Abstract Art Pendant Tutorial

Last night, I decided to make an icy blue pendant to capture the cold Minnesota weather. As I made this, I was wrapped in a blanket cocoon, because I am quite certain my craft room barely reaches 60 degrees in the winter (technically it's still fall, but nature doesn't seem to care about that right now). Stupid old houses and their draftiness.

Materials Needed:

• 1 inch pendant tray (I used the gunmetal colored tray)
• 1 inch domed glass 
• dimensional glaze
• necklace of your choice (The website I linked has a good variety.)
• scissors
• art or photo of your choice. If you would like to use handmade art, try this tutorial. I used the method in the tutorial to make my designs for this project. I used blue paint and white shimmer paint to give the art a sparkle. 

To start, squeeze a little dimensional glaze onto the glass piece. Then place the glass onto your art. Gently push down and make sure there are no bubbles under the glass. You can use any clear glue you want in place of the dimensional glaze, if you are feeling cheap. I used Tacky glue when I first experimented with this project, and it works decently. The main difference is that dimensional glaze is less likely to create air bubbles under the glass. So if you are picky, use a dimensional glaze. 

Let the glaze dry for a while. I think I waited an hour. Then trim off the excess paper. Next you will need to seal the back of the paper with more glaze. Use the tip of the bottle to spread a small amount of glaze onto the paper. 

Let this dry for another hour or so. Next, you will put more glaze on the back of the paper. Turn the glass over, and place it into your pendant tray. Allow to dry, again. There's a lot of dry time with this project. Maybe find other things to do in the spare time. Like make a matching pair of earrings! 

I used a 24 inch gunmetal chain for this pendant. 

And would you look at that! A matching set of paper earrings. Stay tuned for that tutorial. (Update: Here it is! Abstract Art Paper Earrings Tutorial)

If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I would love to hear from you and see what projects you are up to! If you enjoyed working with the glass pieces, you can take a look at some of my other tutorials like the ones listed below. 

DIY Abstract Art Refrigerator Magnets

Abstract Art Pendant Earrings Tutorial (You could easily make matching earrings with this tutorial!)

Wire Necklace Charm Tutorial

Following the same trend of the last couple of posts I have done, I used nail polish to spice up this wire necklace charm. It's a simple and adorable way to add color to wire jewelry. I used 20 gauge, black copper wire for the design, and white nail polish mixed with blue alcohol ink for the coloring.

Materials Needed:

• round nose pliers
• wire cutter
• 20 gauge wire of your color choice
• white nail polish and alcohol ink, or nail polish of your color preference
• necklace of your choice 
• third hand tool (optional)

Begin by cutting about 5 inches of the 20 gauge wire. I cut 6, but ended up trimming over an inch off, so go with 5. Using your round nose pliers, form a loop at the end of the wire, let the wire 'stack' so that is is two rings high. This gives the design more strength. Move your pliers out of the first loop, and begin twisting the second loop. For each following loop, you will twist push the excess wire behind the previous loop. I hope that makes sense. If not, please let me know! 

Once you have your desired number of loops, cut off the excess wire. Put your design in your third hand tool (if you feel like using one). Using a scrap piece of paper, I mixed a couple of drops of nail polish with one drop of alcohol ink. Mix the two together with a piece of wire (I use a scrap piece of 26 gauge wire, but 20 gauge will do).

To apply the polish, dip the wire in the nail polish and collect a small droplet on the end of the wire. Place this into one of your loops. I use a circular motion to deposit the polish onto the sides of the wire. If the you have too much polish, it will run out of your loop, but if you have too little, a tight surface will not form across your loop. So, experiment with the different amounts of polish. 

Once your loops are filled, leave this to dry until it is set. Make sure to leave one loop empty to be able to string it on your necklace. Once the nail polish is dry, you can string the charm on your necklace. 

 

As you can see, I used a jump ring to attach the charm to my necklace. I made my own jump ring, but if you have one handy you can use that. Otherwise, follow the images below to make your own jump ring from your 20 gauge wire. They are super easy to make. 

I used a different chain for the image below. I'm not sure which one I like better...

Anyway, if you have questions or comments, please let me know! I would love to hear what you think of this necklace/tutorial. 

And, if you enjoyed this tutorial, try some of the links listed below.

Wire Earrings Tutorial w/Nail Polish

Copper Wire Earrings Tutorial

Faux Stained Glass Earrings