I’m not sure what it says about me that I love Rorschach prints? Psychologists need not answer.
I recently saw the top two necklaces pictured, fell in love with them, and decided to make my own. These have gone down in Dream, Create history as one of my favorite DIY projects because they go with everything in my closet and they were so fun to make!
Download my template for the necklaces here
Tools needed:
- scrap leather (my husband’s super old leather jacket made the ultimate sacrifice)
- spray paint (I used my ALL TIME favourite: Montana Gold, found at my local art store)
- printer, paper & a sharpie
- craft/ utility blade & scissors
- small wire tool/wire cutter
- headpins, thin chain and lobster clasps. (found at Michael’s or craft store with a jewelery section)
- hot glue
A. Choker instructions:
- Print and cut out the templates on a piece of paper.
- Trace the templates into your scrap leather. Trace and cut out 8-9 big pieces and one small piece for the charm.
- Once you’ve cut out all your leather pieces spray paint them gold in a well ventilated area. Spray on the smoothest side of your leather for best results, 2-3 coats should be fine.
- With a craft/utility blade make small holes on each side of the leather where you want them to join.
- Insert a headpin through the holes of two pieces.
- With your wire tool trim the excess headpin and bend it so it’s flush with the back of your leather piece.
- Secure headpin with a small amount of hot glue. Using headpins to join the leather means they will be very secure, won’t fall apart, and your necklace will be flexible!
- On the ends and on the charm, follow the same steps, but instead of joining two pieces of leather you are securing the chain. After you bend the headpin flush to the leather, loop the end of the chain onto the headpin and secure the headpin with hot glue.
- With your wire tool attach the lobster clasp to the ends of the chain.
And you’re done!
B. Pendant instructions:
- Print and cut out your pendant template.
- Trace the template onto your scrap leather and cut it out. Spray paint (as per the instructions above)
- On the back face, glue the end of your chain to the bottom. Decide how long you want the chain to be and cut it with scissors.
- Continue gluing the chain to the leather piece and cutting it to the same length. I did it one at a time,instead of pre-cutting the chain.
- I ended up with 25 pieces of chain with was a little less than 36 inches in chain.
- Use the headpin method to attach your long chain to the pendant (as per the choker instructions). I glued a small jewelery ring to the back but using the headpin method is a way better idea!
And there you have it, two necklaces and two awesome looks!
Cheers!
Alana
