New Jewelry A Day

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Make a Cuff Bracelet from a Plastic Bottle

Before: Plastic Bottle

Plastic bottles from your recycling bin are great sources of raw materials for jewelry making. Plastic bottles can be cut up into beads for stringing into pendant, bracelets, necklaces and earrings. Plastic can also be easily shaped and molded with heat. In this project we turned an old, empty, rather large shampoo bottle purchased at Costco into a cuff bracelet.

After: Cuff Bracelet by GeltDesigns.com

Materials
Plastic bottle

Tools
Scissors
Xacto knife
Pyrex measuring cup
Mandrel

Step 1
Wash out the bottle. Remove all labels. Rinse away residue from glue.

Step 2
Cut the plastic using a craft knife or scissors. The side of our bottle had an interesting texture designed to give the bottle a better grip. We centered the textures grip when cutting so it would be prominent when we formed the bracelet.

Put plastic in hot water

Step 3
Heat water in a Pyrex dish to just below boiling. Place the plastic into the hot water so it becomes soft and pliable. Do not overheat the plastic to the point of melting.

Step 4

Form the plastic into a cuff bracelet

Remove the plastic from the hot water and form the plastic around a mandrel. You can use a bracelet mandrel or another household item. In this photo, we used the base of a stainless steel coffee cup as a mandrel.

Related Tutorials
How to Make a Soda Bottle Bracelet
How to Make a Knitting Needle Bracelet
How to Make a Record Cuff Bracelet
How to Make a Pop Top Bracelet

Further Reading
"500 Plastic Jewelry Designs: A Groundbreaking Survey of A Modern Material (500 Series)"; Lark; 2009.
"The Art of Jewelry: Plastic & Resin: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration"; Debra Adelson; 2008.
"Shrink Art Jewelry (Klutz)"; Karen Phillips; 2007.

Day 67. Month 3. Jewelry from Found Objects. $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: plastic bottle
New Jewelry a Day.

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Make a Cartoon Pendant

I have a dirty secret. I let my kids watch ridiculous amounts of cartoons when we are on the road. In the early years of motherhood, I tried to insist my kids would look out the window when we drove. I was young and idealistic. I had my kids best interests at heart.

The "look out the window and learn" ideal quickly melted away around the forty-eighth time one of my kids started yelling, "He's looking at me! Make him stop looking at me!" Oy. "Lookits" and "touchers." I remember the same style of teasing when I was a kid and now my kids were doing it as well. I challenge you to make one of your kids stop looking at the other. In the car. While driving. Talk about distracted. Out came the VCR. Then the DVD. Now the kids use computers and are wishing for an iPad. Same car. Different technology. Clearly, I failed the battle hymn of the tiger mother.

Bottom-line: although they started off with Sesame Street, now my kids love to watch the Simpsons and other cartoons when we are on the road. Yes, even my Dean's list, distinguished AP scholars. Simpsons. Over and over again. Thank goodness for headphones, so I do not need to listen for what seems like the millionth time. (The only thing worse than "are we there yet?" is hearing the Simpsons on TV saying "are we there yet?")

Before: Broken Toy

I do not know where this Krusty the Clown toy came from. One of the kids may have wanted the toy for a birthday present long ago. The toy may have been a giveaway from some junk food meal. Or the toy may have been a party favor from a long ago party. We found the broken toy in the toy box. Krusty lost his body; all we had left was the head...but we all agreed the broken toy would make a funky looking pendant.

After: Pendant by GeltDesigns.com

Materials
Toy
2 small screw eyes
1mm black satin cord

Tools
Flex shaft, Dremel or drill press
Size 58 drill bit
Center punch
Parallel pliers or chain nose pliers

Step 1
Clean the toy.

Step 2
Mark the top of the toy with the center punch and then drill a hole in the top of the toy. Marking the toy will prevent the drill bit from slipping when you drill the plastic toy.

Step 3
Screw the screw eye into the drilled hole. Use the pliers for leverage when you screw to help screw the screw eye into the toy.

Step 4
Feed the 1mm black satin cord (or chain of your choice) through the hole of the screw eye.

Related Tutorials
Make Dog Earrings from Toys
Make a Spider Pin from a Toy
Make a Lizard Pin from a Toy
Make a Necklace from Figurines

Further Reading
"500 Pendants & Lockets: Contemporary Interpretations of Classic Adornments (500 Series)"; Lark; 2008.
"Simpsons World The Ultimate Episode Guide: Seasons 1-20"; Matt Groening; 2010.
"The Krusty Book (The Simpsons Library of Wisdom)"; Matt Groening; 2006.

Day 66. Month 3. Jewelry from Found Objects. $ spent to date: 0
Found materials: screw eye, toy
New Jewelry a Day.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Make Game Piece Earrings

Before: Game piece

We found these red game pieces in the toy box. I am not sure what game they came from. I think it was an old Parchessi game, but I am not sure.... and nobody else in my house can remember either. We've played a LOT of games over the years.

The game pieces are colorful, in good shape and light weight. Clearly, these game pieces were destined to become earrings.

After: Earrings by GeltDesigns.co

Materials
2 game pieces
2 small screw eyes
2 ear wire findings

Tools
Flex shaft, Dremel or drill press
Size 58 drill bit
Parallel pliers or chain nose pliers

Step 1
Clean the game pieces.

Step 2
Mark the game pieces with an indentation where you want to insert the screw eye. You can use the sharp end of the screw eye to mark the plastic or use a center punch. The indentation will prevent the drill bit from slipping when you drill the game piece.

Step 3
Drill a hole in the game piece where you placed the mark.The hole should be smaller and less deep than the length of the screw eye.