A Bracelet or 2

A quick and easy project that makes a great statement for not a lot of money is rethinking jewelry. My favorite thing to do is dig at garage sales and the flea market for ugly jewelry for little cash. Most ugly jewelry has solid bones, you just have to look at it bead by bead. If the individual beads themselves are awesome, just the piece as a whole is ugly, then it's right up my alley.

Old and used necklaces are usually where you'll get the most bang for your buck. I can't wear heavy necklaces or ones that lay close to my neck. I had surgery on my neck to remove my thyroid a few years back and have had nerve issues ever since. Weight at my neck or the feel of it laying there freaks my neck out. So cutting up necklaces doesn't faze me in the least since I'm remaking it into a bracelet I can wear and love.

For this post I will show you how to tear into a simple necklace to rethink it into some awesome stretch bracelets.

I found this necklace for $1 at the flea market a few weeks ago. It's a fine necklace but it has 2 things wrong with it for me.
1. it's heavy
2. it touches my neck to much

By the way, ALL the beads in that case were from a garage sale for less then $6. The pendants I got on clearance for less then $2 each. I NEVER pay full price.

Anyway, I got out my handy dandy wire cutter that you can get at Michael's, Walmart or Joann's, any where that sells jewelry making stuff. They are pretty cheap. No more then about $5. You don't really need wire cutters for the stretch cord, but they are good to have if you use other material for making jewelry.
Find a spot near the closer and snip. Be sure to have your necklace close to your work surface and over a container. My container was the open side of the lid to my bead case.

Once I pulled everything off of the necklace, I took out a handful of the color beads I'd like to use to add to the white ones. I went with a teal and white theme.
I used a stretch cord that I bought at Walmart for less then $2. You can get it really any place that sells jewelry making stuff. Check the cord size before you buy! The thicker the cord, the less likely it'll fit most beads. For this I used .8mm. Don't go to small either or it might be too weak for everyday wear.

I have learned to just keep the cord on the spool as I work. This way if I drop it, I only have 1 open end. Some people like to plan their bracelet ahead of time and line it up. I just wing it because that's how I roll. So start stinging!

Once I have the bracelet the length that I want, I test it on my wrist, just cut it free of the spool. I like to knot mine at least 3 times. TIGHT! After each knot, put a dab of jewelry glue on it. Again, glue is where you find jewlery supplies and is around $5.

In about an 1 1/2 hrs, while watching tv with the kids, this is what I made.

5 bracelets. 3 of them have parts of the necklace that I cut up. I still have a ton of beads left from it for more projects down the line.

These 2 I made a few weeks ago for a friend of mine. The white one has got to be my favorite so far. It too is from a super ugly find at the flea market for $1. Every bead part of these are from my $6 garage sale stash, and 2 ugly necklaces. Even if you poke around the cast offs that you have and you feel like it's not enough to make something, make a pile somewhere. It really doesn't take much to get a full bracelet. You'll have a huge supply in no time.

Sorry for the fuzzy shot, cell pick forwarded to cell forwarded to computer. You get the idea.

Next I want to tackle making this super light and versatile necklace that I found at the flea market. Every time I wear it, I get a compliment on it.

It goes with EVERYTHING I wear. I can barely feel it and the best part... I got it for $1. I'm telling you, the flea market is the place to be!

I'll share my how to's with you once I figure out how to!