Tutorial: DIY Infinity Jewelry Links

In this tutorial, I'm going to show how to make infinity S-links to use in your jewelry designs.  First, let me give you the link to a tutorial that I used to first learn how to make these components:  Lisa Yang's Jewelry Blog.

Lisa's blog post is excellent and shows how to make a pretty Infinity Love Bracelet.  Her bracelet is made up entirely of infinity links and jump rings.  But these little guys also come in handy to link beads, chain and other components.  I use them in earrings, bracelets, necklaces, stickpins, etc.

Here are the tools and supplies you need:

• 18 gauge wire of your choosing
• Round nose pliers
• Wire cutters
• Jewelry file and steel wool
• Ruler

I also like to hammer the links - for this you need:

• Chasing hammer
• Jeweler's steel block and sandbag

Okay, so here's how you do it:

Cut your wire into one inch pieces. Make sure both ends are flush cut so there are no sharp edges. I like to make several at a time. Here I am using a combination of gold and silver colored artistic wire. You can use any type of craft wire.  You can also use sterling silver or gold filled wire - but it really needs to be 18 gauge no matter what type of wire. That just seems to be the right weight and thickness for these links.

Next use your jewelry file to smooth the ends. Make sure to slide the ends in the same direction instead of going back and forth. Going in the same direction keeps the edges smoother. After filing the ends, jab the ends back and forth through your steel wool - this further smooths them.

Now it is time to make your loops. Make a small loop at one end of your wire using your round nose pliers like so:

Then make another loop on the other end going in the opposite direction:

This is what your loop will look like - it might be a bit crooked but we will fix that in a moment.

Use some nylon jaw pliers to straighten and correct any defects. Sorry I did not show them pictured in the introductory pictures but here you can see how I used them below:

Now your link should look like this:

Next I like to hammer the links to flatten and more importantly harden them. Use the larger part of your chasing hammer to do this:

Here are a bunch of silver, gold and copper links after I hammered them:

Now you are ready to use your infinity links in whatever project your imagination comes up with. Here's a pair of earrings and a bracelet I made using them:

Pink Vintage Beaded Earrings

Two-Tone Gold & Silver Glass Beaded Bracelet

Copper & Aluminum Infinity Bracelet

What might you use these pretty infinity links for?  I would love to see whatever designs you come up with. Send them to me and I'll be sure to post them.

Till next time!

Irene

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Upcycled Vintage Rhinestone Earrings - From My Grandmother's Collection

Last week I went to say good-bye to my grandmother who passed away just three weeks shy of her 103rd birthday. The service was inspirational and was truly a celebration of her long and meaningful life.

Although it is impossible to completely capture the essence of her life, I feel compelled to at least note some of life highlights of my Grandmother - Creola May Starnes:

• Born in Arkansas in 1912. 
• Moved with her family to North Carolina in her early teens.
• Married at age 15 to my Grandfather and raised five children - my mother being the oldest.
• Spent countless hours volunteering and being active in her church.
• Earned a business degree while in her forties - keep in mind this was in the 1950's when many women did not go to college much less consider getting a business degree.
• Established the first church daycare center in the city of Kannapolis, NC because she saw a need for working mothers to have access to child care.
• After raising their five children, she and my Grandfather moved to Winston Salem, NC and served several years as house-parents for adolescent parentless boys.
• Retired and moved to Waxhaw, NC where she became an advocate for seniors and their caregivers.
• Obtained certification in Gerontology from Livingstone College and served as President of the Union County NC Chapter of AARP.
• Retired a second time at age 78 and became caregiver for my Grandfather who had developed Alzheimer's - she cared for him until his death in 1989.
• After surviving her husband's death, she lived another 26 years until the age of 103.  Her legacy continues through her 16 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild.

I like to try to keep the memory alive of those who I have known and loved. I was fortunate enough to be given some of my Grandmother's old vintage jewelry. And I decided that I would like to repurpose some of these treasures so that I could wear and cherish them while continuing to honor her life for years to come.

This pair of vintage clip-on rhinestone earrings has lots of history and I could not bear thinking of these pretty pieces just sitting somewhere in a drawer. So I decided to convert them into a pair of post earrings that I could wear and enjoy and remember my Grandmother every time I wear them.  Here is what they originally looked like:

The first thing I had to do was to remove the screw-on clips. I did this by snipping them with a pair of wire cutters, then filed off the rough edges with a jewelry file. This is how they look with the backs snipped off and filed:

Next, I found a pair of post earrings to set the rhinestone dangles onto. I liked these pretty antique silver posts that I bought from VintageJewelrySupplies.com:

Then I used E-6000 glue to attach the dangles onto the posts.  I use E-6000 for any jewelry project requiring glue because it holds forever - and I do mean forever! The only tricky part was finding a way to hold the posts upright and flat in order to give time for the glue to set - it takes 24 hours for E-6000 glue to set.  So it is important to find a way to stabilize it while it sets. 

What I came up with was folding and taping a piece of bubble wrap, then sticking the posts down into the bubble wrap. Then I used a dab of glue (it only takes a dab) to adhere the rhinestone dangles onto the posts. To make sure there was good adherence I placed a piece of tape across the top of the earrings and let it set for 24 hours:

And after 24 hours, here is what they looked like:

I am quite pleased with the outcome and can't wait to wear them!  I just love the idea of wearing something that my Grandmother once wore.

