THESE JEWELLERY CRAFTS TAKE LESS THAN 5 MINUTES EACH TO MAKE

Welcome to another Wacky Workshops project – making jewellery.

This is the first of two Wacky Workshops projects for Christmas gift ideas as promised in my post 3 Brilliant Steps to Save Christmas Stress and Money.

These very simple and inexpensive projects are great to keep but also make fantastic gifts and with Christmas around the corner, they could be just the thing you need.

BONUS JEWELLERY PROJECT

At the end of the 5 projects to make in 5 minutes for less than $5, I will give you another project, equally gorgeous, easy and cheap but takes slightly longer to make.

Most of these ideas involve a bit of recycling, which I am a huge fan of doing. In my post  Trash to Treasure – It’s Easy I outline several ways of transforming the old into the new. In this disposable world we live in it is such a good idea to try and find ways to recycle as it not only saves you money but also helps our planet, struggling under the weight of so much garbage.

LET’S GET STARTED

1. CHRISTMAS EARRINGS

I love these little earrings and cannot wait to start wearing mine at all the Christmas parties. They are sweet and sparkly and guaranteed that no two will be the same (just like snowflakes) so make a unique and wonderful gift. The best part is what they’re made from; brace yourself, it’s the humble paper clip. Amazing right?

SUPPLIES

• Paper clips
• Sticky Tape
• Clear craft glue
• Earring findings (the hooks or clasps that go in your ear)
• Embroidery or other thin thread. I used silver as it’s great for Christmas, but you could use any colours. Try red and green for a different Christmas feel, or rainbow colours for any time of year.

METHOD

• Unbend the paper clips and re-bend into triangle shapes.
• Hold together with a small piece of sticky tape.
• Add the earring finding to the top.
• Tie the string onto a bottom corner of the paper clip and hold in place with a dot of glue
• Put a small amount of glue on the sides and bottom of the paper clip to stop the string from slipping around.
• Wind the string around and around the paper clip until you are happy with the look.
• Tie a knot at the end and add a dot of glue to secure.

It took me just over four minutes to make two earrings. I plan to make a bunch of these to give as gifts this year.

2. EARRING NECKLACE

This one is so simple it’s crazy. If you have one earring but have lost the other, remove the post or clasp at the back and thread a chain through it – instant necklace.

3. EARRING MAGNETS

This one is also super simple.  Turn a lone earring into something special by glueing a magnet to the back. Now you have a beautiful magnet, instead of a useless piece of jewellery. If you buy a cheap notepad and pen, you can wrap them together with the magnet for a lovely gift.

Another way to reuse a lone earring is to turn it into a brooch.

4. NECKLACE INTO BRACELET

I had an old beaded necklace that was looking really out of fashion and quite raggedy. I broke it apart and put the larger beads aside for use later then used the small beads to thread onto memory wire for a trendy bracelet. All you do is thread on the beads, then use pliers to bend the wire at the ends to stop the beads falling off. Easy peasy!

I loved it so much I made a matching set of earrings.

If you don’t have an old necklace to transform, find one in an op shop. There is no need to spend a fortune on beads for these projects.

5. WASHER/NUT BRACELETS

   

Whenever we go to Thailand or Bali I buy a bunch of friendship bracelets to hand out on our return. What strikes me is that the boys/men like them just as much as the girls. These bracelets are a play on the old friendship bracelet. The addition of the nuts and washers make them great as gifts for men and boys. I’ve seen similar bracelets for sale in Australian tourist shops for $10 – $15. It will cost you less than $5 to make dozens of these at home and even less if you already have the washers and nuts in a toolbox.

All you need is some leather, washers and nuts (cheap to buy at any hardware).

The nut bracelet is the easiest.

• Fold a length of leather in half.
• Tie a knot near the fold, leaving a small loop.
• Thread a nut onto the leather.
• Tie a knot near the nut.
• Repeat until you run out of leather and finish with another knot.
• Fold another piece of leather in half and tie around end of bracelet (I used brown leather so you could see more easily in the pictures, but you would normally use the same leather)

  

• Thread a nut through this new piece of leather and knot at the other end.
• Slide this end of the new leather into the loop you made with the first piece of leather – now the bracelet can be loosened and tightened.

The washer bracelet looks best if you use two different sized washers.

• Cut your leather into three lengths.
• Knot the pieces together and start plaiting
• Thread two of the three leather pieces down through first the small and then the larger washers, leaving the other strand at the back to keep the washers flat.
• Plait a few more times, then thread the washers again.
• Repeat this until you have no more leather.
• Use another short strap of leather and attach as per the nut bracelet, so the bracelet can be tightened and loosened.

BONUS PROJECT

WIRE NECKLACE

This beautiful wire necklace is just as cheap as the other projects but takes a bit longer than 5 minutes – probably more like 15 -20 minutes.

SUPPLIES

• An assortment of beads
• A roll of jewellery wire – the gauge doesn’t matter too much as long as it’s not too thin.
• Pliers
• Silver, elastic cord.

METHOD

• Thread a bead onto the end of the wire and use the pliers to bend the end wire back across the first bead.
• Add the rest of the beads you want to form the middle of your necklace.

  

   

• When you have enough beads for the centre, keep winding the wire around the beads, making a big circle. As you go you will have to stop now and again and use short pieces of wire to randomly hold the circle together and keep its shape.

  

   

• Every time you add a short piece of wire, add a little bead to it, so you have beads randomly spaced over the necklace.
• When you are happy with your design, use the pliers to twist off the end of the wire so the whole thing stays together. Add the silver cord (I used this instead of a chain to keep it extra cheap, but it also looks great and is more comfortable to wear).

I hope you enjoyed these craft ideas and they help you out with Christmas gift ideas. Check out my Pinterest board for more Christmas gift inspiration.

Happy crafting, and have a gleeful week, Tamuria.