Simple Leather and Bronze Jewelry
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If you have jump rings, a pendant, chain, cord ends, a clasp, and leather cord, you can make a simple necklace. All these components are available online or from your local craft stores. Add some earring hooks and you can create a matching set! In the US, we have major craft store chains like Michael's and JoAnn Fabrics, while even a big box retailer like Walmart may have the necessary materials in stock. This can be an inexpensive way to get started in making your own jewelry, or an easy way to create a handmade gift.
The only tools necessary are two sets of needle nose pliers and clippers. For jewelry work, smooth jaws work best. The usual textured jaws adding grip to most pliers will damage the finish on jewelry components, so seek smooth jaws. Mine are from Harbor Freight, a cheap tool retailer in the US. I may have also bought the flush cut clippers there, too. If you buy a jewelry tool kit at a craft store, it will include these and a few more useful tools for more advanced projects.
I did not get a good picture with the parts I used. This after-the-fact image will have to do. These are the metal components: chain, a lobster claw clasp, a heart pendant stand-in, cord ends, two large jump rings for the clasp and chain, and two small jump rings for the clasp and pendant. Next to the heart, you can see another jump ring twisted open properly. Do not pull the ends apart. Instead, twist the ring to open a gap. Two sets of pliers are usually needed. Mine have curved jaws, but that is a matter of preference.
Apologies for the blur. Cord ends vary somewhat from one manufacturer to another. These have a tab which bites into the cord to help secure it. Others may need a suitable glue, such as E6000. For these, I just used my pliers to crimp the U shape into a collar that surrounded my cord. On one cord end, I used the two large jump rings and the chain to create some adjustment options, a but more than 2"/5cm. by my estimate. Then I used a small jump ring as a simple bail to hold the pendant. Finally, I added the other cord end with another small jump ring and the clasp to make a complete necklace.
Apologies for the blur again. The earrings are a simple affair. I had enough matching pseudo-Victorian cameo pendants for a necklace and these earrings, so I used fish hook wires and more small jump rings to put these together in the same way I linked the necklace parts.
I would have tried to show the process of using these tools properly and putting things together, but since we have not had a nuclear war yet, my opportunities to mutate and grow extra limbs have been few and far between. I welcome non-war over a science fiction hypothetical, though.
If you would like to try this, there are various cord options, including braided leather and modern synthetic materials. Stainless steel, silver, and black nickel findings are widely available, and other finishes can be found, too. Adding a proper bail instead of just a jump ring would be a step up in quality. Some beads have holes large enough for cord to pass through, and if you make polymer clay beads or pendants, the sky is the limit on customization.
If you make this kind of jewelry, please share a picture of your work in the comments!
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