DIY - Jewelry Making

I was chatting with my aunt a while ago expressing how much I enjoyed my first DIY project and to my surprise I found out that she had taken a jewelry making class at JoAnns a couple of years ago, and all of her materials, beads, charms and crystals were stored away in the garage.  So a couple of weeks ago I spent the day with my aunt just, making jewelry, eating and chatting it up. I was completely overwhelmed with all the different materials, and the endless possibilities of making bracelets, earings, necklaces and even rings to fit my personality and style. I definitely look forward to spending more time creating fresh new designs/pieces and sharing them with you. Below are a couple of pieces my aunt made.  I made a necklace and started on a pair of earrings but ended up scrapping them both *sigh*.   I plan on taking a beginners jewelry making class soon so be sure to stay tuned for more great DIY projects in the future. 

LOVE made easy

Ok...I found this insanely cute LOVE necklace on hisherschicago blogspot worn by DJ Rashida pictured below ~ The blogger re-created DJ Rashida's necklace by using cooper wire and a few other accessories (she did a FAB job) ~ Once I saw the outcome of the bloggers necklace I immediately knew this was a project I would enjoy sinking my teeth into ~ It was cute, unique and i could see myself rockin it (lol) ~ I was definitely up for the task at hand!

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All you need to make the LOVE necklace are copper wire (I purchased 8 yards for $2.99), jump rings (a pack of 85 for $2.99) necklace clasps (also $2.99, and I purchased a chain for $4.99) ~ Since I didn't have any tools at all, I decided to purchase a mini-starter tool kit for $9.99 which included wire cutters, round nose pliers, flat nose pliers and tweezers all of which I picked up at Michael's.

To start you write the word LOVE on a sheet of paper.

You then use the copper wire to trace the word LOVE and tape it to the paper to keep it secure ~ I didn't cut it from the strand to make sure I had more than enough wire to work with.

Once you finish tracing, you clasp an end of the copper wire to the jump ring and use the wire cutter to secure the clasp.

You then use small pieces of the copper wire to keep the letters secure using the wire cutters.



I then cut a piece of chain (you can make the necklace as long or as short as you like) and used a jump ring to secure the necklace clasp.



TAAAA-DAAAA!

I was pleasantly pleased with the outcome of my 1st DIY project and amazed that it only took around 30 minutes to make ~ I'm definately gonna rock my necklace and I'll rock it with lots and lots of LOVE!

DIY Love Necklace