Glue Free, Drill Free Way to Hang Pendants

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How to make a pendant bail

Making a wire wrap bail  is a decorative, inexpensive way to attach pendants that eliminates the need for messy glue-on bails and hole drilling.  The look is intricate and ornate, and can be achieved quite simply with a few basic jewelry supplies.  This is a perfect way to bail glass tile and domino pendants.

TUTORIAL

Supplies for wire wrapping pendant

How to wire wrap a pendant

making a pendant bail

How to make a pendant bail

How to attach domino pendant

Glass tile pendant bails

The wire isn’t shaped to the edges very well in the above demonstration.  Make sure to keep it snug against the piece, like it is holding the pendant together.

Glass tile pendant bails

How to make pendant bail

How to attach pendant to chain

Use pliers to tuck in the cut ends.  Sometimes I file them when they aren’t flush.

It is as simple as that.  Now add a jumpring and your pendant is ready to hang, with fancy pants wire work to boot…

Here is what it looks like on the back…

Glass tile pendant bails

Here, I used the wire wrap method on pre-drilled dominoes with horizontal holes.  It is the same process, but you take the wire to the back through the hole so the wire only frames the top and runs horizontally through the middle.

domino pendant tutorial

domino pendant tutorial

Glass tile pendant tips

attaching domino to necklace

Some 1 inch glass tiles wrapped…

Serenity Prayer Glass Tile Pendant

Spiritual Glass Tile Pendant

Now you are ready to practice your mad wire wrapping skills.  If you try this, share pictures.  I love seeing what you have done!

Triple Strand Beaded Domino Pendants

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There is nothing quite like multiple strands of seed beads to compliment a special pendant.  I don’t usually take the time to bead, but these domino pendants inspired me to bust out my stash and get busy.  Fast forward 5 hours of stringing these tiny things and I have two finished pieces…’

Seed bead necklace

beading projects

Bead stringing necklace project

how to make seed bead necklace

It is a nice change from pairing pendants with a simple silver snake chain, which is what I normally do with dominoes.  I am not much of a jewelry designer, as far as putting together beaded strings with a focal pendant, but you can’t really go wrong with this simple triple strand design to display your focal.  Just drill a hole in your domino horizontally and string it like you would any other bead.  In my browsing, I found these gorgeous macrame beaded domino necklaces with instructions at Caravan Beads Blog.

domino pendant ideasI actually started the beaded macrame string, and about 2 inches into realized it was going to take way more time then I had to invest in a necklace at the present time.  It was, however,  pretty easy to pick up, and I am not familiar with macrame.  It would be a great project for a long road trip.

Now I am going to ask for your input.  What kind of necklace do you think would pair well with this piece?  I have some ideas, but I want to know yours.  If I go with your design, you may just find a domino pendant in your mailbox in the future, so don’t be shy.

Making Jewelry With Rub-on Transfers

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How to make Glass Tile Pendants

It was a jewelry making weekend for this crafter, glass tile pendants and altered dominoes stealing the show.  Normally, I design images for my pendants and just adhere them as they are.  That all changed when I thought to incorporate the rub on transfers I picked up at Hobby Lobby recently.  I have used these things before, but in papercrafting, never jewelry.  The inspiration hit me because these particular images packs (by Prima) are irresistibly gorgeous , and just the right size for pendants.

Rub-on transfers in jewelry

Adding them to my pendant images was super easy.  Since the sheet they come on is transparent, I was able to move scroll over my printed pendant images to see what the transfer would look like before committing.  Once I decided what transfer I wanted where, I just cut it out and burnished it on as instructed.  I love the effect it gave my pieces.  Super easy, and 1.99 (originally 3.99) a pack at Hobby Lobby right now.

altered domino jewelry

This piece is a domino pendant that I did in layers, with the rub-on green butterfly as the top layer just under the resin.  I started by painting the domino with a coat of gesso.  Once dried, I mixed acrylic paints to get the soft blue/green background color and painted it on using a soft brush.  When that layer dried, I stamped with clear embossing ink using an handwriting script stamp.  I embossed the script using white embossing powder, rubbed on the butterfly transfer and coated with resin to finish.

Altered domino tutorial

I think the layer effect pops more with these rub-on transfers then when I layer in photoshop, and I get images I wouldn’t have come up with on my own digitally.

altered domino jewelryHere is another domino I did with vibrant pink leaves and a bird in a cage rub-on transfers.

resin jewelryThis bezel pendant uses the same background image (fearless) with a flower and butterfly transfer.

images for glass tile pendantsHere is a side by side comparison:  a pendant with the image I designed, printed and adhered, and another pendant with the same printed image, embellished with a red butterfly transfer.  I love how it refreshes my designs and how fun it is to layer with these.  I will be keeping my eyes peeled for jewelry sized rub-ons!

