Turn Your Children's Artwork into Jewelry - Simple Gifts

 

Do you have a particularly darling piece of artwork that your child has made and would like some way to preserve it and even possibly show it off?  Or how about share it with Grandma or Aunt Susie?  You can easily turn your child's artwork into a pendant!  All it takes is a few art supplies! 

SUPPLIES NEEDED: 

• Scanned or photographed artwork
• Glass pebbles or stones from Dollar Tree or other floral supply/aquarium supply places
• Printed artwork (see below)
• Aleene's Clear Tacky craft glue
• One glue-on bail per pendant (see instructions HERE)
• Mod Podge
• E6000 adhesive
• Clear spray paint or clear nail polish.

First, you will need to scan or photograph your child's artwork and save the image to your computer.  You can also take it to Walmart and use their photo printing machines to make tiny photos.  If you download it to your computer, use either Microsoft Word or photo software such as Picasa (free) to resize and retouch the picture.  You will likely need to boost the saturation and contrast to make the colors more vivid. Use the setting that prints showing the entire photo. 

Print out photos in 1 x 1 inch or 1.5 x 1.5 inch squares.  Cut out each photo, and leave enough room so that a little paper is available to stick out on each side of the photo.

Coat the back of the glass marble with the clear tacky glue.  You can use Mod Podge, but it risks smearing the ink because Mod Podge takes longer to dry.  Press the glass to the photo firmly so that the entire photo is adhered to the back of the pebble and there are no bubbles.  

Allow to dry completely, at least a couple of hours.  Once dry, trim excess paper from around glass, and apply 2 thin coats of Mod Podge.  Thin coats are better than thick coats because they take longer to dry and can cause the colors to deteriorate if too much is applied.  

Allow to dry thoroughly between each coat of Mod Podge.  Once dry, secure glue-on bail to the back of the pendant, making sure that the stem and bail stick up at an appropriate point to make the pendant hang straight.  Again, allow to dry thoroughly.  

Once the glue-on bail has completely dried (I recommend 24 hours), coat the entire back of the pendant with either spray-on clear acrylic spray paint (I use Walmart's generic brand) or coat with clear nail polish.  Doing so will give a nearly waterproof seal, as Mod Podge is water soluble and can eventually come off if not sealed.  Allow to dry thoroughly.  

Once completely dry, flip over, and string your wonderful creation on ribbon, chain, a leather cord, or satin rat tail cord.  It will become a darling, personalized keepsake to show off your child's artwork!

Simple Gifts - Homemade Glue-On Wire Bail for Pendants

 Glue-on bails are so much fun.  They can turn just about anything into a pendant to wear as necklace.  However, buying glue-on bails is expensive if you're trying to keep costs down.  There's an easier way.  Grab a spool of Artistic Wire jewelry grade wire from a craft store such as Hobby Lobby or Michael's and make your own!

I usually buy around 20 gauge wire in a nontarnish finish.  There are several colors, but I'm fond of the simple colors such as silver, gold, or aged brass. 

I'll be doing another post on Wednesday for hardware store jewelry as a  simple gift, and these glue-on bails make excellent parts of this project, so watch for the blog post! 

GLUE-ON WIRE BAILS 

ITEMS NEEDED:

• Approximately 6-7 inches of jewelry grade wire (I prefer Artistic Wire brand)
• Wire snips
• Needle-nose pliers wrapped with tape or round nosed pliers for jewelry making
• An ink pen or pencil to serve as a mandrel to wrap the wire around
• E6000 glue (to glue bail onto object). 

General information: Keep in mind the weight of the object this bail is going to be glued to.  If the object is heavier, you may want to use the double-loop technique for more strength.  If you wish to just use a single-loop bail, you may want to use a heavier/thicker gauge wire. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR SINGLE-LOOP GLUE-ON WIRE BAIL:  Snip off approximately 6-7 inches of wire.  Straighten the wire and run it between your fingers several times to heat and soften the wire.  Eyeball  approximately the middle of the wire  and wrap it around your pen/pencil.  Twist it 3-4 times.  Make sure ends of wire are even.   You might need to snip off a little bit to get an even length.  

Next, begin curling the wires in a spiral either inward or outward.   Make the first curl around the end of the pliers.  

Then remove the pliers and use the flat part of the plier to grasp and turn the wire in circles to form a spiral.  I usually do at least 3 full spiral loops.  

Repeat this on the opposite side until the the spirals are even.  Do not curl too close to the loop so that you have  room to glue the spirals to the back of the object.  You'll need the "stem" part between the curls and the bail to show.  

Glue to the back of your object with E6000 and  allow to dry for a minimum of 4 hours... preferably 24 hours.  

 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOUBLE-LOOP GLUE-ON WIRE BAIL (Shown in top photo):  Snip off two sections of wire, approximately 6-7 inches long.  Loop both wires around the pen/pencil, then twist 3 times to form a stem.  Cut the tails of the  wire so that the  wire closest to the bail is shorter than the bottom wire.  Beginning with the top  wire, form spirals, as instructed in the single-loop bail instructions.  Use approximately 4 spirals for the top wire.  For the bottom wire, repeat, but make only about 3 spirals.  See photos above.   Curl either inward or outward, as your artistic inspiration fits.  Do not curl spirals too close to the stem of the bail, as the bail will be too close to the pendant.  You want to  have enough  room to glue the spirals to the  back of the item, have room for a small stem, and then the bail.  Once finished, remove the pen/pencil from the bail, straighten, and glue on  using E6000 glue.

These bails are so simple to make and can turn a plain item into something very elegant just by gluing one of these to the back.  If you have glass decorative marbles used as fillers for  vases, glue one of these to the  back for a simple yet elegant pendant!  Glue one to the  back of an interesting button.  Find a pretty rock that has been polished?  Glue a bail to that and wear it as a necklace!  The possibilities are endless.