To have called me crafty as a little girl would’ve been an understatement. I promise you that any quintessential arts and crafts activity you can think of from your childhood, I definitely did, too. In my adult life now, I’m still interested in hobbies that are considered crafty, but for some reason, I never have the patience to sit down and pick one up like I used to.
That was, until I got into making jewelry.
Creating a beautiful new bracelet, necklace, or anything else that can be completely customized is so therapeutic. Now, when I have a specific vision or inspiration in mind, I have the agency and supplies to create it just how I had imagined.
Sometimes, I don’t even have anything in mind. Yet, it’s still so rewarding to have a finished product that I can wear over and over again. The best part has to be how easy and cheap of a hobby it is, so let me convince you with these beginner’s tips!
Tools
Virtually every accessory you can think to make can be made using the same few tools. If you want to start for yourself, all you need to invest in are some jewelry pliers and wire cutters. That’s it!
You can find more intricate tool kits online, which offer different types of pliers and a few more niche items, but if you don’t want to get fancy, there’s no need to. In fact, before I committed to the hobby, I used to use my eyebrow tweezers as pliers to fix the broken necklaces and bracelets already in my jewelry box.
Using just a few tools doesn’t mean that the quality of the pieces you make will go down either; making your own professional-grade jewelry is really just that cheap and simple.
Elastic String
While you can buy nearly a million different beads and charms because there are just so many options out there, real-deal jewelry can be reduced to just a few staple materials. If you want to start out making the easiest type of jewelry, then opt for bracelets made with elastic strings.
Using elastic material is just like being nine years old and crafting friendship bracelets with your BFF at a sleepover again. All you need is the string, beads, and some imagination. Assuming you purchase your elastic from a craft store, your finished products should last longer than those childhood bracelets. If you really want to be sure your masterpiece will survive, throw some super glue on the knot that completes the bracelet.
Chains
While using chains to make your jewelry may seem intimidating, I promise you that once you learn how to use them, you’ll never go back. You can simply buy rolls of different-sized and shaped chains from the craft store as well, and once you throw on a charm or two and a closure, you have your finished product.
With chain necklaces and bracelets, the little guys called “jump rings” will be your best friend. All you have to do is use your pliers to open the rings up and attach them (plus a charm, bead, or clasp) to one of the rungs of the chain. Once you get the hang of working with chains and you see how easily they turn into necklaces and bracelets, you’ll start to wonder why all the jewelry we see is so expensive.
Wire
Using stringing or beading wire to make your masterpieces is a little bit more complicated, but it’s still a breeze to catch on to. Really, the only added step in using wire is doubling it back and crimping it closed to attach your closure. Again, you can use the same tools as before to make a wire necklace or bracelet, and the whole process is relatively simple.
In this case, though, the added little bit of work pays off in the form of jewelry that’s by far the most robust and durable of the available options. Honestly, if you wear these creations out, people won’t be able to tell the difference between what you made at home and something being sold in stores.
It’s probably easy to tell that I’ve fallen in love with this hobby, and I have a feeling you will, too. It’s powerful to be able to harness your talents and create exactly what you want at a fraction of the price of what it would’ve cost anywhere else. If nothing else, give it a try and feel the joy and enrichment of arts and crafts like the ones you did when you were a child once again!
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