DIY Jewelry: Wire Wrapping Button Rings

Combine your jewelry making skills and learn how to wire wrap buttons. Design button rings, bracelets, and earrings by wrapping or coiling wire. Watch the Youtube video below for an easy step by step tutorial:

 

Click here for step by step tutorials: 

Tutorial #1 - Button Ring

Tutorial #2 - Button Necklace

DIY Jewelry Blog: Unusual Craft Tutorials

We found some great DIY jewelry projects and tutorial for artists interested in learning how to create unusual jewelry. Check out these strange do it yourself jewelry crafts. Choose from a variety of crafts including paper or fabric necklaces, necklaces made from matches, jewelry made from ponytail holders, and pom pom ball rings made out of duct tape. Interested in making these projects? See the jewelry tutorial links below. 

DIY Jewelry Tutorial #1

DIY Jewelry Tutorial #2

Ickynicks Jewelry is an online handmade shop for men and women. We design gold hoop earrings, sterling silver and stainless steel fashion jewelry.We provide links to tips and tricks for jewelry making.

Do It Yourself Jewelry: Currency Coin Necklace and Bracelet

Do you have too many coins lying around the house? Grab your jewelry wire, pliers, and several coins (pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters). Design a coin necklace or bracelet with just a few supplies! Want to make it colorful? Use nail polish to paint the coin. Give it a pretty pink or reddish look. You can also use European or foreign currency coins for this project.

 

Step by step tutorials: 

Tutorial #1 - Coin Charm Bracelet

Tutorial #2 - Wire Wrapping Coin Pendants 

Tutorial #3 - DIY Coin Charm Bracelet

 

Ickynicks Jewelry is an online handmade shop for men and women. Ickynicks designs gold hoop earrings, sterling silver and stainless steel hoop earrings. We provide links to tips and tricks for jewelry making.

DIY Jewelry Making: Stone Necklaces

Apply gemstones and crystals to jewelry making. Learn how to string your stone beads through jewelry wire and create a glamorous necklace. Watch the tutorial below to make a stone necklace using turquoise or blue beads. Get your pliers out and jewelry supplies ready to go!

YouTube Video Tutorial #1

Jewelry Tutorial #2

Ickynicks Jewelry is an online handmade shop for men and women. We design gold hoop earrings, sterling silver and stainless steel fashion jewelry.We provide links to tips and tricks for jewelry making.

Jewelry Finds at Goodwill Online

Do you make, or have you  considered making fashion jewelry, vintage jewelry, wire wrapping or beaded jewelry projects? 

1. Do you go to JoAnn's, Michael's or Hobby Lobby to purchase all of your supplies?
2. Is your average yearly cost of jewelry supplies over $300? 
3. Have you ever thought about shopping at pawn shops or thrift stores for charms, pendants, or beads?

Thrift stores are great resources for finding jewelry supplies, more than you may realize. Salvation Army, Goodwill and Volunteers of America often sell jewelry for a very reasonable and inexpensive price. Looking for a pair of matching beads, or a fun random bead assortment, or vintage charms and pendants? You can even find loose gemstones, rhinestones and pearls (if you look closely enough). Just take apart pieces of the necklace,or bracelet that you don't want and add to it. Shop Goodwill online for jewelry.

 

Jewelry finds at Goodwill online

Ickynicks Jewelry is an online handmade shop for men and women. Ickynicks designs gold hoop earrings, sterling silver and stainless steel hoop earrings. We provide links to tips and tricks for jewelry making.