 

Valentine’s Sprinkles and Resin Jewelry

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Resin jewelry tutorial Love text & candy sprinkles from @savedbyloves

[pinit]

Looking for a quick and easy gift for Valentine’s Day?  This project fits the bill.  Remember this post on patriotic resin jewelry?  The process is the same, except I used Valentine’s Day sprinkles instead of red, white and blue.  I also used heart shape bezels which I found with the polymer clay at Hobby Lobby.   Follow along for the step by step, and you will be on your way to your very own LOVE jewelry.

Supplies:

  • Magic Glos
  • Pendant and earring bezels and desired jewelry findings
  • A sunny day, or UV curing lamp; I use Lisa Pavelka’s and it works like a charm
  • Toothpicks
  • Tile small enough to fit into lamp to cure your pieces on
  • Sprinkles
  • small mixing  cupResin jewelry supplies

Instructions:

  • Pour some sprinkles into the cup, along with a few drops of Magic Glos and using toothpick, mix resin and sprinkles so that sprinkles are coated.

resin jewelry

Valentine's Day crafts

  • Use toothpick to pick up a clump of sprinkles/resin and spread into bezel.  You don’t want the sprinkles to go higher than the lip of the bezel.  When you are happy with the coverage, put a drop or two of Magic Glos in the middle and expose to UV to cure (either outside on a sunny day, or under a UV lamp.  Valentine's Day crafts
  • Once cured, add another layer of resin to get the dome effect and cure again. You can add embellishments, stickers or whatever you can think of at this point too. I used my label maker to make this love sticker. I put it on top of the cured layer, then put resin over it, then cured.

Valentine's Day crafts

TIP:  Use toothpick to “pull” resin from middle of piece out to the edges

Valentine's Day crafts

I just love this UV resin.  There is another, way less expensive brand called UltraDome, which is being shipped to me soon.  I hope I love it as much as I love Magic Glos.  I will keep you posted!

How to Make Resin jewelry

 

Charmed Joy Butterfly Resin Pendant

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Resin pendant with image

This pendant is made from decorative paper, adhesive “JOY” punch stickers, rub-ons, Magic Glos resin and some charm embellishments (a black butterfly and a couple of pearls I got from some old costume jewelry).  I have been on a resin kick as of late, making pieces for an upcoming show.  I am happy with how this one turned out.  I love how versatile scrapbooking supplies are… home decor, jewelry, all kinds of altered art, and even scrapbooks.

How to make resin pendants

Here, I traced the bezel on scrapbook paper and cut out the circle to fit.  I adhered the letters to spell joy, added some Stickles (glitter glue), then a thin layer of Magic Glos, which I cured under my UV lamp.  Then I did the orange leaves from a rub-on pack I had in my stash.  A  couple of more layers of resin with curing in between, and that was that.  Using a jump ring, I added the pearls from old costume jewelry, and the black butterfly charm I had on hand.  I paired the pendant with a black beaded strand for the finished necklace.

How to make resin pendants

How to make resin pendants

resin jewelry tutorial

Serenity Resin Bracelet

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Resin jewelry

Creating resin jewelry has never been easier with Lisa Pavelka’s Magic Gloss resin that has been out for a couple of years now.  Pieces that use to take a couple of days can be finished and cured in less than an hour!  Today I am showing you my ransom letter “serenity” bracelet.

resin and paper

Serenity resin bracelet

What I love about Magic Gloss is that it is one part, so no messy mixing to deal with.  Not only that, but it cures in UV light and doesn’t harden until exposed to UV.  That means you have all the time in the world to work with it.  No more hurrying to finish in the 25 minutes or so that you have before 2 part epoxy resins start to harden.

What I don’t like about it is that it is way more expensive than Envirotex Lite and ICE resin, both 2 part epoxy resins used in jewelry making.  At Hobby Lobby, a tiny 1 oz bottle costs $10.99.  I found it on Amazon linked above for $5.88.  I can’t say exactly how many pieces of jewelry you can get from a bottle, as that obviously depends on how much resin per piece, but it is definitely pricey in my book.  Also, unless you buy a UV light you are at the mercy of the weather.  On a sunny day, or under a UV lamp of sufficient wattage, pieces cure in minutes!    This makes layering so fun and instant.

In this piece, I cut scrapbook paper to fit the circle bezel and adhered them inside the bezel with glossy accents.  Then I cut out letters from random papers to spell “Serenity”.  I adhered them with Glossy accents and let dry for 30 min.  This is important because the resin will not cure if it mixes with wet glue.

I added a thin layer of resin at a time with various sprinkled glitter, glass micro beads, metal leaf and fibers, curing between each layer using Lisa Pavelka’s UV lamp ($40 at Hobby Lobby).  It looks super cool.  I wish you could see the layer effect better in my photos.  I am very pleased with how it turned out.   I can’t stop looking at it.

Resin and paper jewelry

how to make resin jewelry

Embedding with resin jewelry

Stay tuned for more fun with resin!

