) and glue the menorah cut-outs to the bottle caps. We decided to create contrasting yellow menorahs, but you can use any color.

Step 3

Straighten the Wire

Drill a hole in each bottle cap with a size 51 drill bit.

Step 4
Feed the 20-gauge brass wire through the drilled hole and make a loop at the end of the wire using round nose pliers. Adjust the loop so it is centered on the top of the wire. Check to be sure the loop is large enough that there is no way it can slip through the drilled hole.

Step 5

Harden the Ear Wire

Make the ear wire. Straighten 20-gauge brass wire using nylon jaw pliers. Sand the end of the wire smooth using a wire rounder. Create a small loop in the end of the wire using round nose pliers. Wrap the wire around a mandrel (we used our favorite block) or three step pliers. Cut the wire from the spool using a flush cutter or a side cutter.  Bend the ear wire so that it will fit into the loop of the ear wire. Sand the end of the wire smooth using a wire rounder. Hit the formed finding with a rawhide or plastic mallet to harden the wire. Adjust the finding so it is easy for the wire to snap into the loop to secure the earring on

Adjust the Finding

the ear.

Step 6
Repeat to create second earring.

Related Tutorials
Make Dreidel Earrings
Make a Dreidel Pendant
Make Your Own Dreidel
Chanukah Craft Projects for Kids 
How to Measure Wire
How to Use a Wire Gauge
How to Make Your Own Hoop Ear Wires (with or without Beads)
How Use a Wire Rounder
How to Straighten WireGeltDesigns Tutorials by Topics  

Further Reading
500 Judaica: Innovative Contemporary Ritual Art (500 Series) 




Day 17. Week 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent: 0
Found materials: bottle caps
New Jewelry a Day.

Happy Chanukah!

Make a Neck-Ring from Copper Pipe

Before: Copper Pipe

Earlier we made a bangle bracelet from a copper pipe and we added a blue patina to made the bracelet colorful. For this project, we used copper pipe to make a striking, but

After: Copper Neck Ring by GeltDesig

simple neck-ring that looks great with a turtleneck and an open collar neckline.

Tools
Jewelers saw and saw blades
Bench pin and anvil 
Half-round file
220-grit wet/dry sandpaper 
400-grit, 600-grit, 800-grit, 1000-grit, 1500-grit
Necklace mandrel
Forming hammer, rawhide or plastic mallet
Renaissance Wax


Step 1
Determine the amount of material you need. Must neck-rings measure are about 16-inches long, but you may need a neck-ring that is larger of smaller depending on who will wear the jewelry.

Step 2
Cut the pipe. Coat the saw blade with beeswax to prevent the saw blade from slipping as you saw.  Use your jewelers saw and saw blades to cut the pipe. We used a size 2 jeweler's saw blade, but you may need to evaluate the pipe you use to determine the size blade you need. Steady the pipe on a bench pin and anvil as you cut. Some folks use a tube cutting jig to hold the pipe steady while you saw, but we did not use a jig since we found it more cumbersome when cutting from a long length of copper pipe.

Step 3
File the ends of the cut pipe with a half-round file to remove tool marks from sawing the pipe.

Step 4
Sand the ends of the pipe using 220-grit wet/dry sandpaper to remove tool marks caused when filing the pipe ends. Switch to 400-grit, 600-grit, 800-grit, 1000-grit and then 1500-grit, if needed, until the ends are very, very smooth. Remember: sharp ends are not comfortable to wear as jewelry-- especially around the neck.

Step 5
Bend the copper tubing around a necklace forming mandrel. Use a forming hammer, rawhide or plastic mallet to move the metal into shape, if needed.

Note: If you are having trouble bending the copper tube, then the copper pipe may be work hardened from cutting, filing and sawing. If the copper pipe is difficult to bend, anneal the pipe with your torch to soften the metal and make it easier to form. Pickle the copper pipe with Sparex another pickling compound in a crock-pot or pickle pot  to remove oxidation formed when annealing the copper pipe.

Step 6
Finish the necklace. Polish the neck-ring. Texture the neck-ring or patina the neck-ring to add color. Treat the neck-ring with Renaissance Wax to protect your finish and prevent tarnish.

Related Tutorials
Make a Bangle Bracelet from a Copper Pipe
How to Make a Copper Bead
How to Make a Copper Necklace
How to Use a Jewelry Saw
How to Use a File for Jewelry Making
How to Use Sand Paper
How to Anneal Metal for Jewelry Making
How to Make an Acid Pickle Bath
How to Use Alum as a Pickling Solution
How to Create a Scratch Finish in Your Art Jewelry
How to Buff and Polish Jewelry
How to Oxidize Silver Jewelry with Eggs
How to Use a Dremel to Make Jewelry
How to Create a Blue Patina on Copper 
All about Patina
How Use Renaissance Wax
GeltDesigns Tutorials by Topics  

Further Reading
Contemporary Copper Jewelry: Step-by-Step Techniques and Projects
Mixed Metals: Creating Contemporary Jewelry with Silver, Gold, Copper, Brass, and More
Copper Art Jewelry: A Different Luster
Complete Metalsmith: Professional Edition

Day 16. Week 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent: 0
Found materials: copper pipe (for ice maker and refrigerator)
New Jewelry a Day.

Make a Dreidel Pendant

Repurposed Dreidel Pendant by GeltDesigns

Yesterday, we made earrings from dreidels. Today, we made a pendant out of a larger,  green-painted, wood dreidel that we wore on a simple brass neck-ring.

Materials
14-gauge brass wire
Dreidel

Tools
Automatic center punch
Flex shaft and size 46 drill bit
Mandrel or Wrap n' Tap Pliers
Chain nose  pliers
Wire rounder or needle file
Wire side cutters or flush cutters
Small ball pein hammer, plastic or rawhide mallet

Step 1
Select the dreidel you plan to use. We used a medium sized wood dreidel painted green.

Step 2
Mark the dreidel with an automatic center punch and then drill a hole in the dreidel. We used a flex shaft and size 46 drill bit to drill the hole. The drill bit is larger than the drill bit we used to make the dreidel earrings because the stem of the dreidel is larger and can accommodate a hole large enough to slip 14-gauge brass wire through.

Step 3
Make the finding. Use a mandrel  Wrap n' Tap pliers to make a large ring from the 14-gauge wire. Cut the wire using wire cutters. File the ends of the rings smooth using a wire rounder or a flex shaft with a cup bur. Adjust the ring so the ends are flush. Hit the ring with a rawhide or plastic mallet to harden the metal.

Step 4
Open the ring and slip the dreidel onto the wire of the finding. Close the ring with your chain nose pliers. Turn the ring until the wood on the dreidel covers the closure of the ring you made.

Step 5
Feed the dreidel pendant onto a chain. We used a brass  neck-ring we hand made in our studio, but you can use any chain of your choice.

Related Tutorials
Make Dreidel Earrings
Make Your Own Dreidel
Chanukah Craft Projects for Kids 
How to Make a Hanukkah Menorah
GeltDesigns Tutorials by Topics  

Further Reading
500 Judaica: Innovative Contemporary Ritual Art (500 Series)

Day 15. Week 3. Jewelry from Found Objects.  $ spent: 0
Found materials: Wooden Dreidel
New Jewelry a Day.