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| Jane Eyre Necklace |
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| Alice in Wonderland Bracelet |
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| Alice in Wonderland Pendant |
If you have been keeping up with my blog, I know you have seen my "literary" jewelry pieces. The were made from the pages of old or reproductions "classics". Below is a basic tutorial to make one of these pieces for yourself from your favorite novels!
MATERIALS:
small piece of corrugated cardboard
eye pins not more than 1" (I prefer to use silver plated findings, they
always look nice and shiny)*
1.5-2" head pins*
5mm-6mm & 8mm jump rings*
1-bail*
a few small/medium beads to add to your necklace orbracelet (optional)
old style classic book, one with illustrations or decorated text
Tacky glue
Triple thick(R) gloss glaze
toothpicks
styrofoam egg carton
paper plate
Black paint
Black magic marker
silver chain, suede cord or rubber cord
Black paint
Black magic marker
silver chain, suede cord or rubber cord
TOOLS: scissors, jewelry pliers and wire cutters, 1/4" soft and 1/4" stiff brush, hot glue gun skewer and awl
STEPS:
1. Take corrugated cardboard and cut into two ovals or circles about the size of a quarter or a little larger. This will be the "focal bead" of your necklace. I used ovals and circles in my pieces, but really any shape is fine. You may want to add smaller "beads" to your necklace, cut those out now too. The smaller beads on the Alice in Wonderland bracelet and the Jane Eyre necklace were crafted from one disk of corrugated cardboard. This will probably work with your design also. I used quarters for the larger beads and nickels as templates for my smaller beads. |
2. For the focal bead, or the largest bead; line up the 2 eye pins in the center of the piece. Now using a hot glue gun, set the two pins in position.
3. Using the hot glue gun again, glue the two pieces together (like a sandwich), with the eye pins on the inside. Make sure both eye pins stick out and the pieces are lined up evenly.
4. Paint using thick black paint all around the edges of the piece. This gives a more finished look to your focal bead. You can also paint around the smaller pieces or even use a black magic marker to finish off those edges.
5. Set the smaller "beads" aside. Now you can decorate your "focal bead" with pieces of the text or illustrations from your "classical" text. Cut out words, illustrations or designs, really anything you want. Glue to focal bead with tacky glue using the soft brush. Remember to decorate both sides. Try to use words and images representative of the book. Let glue dry.
6. Using the same basic techniques, decorate the smaller disks or beads. Before gluing words or images, poke a small hole about 1/8" from the circumference of the disk. We will use this hole later for attaching a jump ring. Now decorate your disks as you did your "focal bead". Once glue is dry, re-poke hole with awl, then pierce again with a toothpick. This should enlarge hole.
8. While pendant is drying, we can assemble the beads which hang below the "focal bead" (from the eye pin). String beads on the head pin. Use the remainder of the headpin to form a loop. For more detailed instructions on how to make headpin loop, go to this link. Then using a jump ring attach the headpin to the eye pin on the bottom of the pendant. If you are not sure about these last directions, go to the links, that will help.
9. Last step is to put on bail or a jump ring. If you plan to wear your pendant bead alone on a rubber or leather cord, attach bail to the top eye pin. Then slide it on the cord. If you are wearing pendant bead as a necklace or bracelet with the other disks on a chain, attach a jump ring to the disks and they will easily attach to a chain. Have fun with it and enjoy!! I'd love to see your creations.