Valentine’s Day Quilled Heart Keychain

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Paper quilling gift

This is my first non-magazine page quilling attempt, and I am loving it.  Paper quilling is great because you can be a novice and still create some really gorgeous pieces.  If you need a meaningful, unique gift for your sweetheart that is fast and easy, you have arrived.  Today’s post is a tutorial, and free printable for the houndstooth background with “You hold the key to my heart”.

Valentine's Day Gift Idea

Supplies:

easy paper quilling project
Instructions:

  • Print off the background image linked above and cut to fit your fragment.
  • Drill hole in fragment for jump ring (I use Dremel for this)
  • Adhere image to fragment (fragment goes on top) using Glossy Accents or other clear drying, archival glue.  I am a die hard Glossy Accents fan, but Diamond Glaze and Mod Podge dimensional magic are often used to adhere paper to clear embellishments.
  • Make quilled paper heart (there are several tutorials on this… it is very simple)
  • Adhere key and paper heart to top of fragment with Glossy Accents by putting a pea sized glue dab on the fragment, then placing the embellishments.
  • I applied glossy accents liberally to the heart since it is paper and this is a piece that will be handled.
  • Let dry for 30 minutes and finish by adding keychain findings – I used a chain of 3 jump rings and a clip to make mine.

I would absolutely love to recieve a gift like this.   Are you making a gift for a love this year?Valentine's Day Gift Idea

 

Saftety Pin Beaded Bracelet

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Safety Pin Bracelet

I can’t get enough of upcycled jewelry projects.  This one is as old as oxygen, but new to me, and a great way to use up some of those members of my bead soup stash.  Also, it couldn’t be much easier to make, and looks great with casual and dressy attire.  This would be a great girls night craft!

Upcycle jewlery

To make, I strung 12 beads on each safety pin and ran elastic cord through the top and bottom of each safety pin, kotting the end of each cord.  I alternated beaded safety pins with empty safety pins, flipped vertically.  That simple!  Careful not to stick yourself.

Safety pin jewelry

Paper Bead Trio Set

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Paper Bead Double Strand Necklace

A beautiful necklace, earring, bracelet paper bead set.  This necklace is about 34 inches long, double stranded wire work with purple glass bicone, green faceted glass beads and rock like cream and transparent glass beads.  It showcases 30 paper beads, which I showed you how I make in this post.

The necklace is similar in design to the one I showed how to create here.

To see my new favorite way to seal the paper beads, go here.

The bracelet is a simple elastic cord bracelet with 6 paper beads and purple glass bicones between each.  The earrings are each composed of 1 paper bead and, 2 green glass faceted beads and one larger purple bicone.

Paper Bead EarringsI love this set!!  It looks best with white or pretty much any earth tone.  The paper beads are so light, you hardly know they are there, except for all the people commenting on your rocked out set.

Long Paper Bead NecklacePaper Bead JewelryPaper Bead Jewelry

Paper Bead JewelryTo purchase this set, visit the listing here.

Seal Those Paper Beads

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Make Paper Beads

Last week, I showed you a the best video I have found on making paper beads, here.  The method used to seal the beads involved painting each one individually with glaze, for a total of 3 coats.  Ugh… how time consuming.  I knew there must be a better way.  Today, I will share how I sealed 125 beads in 5 minutes (not including dry time, of course)!

Supplies:

  • Paper beads
  • Minwax Polycrylic
  • Fishing line
  • Toothpicks
  • Newspaper
  • Some kind of place to hang your strands of beads to dry

sealing make paper beads

BTW, that handy little sharp tool you see, a needle tool I think, is way handier than toothpicks for rolling paper beads.  Just saying.  I got it in the clay section in a pack of tools at Michael’s.

Instructions:

  • So easy.  Just string your paper beads on fishing line (cause it is strong and cheap).  I tie toothpicks at both ends of the string of beads so that I don’t lose any, and to hang the strands from in the drying step.  Here are some strung beads…Make Paper beads
  • Now, dip the strung beads in polycrylic, submerging every bead.  You hands will be dripping with the stuff.  Do this over newspapers to protect the surface, and do it where you plan to hang them.  I use my closet wire shelving, with plenty of newspaper on the floor to catch the drips.  As you pull the strand out of the polycrylic, run it between 2 fingers over the can, to remove excess polycrylic.  It will still be drippy, but you won’t waste as much.

make paper beads; sealing

  • My handy dandy drying area:

make paper beads

  • Tips:  I like to separate the beads from one another about 1 hour into drying so that they don’t completely dry together.  You can even turn the strands, hanging them from the other end.  After 2 hours, I dip them one more time and let dry for an hour or so.

I think this method is way easier, and quicker, especially if you are sealing a lot of beads at once.  Since I am so obsessed with making these things, they are everywhere, and I needed to find a quicker way to do this.  The dry time is slower than if I individually paint each one, but the hands on time is literally 5 minutes, leaving me to do one of the 10 other projects I have going at any given moment.  I love the shine and durability afforded by the polycrylic too.  Check out some comparisons…

BEFORE:

make paper beadsmake paper beads

make paper beadsAFTER:

make paper beads

Make Paper Beads

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