Craft Charm Necklace

I made a charm necklace – and I love it!  At the Michael’s Blogger’s event, one of the crafts was jewelry making.  This was definitely out of my crafting comfort zone.  But I might need to give jewelry-making another try because it was really fun and I love the results.

The whole idea and concept behind this necklace comes from Jo Pearson – she had an amazing one on that she created for herself – I should have gotten a picture.  She saw snaps one day (yes, they have them at Michael’s) and thought they’d make a great element in jewelry, and so she tried it – it’s such a fun look.  So yes, those black circle things are sew-on snaps.

UPDATE: – – in case you want to see a regular charm necklace (not just craft charms) and want a detailed supply and instruction list, check it out on Michael’s Site, Altered Snap Necklace.

I didn’t get any tutorial pictures as I made it, but I want to walk you through it.

You just need some snaps, chain, charms, and a bunch of jump rings.  Use jump rings to connect all the snaps together – just string them inside the holes where you normally would sew – and to connect the snaps to the chain.  Then again, use the jump rings to connect the charms so they hang down from the snaps.

Michael’s provided a variety of charms and trinkets, but I dug through and grabbed all the craft-related ones so my necklace would have a craft theme.  Let’s look at the charms up close:

From left to right:
interlocking hearts – love of crafting
“love life” charm with queen crown
thimble
dream
mirror
sewing machine charm with a dangle heart added – love of sewing
scissors
safety pins
camera – integral in blogging crafts
locket – I thought I could put a pic of a bee in there
passion and imagine
mirror

In kindergarten, I had a plastic charm necklace (anyone else? they were all the rage) and it had a record charm on it.  Well messing with my necklace at school one day I got my finger caught in the middle of the record.  So much so that they had to call my mom who had to take me to the doctor to get it cut off with a cast saw.  True Story.  But that didn’t dissuade my love of charm necklaces.

I never thought of making a charm necklace but I am in love with it now that I did – big thanks to Michael’s for introducing me to the fun of jewelry making.  I have already worn it several times and it is a conversation piece – I wore it more dressed up with a cardigan and then dressed down with a tshirt, and it works both ways.

My neighbor remarked “that is such a unique, statement piece” – and it’s true.

As a non-jewelry crafter, I’m here to tell you, you can do this!  Grab some charms that tell who you are and get started – you’ll love it!