DIY Jewelry Making Blog and Tutorial on Rope Knot Necklaces

Interested in making cord necklaces or rope knot jewelry? There are several websites online that provide by step tutorials on how to make this unique design. You only need a few supplies: clasp, pliers, crochet hook, gold chain, and string. Thee rope knot style is easy to use and you can make a variety of craft projects including belts, rings, headbands, and necklaces. Click on a tutorial link below to get started:

Tutorial #1 Rope Knotted Necklace

Tutorial #2 Step by Step Make a Cord Necklace

Tutorial #3 Rope Knotted Necklace 

DIY Jewelry: Button Necklaces, Rings, and Bracelets

Make jewelry from vintage buttons, brooches, or charms. Head to the thrift store to find old sewing buttons, or loose buttons in bags. Create a blue button necklace, stylish rings, or pink bracelets. Or add buttons as a pendant onto a necklace or leather bracelet. Get creative and find new ways of making fashion jewelry. Watch the Youtube video and follow the step by step tutorial on button jewelry making:

DIY Jewelry Supplies: Mixed Media

Do you know the basics of jewelry making? Are you interested in getting more creative? How about making bracelets out of buttons? Necklaces out of coins (pennies, dimes, quarters)? Rings from forks and spoons? Many jewelry designers prefer ‘traditional’ styles such as weaving beads or wire wrapping pendants. But why not think outside the box and get creative.

For your next jewelry project, grab objects that you wouldn’t often think of using. Most likely you can find these objects around your home or at the thrift store.  Here’s a list to get you started: buttons, coins, dice, puzzle pieces, board game pieces, dominoes, legos, keys, rocks, bottle caps, corkscrew, silverware, magnets, zippers, broken watches, broken CD's, records, camera parts, computer keyboard or typewriter keys. Then decide how you want to use these objects to create a necklace or bracelet.

Ickynicks Jewelry is an online handmade shop for men and women. Ickynicks designs gold hoop earrings, sterling silver and stainless steel hoop earrings. We provide links to tips and tricks for jewelry making.

Jewelry Lessons and Tutorials: Jewelrylessons.com

JewelryLessons.com is a great resource for crafters who are interested in advancing their skills in jewelry making.  An entire section on the website is devoted to DIY tutorials and patterns. You can search for specific tutorials based on the level of difficulty, type of jewelry you want to design, rating level, or jewelry techniques below:

• Wire wrapping
• Hand hammering (silversmith)
• Bead weaving with thread or wire 
• Polymer or metal clay
• Polishing or finishing stones, charms, or rings 
• Surface embellishment with pendants, bracelets, or rings
• Using string and fiber
• Metalsmith
• Men's Jewelry

DIY Jewelry Making: Wire Wrapping Rings

One of the most difficult things to do with jewelry is learning how to wrap wire. Before you begin, you want to ask yourself, 'what do I want to make?' Are you interested in wrapping wire to make rings, pendants, charms, earrings, or bracelets? This will help narrow it down. Once you decide, then you can begin to gather supplies and tools. If you decide to make rings, it's easier if you wrap the wire around small objects that you can find in your home. This includes liter bottle caps, wine corks, toilet paper rolls, or any type of small round objects.

What Do I Need? Basic Jewelry Supplies and Tools for Wire Wrapping:

1. Round wire (sizes 16, 18 or 20-gauge)
2. Beads (optional) sized between 6-10mm
3. Round or Chain Nose Pliers
4. Wire Cutters
5. Round small objects or 'ring mandrel' - any object that you can wrap the wire around to make it into a ring.

 

Tutorials on Wire Wrapping Rings:

• Wire Wrap Beaded Rings
• Stone Rings
• Knitted Bow Ring
• 13 DIY Jewelry Crafts
• Instructables: Wire Wrapping Tutorial
• Buying Tools and Supplies for Wire Wrapping

Alien Jewelry: Earrings, Pendants, Charms

Jewelry, Aliens, and UFO's. Never thought those words could be connected? Well we found a niche online made up of a small group of jewelry artisans who seem to love designing these beings. These artisans handcraft alien eyes, bodies, and UFO spaceships out of wire or polymer clay. There seems to be a market for it, especially on Etsy.com

Often when we think of 'alien' we picture green 'dudes,' however these artists present their jewelry as gray beings, or gold and brown. Do we really know the true skin color of alien beings? Or is there more than one? If humans have multiple skin colors, what do aliens have? 

Here's a list of Handmade Alien Earrings, Necklaces, Charms, Pendants:

1. Necklace: UFO Silver Pendant

2. Pendant: Alien Face Pendant for Necklace

3. Charms: Alien Body in Sterling Silver

4. Earrings: Blue and Silver UFO

 

6. Earrings: Black and Gold Alien Body Earrings 

5. Pendant and Charm: Silver Alien Head and Black Eyes 

 

 

 Do you know any Alien Artisan Designers? 