I will not be selling this pair of earrings, but I have lots of other items for sale in my two Etsy shops: 

DJAjewels.etsy.com

EyeglassChainsEtc.etsy.com

Tutorial: How to Make Spiral Bead Caps

This week I have a nice little tutorial on how to make your own spiral bead caps. This post is part of my "Test This Tutorial" series in which I find a tutorial on Pinterest and try it out for myself.

I found this tutorial at LisaYangJewelry.com. In Lisa's tutorial, she shows how she makes these bead caps, and she references a tutorial from JewelryMakingJewelry.com written by Rena Klingenberg. I urge you to check out both of these sites as each one puts a slightly different twist on the tutorial. I think it's always good to see how different people approach a project design because we all find our own little unique ways of doing things.

To make these DIY bead caps you will need the following items:

• Wire - I used 20 gauge silver tone Zebra wire
• Beads - either 8mm or 10mm - I used an 8mm round glass bead
• Wire cutters
• Round nose pliers
• Flat nose pliers
• Jewelry file
• A round or dome shaped object for forming the dome of your bead cap - I used a small dapping punch - but I found the end of a pen also works quite well

Cut a 2 1/2 inch piece of wire. I actually make these in pairs, so I go ahead and cut two pieces of wire.

File the ends of each piece of wire using the jewelry file. This makes the ends nice and smooth so they will not catch on clothing or skin.

Now use your round nose pliers to begin a simple loop at one end of the wire.

Next use your flat nose pliers to grasp the loop and begin making your coil.  Use your fingers to shape the wire into a spiral.

Now here I did something not mentioned in Lisa's and Rena's tutorials. I found I had a little piece of wire sticking out from the coil - see it in the last picture above?  I used my round nose pliers to "tuck" it in just beside the last coil.

Much better!

Now it is time to dome your bead cap so that it fits nicely over a round bead. In Rena's tutorial, she places the spiral through the end of her round nose pliers and pushes the edges down to make the dome. Lisa used a different technique - she used a steel doming block to form the dome.

I took Lisa's suggestion and used a dapping punch to form the dome. I simply placed the bead cap over the top of the dome and pushed downward - and it worked great. 

Now because I know everybody doesn't have dapping punches, I also tried it using the tip of a medium sized pen - and it really worked quite well. You can really use your imagination and use whatever is handy in your home.

And finally, here are my bead caps!

And here is what they look like on a bead:

These were so much fun to make, I made a whole bunch of them. This time I used silver plated craft wire - and they look beautiful!

Now I can't wait to use them in some pretty jewelry designs!

I hope you will try making some of these bead caps yourself. If you do, I would love to see them!

Test This Tutorial: Wire-Wrapped Heart Necklace

This week I am starting a new series of posts called "Test This Tutorial." For each post I will find a DIY tutorial on Pinterest and test it out. I will describe and photograph my DIY attempts as I follow the tutorial. And hopefully I will be able to replicate the item - with my own twist of course.

I will naturally link back to the original source of each tutorial, giving credit to the original author.

With Valentine's Day approaching, I chose this Wire-Wrapped Heart Necklace Tutorial. Find the Pinterest pin here or go to my Jewelry Tutorial Board. The original tutorial can be found at Happy Hour Projects.  This site has some nice jewelry and craft tutorials as well as some great recipes.

Here's a screenshot from my computer of the post from Happy Hour Projects. The screenshot shows what the necklace should look like and also shows a picture of Adrianne - the artist and designer who authors Happy Hour Projects.

What I like about this tutorial is that is simple with good photographs to follow along the way. You will need to have some basic wire-wrapping skills - specifically wire-wrapping a simple wire loop.

I will not be showing you the details on how to make this pendant. Be sure to visit Happy Hour Projects' original post for detailed instructions and photos.

For this project you need:

• 18 gauge wire - about 5 inches
• One 10mm bead
• Round nose and flat nose pliers
• Wire cutters
• Optional 6mm jump ring

I'll start by showing you my finished pendant:

Not perfect, but not too bad. But let me also share some of my first attempts. Now Adrianne at Happy Hour Projects used silver plated copper wire for her project. But I started out using some black gunmetal wire because it is inexpensive, and I knew (correctly so) that I would likely have to start over a few times.

Here's my first attempt - I have no idea how I mangled the wire so badly!

Here's my second attempt - barely better than my first!

Three's the charm - well almost. I got the shape right but marred the wire with my pliers.

Finally I gave up on the gunmetal wire. It is really quite stiff and not very malleable. I found some 18 gauge brown parawire - it really looks like antique copper and is a great deal easier to manipulate than the gunmetal.

Of course you can use any type of wire - Adrianne used silver plated copper wire in her original tutorial at Happy Hour Projects.

Here is my final attempt using the brown parawire  and a 10mm red glass bead:

I chose not to use a jump ring for attaching the pendant to the chain as was in the original tutorial. I simply slid one side of the heart onto the chain.

I think I will likely have to make a few more of these pendants before I make them as perfectly as found at Happy Hour Projects. Still, all in all I am pleased with my pendant.

Till next time!
Irene