some kind of wonderful: Adventures in Jewelry Making

So, I have a new hobby that I am totally into right now but will probably be totally over in about a month. I am now a jewelry maker!!! Just add it to the long list of other hobbies I have attempted in the past like scrap booking, sewing, scarf making, tortilla making, running (this one has surprisingly stuck), etc.

I see so many cute and easy DIY jewelry tutorials on Pinterest so I decided to take a shot at it!

So far I have only made a couple of bracelets and one necklace but I am really loving it and I have a few more projects that I will take on as soon as my supplies come in the mail!

First up we have this braided bead bracelet. The tutorial I followed used satin ribbon cording, but I could not find beads with a big enough hole to use that stuff. Instead, I bought some natural colored twine at Michael's for $2.99 and a bag of beads at Joann's for like $4.

I used an end crimp and and lobster clasp at the end of my bracelet to close it but you could always just tie it in a knot.

Then I decided to get a little more fancy and make a beaded clay bracelet like one I saw here on Etsy. All you need for this is some oven bake clay, toothpicks, chain and some sort of clasp to close it all up (some jewelry making tools like pliers and a chain cutter are needed also).

You can find tons of colors of oven bake clay at craft stores for just a couple of dollars each . All you do is roll out some beads, poke a hole through them with a toothpick, and stick them in the oven and bake using the package directions. Then just string your beads on your chain and add your clasp. Voila! Cute, inexpensive bracelet!

All the supplies I bought to make this probably cost me about $20. That includes 5 blocks of clay, 72 inches of chain, a box of clasps, a box of small jump rings and a box of medium jump rings (I use these to hold the beads in the middle of the bracelet so they don't slide all over the place).

So far I have made three bracelets and only used up the tiniest bit of clay and I still have enough chain to make at least three more bracelets. All in all, I would say that each bracelet costs about $3 to make.

This weekend I finished up this braided bead necklace that I have been working on. I think it may be my favorite thing I have made yet! All I needed was 6 strings of beads (they come 2 per pack) from Michael's ( I got them when they were on sale for 40% off and then I had an additional coupon for 20% off my entire purchase so they were practically free). I also picked up some of that clear plastic thread stuff that looks like fishing line, something called a bead clamp and used some chain and a lobster clasp that I already had on hand from my bracelet making. Total this necklace probably cost be about $6 to make.