New Jewelry A Day

Monday, December 20, 2010

Turn an Earring into a Pendant

Before: Lost Earring

Sometimes upcycling is just using something that is broken or has lost parts.

I do not know what happened to the mate to this gorgeous earring. I just know it is long gone. The earring is very large and cried out to be made into a pendant, pearl enhancer or the focal point of a large necklace. We opted to make it into a pendant.

....the next question was how to accomplish the conversion. We immediately decided we did not want to solder a bail onto the back of the earring. Soldering would require removing the stunning fused glass from the setting. Whoever made these earrings did not leave a hole in the back that would ease repairs and removal of the glass. Soldering could be done, but we did not want to solder.

We knew we could drill to holes toward the top of the earring and attach a chain, bead strand or other necklace component, but we were worried that drilling holes would result in the pendant hanging oddly.

After: Pendant Repurposed by GeltDesigns

So the solution we came up with was turning the post of the earring into a bail. The post was soldered about 1/3 way down the back of the earring. The location not only caused the earring to hang well on the ear it also would encourage the pendant to drape well on a chain.

Tools
Round nose pliers
Chain nose pliers

Step 1
Clean the earring.

Step 2
Use round nose pliers to form the ear post into a loop. Form the loop down (not up) and tuck the end of the post against the back of the earring.

Step 3
Use chain nose pliers to continue to form the post into a bail Adjust the wire so the loop is centered, completely closed and flush against the back of the earrings.

Step 4

Feed the chain through the loop. We tried using a simple leather chain, but decided it was not substantive enough.

Next we tried a sterling silver neck ring and that worked but sat a little to rigid.

So we borrowed a chain from another necklace for the dramatic look the pendant demanded.

Further Reading
"The Jewelry Repair Manual"; R. Allen Hardy; 1996.
"How to Repair Jewelry"; William (Mike) Phelps; 1987.

New & Noteworthy
"Jewelry Fixups: How to Clean, Repair and Restore Your Jewelry"; David McLoughlin; 2011.

Day 30. Week 5. Month 2. Jewelry from Found Objects. $ spent: 0
Found materials: Lost Earring
New Jewelry a Day.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Make a Necklace from Shells

Before: Shells

We love collecting shells and we love turning shells into beads. Sometimes we use the shells as accent beads, sometimes the shells become focal beads and sometimes all we use all the shells. This necklace was simple to make, but very time consuming to construct.

Materials
Shells
Stringing materials
G-S Hypo Cement or other glue

Tools
Bead board (optional)
Drill & micro drill bits (size 62)

After: Long Shell Necklace by GeltDesigns

Step 1
Gather the shells and clean them.

Step 2
Use a bead board to arrange the shells as you want to string them.

Step 3
Drill the shells to make each shell into a bead. Use water to lubricate the shells when you drill so the shells do not break. Drilling shells requires the same technique as used when drilling glass.

Tip: Practice with your less favorite shells before you begin drilling the shells for your project. Shells are fragile and some may break.

Close Up of Strung Shells

Step 4
String the shells. We used Beadalon wire but you can use almost any stringing material. We created an "endless strand" so we needed no findings.

Step 5
Tie the stringing material into a knot and add a drop of glue to secure the knot. We used G-S Hypo Cement, but many other jewelry makers have other favorite glues.

Step 6
Feed the extra stringing material back through the shell beads on either side of the knot and create two more knots-- one on each side of the original knot for additional security. Add a drop of glue to each additional knot.

Related Tutorials
How to Drill Glass
How to Use a Bead Stopper
How to Store Beads

Close Up: Shell Necklace by GeltDesigns

Further Reading
"Shell Art: A Handbook for Making Shell Flowers, Mosaics, Jewelry, and Other Ornaments"; Helen K. Krauss; 1976.
"Puka shell Hawaii: The story of puka shell jewelry in the Hawaiian Islands"; Paul Joel Mattes.
"Hawaiian Shell Lei Making: A Step by Step Guide"; Laurie Shimizu Ide; 2005.

Beginning Beading
"Teach Yourself VISUALLY Jewelry Making and Beading (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer)": Laurie Shimizu Ide; 2007.
"Jewelry Making & Beading For Dummies"; Heather Dismore, Tammy Powley
"Beading VISUAL Quick Tips"; Chris Franchetti Michaels

Day 29. Week 5. Month 2. Jewelry from Found Objects. $ spent: 0
Found materials: Shells
New Jewelry a Day.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Make Duct Tape Earrings

Before: Duct Tape & Stickers

Duct tape is the rage of the middle school set. Look around your local middle school and you will find incredible duct tape wallets, purses, ties and iPod covers. After finding colorful duct tape and neon stickers, the youngest member of our team thought of an idea to turn these household items into earrings that look downright awesome.

Materials

Duct Tape

Earring findings

2 stickers

Duct Tape Earrings by GeltDesigns

Tools

Scissors

Center punch or automatic center punch

Chain nose pliers (optional but recommended)

Step One

Gather all the materials. You will need some colorful duct tape, two puffy stickers about ½-inch square and two brass fish hook earrings. We used Duck Brand duct tape because it comes in many bright colors, but any duct tape will do.

Step Two

Eyeball out about 2 inches of duct tape and rip or tear it (don’t bother measuring the length because you will cut it to size later).

Step Three

Fold duct tape so that the sticker can fit on with a little extra space above and below it. There should be lots of extra tape to the left and right of the sticker.

Step Four

Stick the sticker on the duct tape; try to center it, but if you can’t it will not make a big difference

Step Five

Trim the extra duct tape to the left and right of the sticker. You want to leave a little extra tape so you can see the color. Try to leave equal amounts of duct tape on each side so the sticker is centered.

Step Six

Drill a hole in the top of the newly made “bead”. Drill directly above the sticker on the duct tape (you may use either a drill or a center punch to create the hole).