Lately I’ve been pairing graphic tees with little tailored jackets, a trend that’s become popular around town here in Boston. But the key to the look is adding a big statement necklace. So I decided to make one, of course. I wanted something with a feminine look to balance the darker feel of my Obey tee that you can see below. The perfect solution: sparkly faux gemstones.
I used some silver plated chain too, because I love combining different types of materials. I’m really happy with the finished product; I think it has a bit of a rocker chic sort of feel. And I got a compliment from a stranger at Starbucks… so that’s a good sign.
In addition to a pair of scissors and a pushpin or thumbtack, here’s what you’ll need to make your own gemstone necklace:
In lieu of store-bought craft plastic, you can also use plastic packaging like I did. I used the flat part of the clear plastic packaging on a pair of scissors I had bought recently (shown in photo #1 below).
1. First, dig through your recycling bin to find a piece of clear plastic packaging. Cut three rectangular pieces of plastic, each about 3″x2″ in size.
2. Next, lay out your gems on your work surface. I played around with mine quite a bit until I was happy with the shape. The key is to make sure that the right half of the necklace is the same as the left half… also, the general shape should be a rounded semi-circle so that it fits comfortably around your neck. But go crazy otherwise!
3. Divide your gem arrangement into three sections. Now begin gluing the gems from the first section to one of the pieces of plastic. Be sure to keep the gems fairly snug up against each other. And as you can see, it will look pretty messy – and that’s okay! Once you’ve finished this first section of gems, remove all of the glue strings that have undoubtedly accumulated.
4. Now, use a pair of scissors to cut off the excess plastic. Cut as close to the outer edge of the gems as possible. Then use your X-Acto knife to carefully trim off any remaining pieces of plastic that are still visible between the outer gems.
5. Now it should look like this.
6. Next, take your second piece of plastic and glue it to the underside of your first gem section. Make sure you position it so that you’ll have space for all of your gems. Repeat the gluing process with your second section of gems on this new piece of plastic. And now repeat all of step 6 again with the third section. Trim everything as you did in step 4, leaving a small tab on each end as shown in photo 7.
7. Use a pushpin to poke a hole in each end tab.
8. Cut two equal pieces of chain. Mine were each about 5″ long (I do have a small neck though). Hold everything up to your neck and look in the mirror to determine the length you need. Then loop 1″ of wire through the hole in the plastic, around the last link of the chain, and over to the back, gluing the excess wire down on the back side of the plastic. Repeat on the other side, and then attach the clasp to the open ends of the chain pieces.
And now you have a glamorous new statement necklace that’s perfect for a night out on the town! Easy peasy, right?
This project is great because you can really customize the shape and color if you’re feeling creative. For my next necklace I’m planning to paint some gems metallic pink and mix them in with the silver and black ones.
I also made a hairpin using this same technique… I’ll share that with you next week. I bet you could make a killer pair of earrings too. The possibilities are endless. Have fun guys, happy crafting!
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