Market Local Craft Fairs and How Vendors Sell Products

Selling your handmade crafts or interested in visiting a local jewelry or craft show? It's amazing to see the diversity of craft fairs and items for sale when you're in a local town compared to a large city. Jewelry, purses, cosmetics, glassware,  woodworking and art booths are commonly displayed at craft fairs. Keep in mind that both buyers and sellers each have a goal in mind that needs to be fulfilled. Buyers, how can sellers attract your interest? Sellers, how can you get buyers interested in your product? Event Coordinators, what is the best way to market a craft show?

EVENT COORDINATORS: 

Keep in mind several factors when preparing for a craft fair: traffic, customers, quality products, booth display and interest. Traffic and customers are dependent upon advertising and marketing. Unfortunately, this means you have to rely on Event Coordinators (those who plan the craft show) to promote the craft fair and hope they have the knowledge to do so. Here's a list of ways to advertise. Often these places will have free advertising since it's for the public:

1. Craigslist
2. Submit a listing to websites that post craft show events.                               Ex. ArtFairCalendar.com, EventLister.com, NationalCraftShows.com
3. Post info to your city's website (if possible)
4. Social Media - post info to Twitter, Facebook, Google Plus, Pinterest. Or, post it to your town's Facebook page.
5. Newspapers (local or college)
6. Radio stations
7. PBS or local news TV stations
8. Place signs around town, local shops, or at the college campus 
9. Bulletin Boards  - put flyers up in shops or restaurants  
10. Chamber of Commerce 
11. Word of Mouth to coworkers, clients, neighbors, friends or family

VENDORS:

Once the Event Coordinators market the craft event, it's now up to you to sell your product. Craft fairs may seem intimidating for introverts (and extroverts) because there's lots of face time and direct interaction with potential customers. In an essence, you're a salesman/saleswoman whose goal is to make money and break even after the booth fee. 

But selling isn't the only way to grab customers. You need to have quality products and a colorful booth display. Forget the dark tablecloth and black jewelry stands from Joann's and Michael's. Use bright and cheery colors (not neon or dark) for the tablecloth, stands, or holders. If you choose to use dark stands/holders/shelves, than hang colorful beads, short curtain shades or lights around the booth to make it stand out and colorful. Make sure you have enough products on your table so it looks busy, but not overcrowded. If it looks too bare, customers will be turned off and may think you don't have anything to sell. Most importantly, keep your table organized. Necklaces on one side and rings on the other. Buyers are attracted to your booth, not just the product you're selling. In fact, customers might not be interested in your product, but they may like the look or 'appeal' of your booth and decide to walk over and take a look. Now you've caught their attention and you have a chance to sell your item!

Is Jewelry Gendered?

Is Jewelry 'gender specific'? What Type of Men Wear Jewelry? For What Purpose? 

Men and women both wore jewelry in prehistoric times for symbolic reasons. Men, especially rulers and wealthy folk, wore jewelry to emphasize control, money, power, and honor. Handcrafted pieces were constructed differently for each gender and crafted from multiple fabrics, metals, and ornaments (charms, pendants). 

Wearing certain pieces of jewelry reflected an individual's social rank and class status. In this case, warriors and rulers wore head dresses, special garments, and jewelry to emphasize 'male honor.' 

 

Currently, there are many native societies around the world where both men and women wear jewelry to reflect their traditional rituals (puberty, passage into adulthood).  Warriors within the Naga culture of India wear large necklaces to symbolize honor in killing, or 'headhunting'. Necklaces are constructed of animal skulls, fur, brass rings, and feathers. Other native cultures in Indonesia and the Philippines dress themselves with rings and large 'red hornbill' earrings.

In this modern era, is hyper-masculinity causing men to rethink about wearing large hoops, earrings, and bracelets?

Further Reading:

"Jewelry and Gender," Thesis Paper by Rebecca Ross Russell