How to repair a broken necklace

A year ago, my friend and I went to a restaurant to celebrate my Birthday. My friend was wearing a pretty chain and bead necklace she purchased at the department store. Suddenly, the necklace broke into 2 parts and all the beads went to the floor! My friend was so upset. I told her I have a friend who could repair this, or possibly, make a new one from what's usable. We spend 10 minutes gathering the beads and chains. I put them in my purse and that was the end of unfortunate event that day.

During one of our craft gatherings with Albina Manning (albinasjewelry) I showed her the pieces. So we thought of what we could possibly do with these. We played with the chains and beads a little, added some new pieces and voila, and we made a pair of earrings and one great tear shaped necklace. A lovely set to wear for a New Years Eve!

If you will ever need to repair or remake yours, here is Albina's notes on how she repaired the one we had. Make the necessary adjustments while creating your piece!

"I opened all jump rings to separate the beads and "curvy" pins. I decided to use already made loops that beads had.  

 Check out all the loops - if the loop was not closed properly, just close the loop with round nose pliers.

To make the earrings, I used 12 beads, 2 double looped pins, 4 jump rings, and a pair of ear wires.

Slide 6 beads and a pin onto a jump ring. Close a ring. Take another jump ring and attach the second pin's end and an ear wire; close a jump ring. 

Repeat these steps to make the 2nd earring.

Pendant: 12 beads, 1 double looped pin, 2 jump rings, chain with a clasp.

Slide 6 beads and a pin onto a jump ring. Close a ring. Take another jump ring and attach 6 beads, the second pin's end, place a chain into a jump ring; close a jump ring.

IMPORTANT: close all the jump rings properly, if there is a gap, you will loose the beads. "

How to make a boho style feather earrings jewelry tutorial

This summer is as hot as always here in the Valley so you are trying to wear the lightest clothing possible. Same applies to a jewelry. You want it to be light, pretty and preferably inexpensive. With this thought in mind Albina (albinasjewelry) and I made these boho style feather earrings during our last craft party in April.

We were trying to gather the materials in colors that would go together and are natural. Start with the feathers and determine, what other materials will best suit your very own earrings.

So here is what you need and how we made them:

Materials:
Feathers
Wooden beads
Linen thread

Yarn thread in golden metallic color

Thin lace trim
Copper wire 20 ga
Ear wires, 1 pair
All purpose glue

1. Attach wooden beads to the hemp cord. String a bead, leaving about 2" tail, pass the cord back through the bead, and tighten.

Attach the next 2 beads 1/2 inch apart from each other. Place a dot of white glue inside a bead hole to prevent the bead from sliding. Let the glue dry.

2. Cut the pieces of linen thread cord and laces 4" long . The amount of pieces depends on your design. We used 10 of them. 

 

3. Cut  6" of wire. Leaving 3/8" tail, make a loop using round nose pliers as shown. 

4. Put all laces, linen thread, beads and feather together. Place the wire inside of this bunch so the loop is on top of the bunch. 

5. Tightly wrap the bunch with long wire end. 

Tack the wire end inside the laces. 

6. Cut the laces and cords if necessary, so they are the same length. We used the feather is a guide.

7. Attach the ear wires to the top loop.

 

This project was real fun to make and there is so much space for creativity here. I hope you will enjoy it, too!

An Easter Egg charms necklace, a 5 minute project

Here is a simple and fun spring project we decided to make for my blog together with Albina (albinasjewelry). It will literally take you 5 minutes to make. Just gather the materials, prepare your tools and let's make this simple but very pretty necklace for a coming Easter!

We used sterling silver supplies and pastel colored Swarovski crystals for this project but you can use any other materials of course.

Here is what you need :

*Easter egg charm ( or any one of your favorite charms)

*Head pins - 3

*6 mm Swarovski bicone crystals  - 3

* Jump ring, 6-7mm - 1

* Chain

 

1- Slide a crystal on a head pin and make a simple loop. Repeat with the

other 2 crystals.

2 - Open a jump ring. Slide 3 crystals, a charm, and a chain on it.

3 - Close a jump ring.

 

That's it, it is ready to be worn! Enjoy your new necklace!

Dressed up vintage wooden hair stick/ shawl pin with dangles DIY

I found this hair pin at an estate sale. I actually thought it's a shawl pin but later on Albina (albinasjewelry) recognized it as a hair pin so I am still in doubt. 

Anyway, during our last get-together we gave it a new life so it became a fancy universal accessory.

It already had 3 loops so we practically just embellished it.

Here is how to make it:

Materials:

• hair stick with 3 loops
• 3 headpins
• 3 cones
• 3 beads
• chain - 3 pieces 1" each

1. Cut a chain into three 1” pieces. 

2. Slide a bead and a cone  into a head pin. 

3. Start making a loop on a top of the cone. Slide a link of the chain into the loop.

 4. Make a wrapped loop looking a chain with a cone. 

 5. Make two more chained cones.

6. Using  your chain nose pliers, open a loop on a hair stick. Slide a last link of the chain. Close a loop. 

7. Attach the rest of the cones.

A great quick project and a very pretty result!

Girls night in and a craft party

Last weekend was so much fun. I invited Albina over (albinasjewelry) so it was a girls night in and a great crafting time in the same time. We made so many good things to show on our blogs. All these great projects with step-by-step instructions will be published on my and Albina's blogs in the next couple of Months.

Meanwhile, I'd like to show you some cute things.

We made these shawl pins during this party and we will include one free with each purchase of some of our crochet shawls at our socksandmittens shop as a free gift, while supplies last (please see the listings where free shawl pin gift is indicated)

These frame earrings were made as a gift for my niece.

She loves the blue color and silver so Albina made them from sterling silver and Swarovski crystals. One has a little tiny dragonfly in it and the other has 2 beads. Aren't they lovely?

Albina and I had a great time. It was so much fun, we should get together more often!

River rock necklace with lobster clasp tutorial

Here is another tutorial from Albina (albinasjewelry) on making simple summer necklace with beach finds.

This time we will use a pre-drilled river rock and will make a lobster clasp ( in our previous tutorial we used a pre-drilled coral and a vintage button for the closure).

So here is what you need to make this necklace:

River rock with a hole (or your favorite focal bead)
Waxed cotton cord, 1.5- 2mm – 1.5 times longer then wanted length of the necklace
Lobster clasp
Jump ring (optional, only if the cord does not fit into the clasp) – 1
Scissors
Fabric glue (optional)

1. Fold the cord in half and insert the folded end into the stone’s hole to form a lark’s head knot. Tighten.

2. Slide the lobster clasp into one of the cord ends*.  Place the clasp ½length of the total necklace plus ½” away from the stone (if your cord has to be 17” long, place the clasp 17”:2+ ½”= 9” away).

3. Make an over-hand knot close to the clasp. You may want to put a drop of fabric glue.

4. Make a fold on another half of the cord using the same measurements. Make an over-hand knot 1cm away from the fold. This will be a loop for the closure.

5. Let the glue dry. Cut of cord tails close to the knot.

* If the cord is too thick and does not fit into the clasp, use a jump ring to attach a cord with a clasp. Keep in mind that extra ring(s) will add extra length to the necklace, so make necessary adjustments.

So your new necklace is ready, enjoy!