Jewelry Making 101! Part 4- button bracelet

Welcome to our fourth and final installment of jewelry making 101! (part 1- supplies, part 2- basic skills, and part 3- earrings) I hope over the past few days you've enjoyed learning about jewelry making made a few pieces you love! I would LOVE (I mean thrilled to pieces) to see anything you've made using my mini series! (email me: kittycatsandairplanes@gmail.com) Who knows, I might do a featured post of anything you guys have made! :)

Anyway, putting my excitement behind me and moving on to what you're really interested in, the button bracelet! I absolutely love this button bracelet and I'm so excited to walk you through how to make one of your own.

Yeah, I love it. I love the way it clinks and I love how simple yet unique it is. And by your sweet comments you seem to love it too! :) So let's make one!

You will need:

• A length of chain that will fit around your wrist 
• Clasp
• ~ 50 buttons*
• ~ 50 jump rings*

*The amount of buttons and jump rings entirely depends on you. I put one button on each link of my chain which is a lot of buttons and jump rings! However, I have unnaturally tiny wrists, so my bracelet is pretty small. This amount will vary from bracelet to bracelet, use your best judgment and get a few extra of everything. :)

To get a chain the length of your wrist, simply wrap the chain around your wrist and mark the link with your pliers. Open up the link the same way you would a jump ring and slid the the length you measured out of the rest of the chain.

This is what you should have at this point, a 7 or so inch chain with an open link.

Slid a clasp into the open link and then twist the link back together.

Attach a jump ring to the other end and you've got a bracelet! A very boring one, but a bracelet nonetheless.

Now you can add allll of your buttons!

Open up a jump ring and slid the button through.

Attach the button with the jump ring onto the first link and close it! One down, 49 or so to go....

When you attach your next button, make sure to do it on the opposite side that you did previously, this way the bracelet will look fuller and won't have random spots that look button-less.

It will take a while, but keep adding buttons on each link on opposite sides.

In an hour so so you'll end up with a fabulous button bracelet that you won't want to take off. I've used buttons with holes on the face as well as buttons with shanks and both have worked beautifully for me.

Want to make a matching pair of earrings too?? The process is almost identical and takes a lot less time!

You will need:

• An inch or so length of chain for each earring
• A pair or ear wires
• ~20 jump rings
• ~20 buttons

Attach a one inch length of chain to an ear wire using pliers.

Using the same method as the button bracelet, open a jump ring, slid a button in and attach it to a link on the chain. Continue all the way up....

And very quickly you'll have a button earring! Repeat the steps to create another one.

Huzzah!!! You've successfully made yourself some fabulous jewelry! Great job, I knew yo could do it. :) I really hope you've enjoyed Jewelry Making 101, and if you have any other questions or would like me to do a tutorial on something else just let me know!!

And be sure to click my "Link Parties" tab to see all the fabulous places I'm linking this up to!
I'm submitting this as my best of 2010!



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Did you like any of the jewelry I made? Well...if you did, and you'd like one of the exact same pieces I've made you can go to my brand newly opened Esty shop and purchase anything you've seen me make there!!!!

That's right!!! It's open and has some beautiful pieces listed there. Head on over and help me make my first sale!