My First Foray into Jewelry-Making

Hallo! I've been getting some serious nerves lately, so I figured the perfect way to loosen up would be to do a little late-night/early morning crafting. I recently really wanted to try at least a little jewelry-making, especially after seeing wonderful things on blogs like Flamingo Toes and Tea Rose Home. I had virtually no tools, save for a pair of basic pliers (read: big and bulky), and a mishmosh of old chains, beads, and jewelry to mess with.

So first off, I wanted to try making a bracelet, especially after seeing this tutorial. It's so simple and so cute! I wanted to do something similar, but I like a little more homogeneity in my things. Matchy-matchy was bred into me, unfortunately. ;)

Looking into my stash of random stuff, I saw three of those elastic power bead bracelets. You know, the ones with wooden beads with Chinese characters on them and that little "gourd" bead?

Like these, found at RavenHaven.com?

One was pale green, one pale pink/salmon, and one a deep red. I put them together and actually loved those colors together, especially because the pink and the paleness of the green kept it from being too Christmas-y.

Unfortunately, I took no pictures, but the process was simple. I liked the fit of the green one (which had no "gourd"), so I untied the elastic of the other two, removed the "gourd," and re-tied them so they were the same tension as the green bracelet. I glued my big, ugly knots inside a bead (with simple Elmer's Glue, heaven knows how long that'll hold). Then, I simply took a coordinating ribbon, tied them all together, made a pretty bow, and stitched it in place. Voila! Done!

Sorry, the colors are a tad off. They're more accurate in the second picture. But is it not cute?

I was still too twitchy to go to bed, so the supplies came back out and I set out to make a necklace.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was doing. As I've said before, I really had no tools and only a hodgepodge of supplies. But I decided to be creative, and you know what? I think I like it.

 What do you think? The small pearl beads were originally from an old barrette that just...died. I strung them onto two threads held together (is that a good idea even???). The two pearl "dangles" came from a brooch that had about 10 of the same thing, except one was missing so no one ever used it. And the heart pendant in the middle was a sort of hybrid between two old earrings.

Not bad for my first try, no? Especially with a bulky set of pliers as my only wire-working tool (yes, I was opening and closing those tiny chain links with it...). I don't know if I have the patience to do this often though. It was so fiddly! Do you guys feel the same way about jewelry-making, or is it just because I'm inexperienced and don't have the best tools?

Thanks for reading! See you next time!

-Annie

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