Making jewelry from recycled items can result in beautiful, unique, and fun bracelets, earrings, etc. This is a guide about recycled jewelry craft ideas.
Use your imagination and leftover scraps from other craft projects to create one-of-a-kind pins for yourself or for inexpensive gifts. This pin was created using a domino, canceled postage stamps, a tiny button, and gold embroidery thread. Approximate Time: About 1 hour
By Rachel's Mom from Wilkesboro, NC
Some people have made jewelry out of hotel room keys. I've never made any, but I think you could cut them into various shapes and make earrings in the same way mentioned above. I've also seen old credit cards cut up and crafted into these items. You can choose to decoupage a photo or design onto the plastic. If earrings are out, then you could craft a necklace or bracelet out of this plastic material. If you need a larger hole poked in the plastic, a heated nail works as well for this purpose. Just hold it with some pliers so as not to get a burn.
Note: Old credit cards are useful for fridge magnets. I use them for the stiff backing for my cross-stitched fridge magnets. Glue the cross-stitched design on the card, allow to dry and attach a magnet with tacky glue. When I get "junk mail credit card offers" I have plenty of these cards.
Source: My daughter
By duckie-do from Cortez, CO
By Dominique from Kalamazoo, MI
Did you know that bobby pins now come in many colors? On one of my visits to the local discount store I found a huge selection of colored bobby pins along with the normal colored ones. I decided to see what a necklace would look like with these dangling. I thought it was great because you could coordinate with your outfit. You could even do earrings. By Louella from Billings, MT
Approximate Time: About 30 minutes
Cut the post or clip from back of earrings and disassemble broken jewelry.
Lay pieces out until you get them in a pleasing design that suits you.
Carefully lift each piece and apply glue to hold in place.
When glue is dry, turn piece over and glue on a pin back. (If necessary, you can use a piece of cardboard as a base for your design.)
By Rachel's Mom from Wilkesboro, NC
I use remnants from the jeans projects that I've done and turned them into junk jewelry like I've seen selling close to $100By Karen H. from Pawtucket, RI
What you'll need:
With needle nosed pliers, disassemble all of your scrap jewelry pieces. Spread the pieces on a cloth for easy access. Decide which beads and charms compliment each other, and group them into piles. The sample brooch features a collection of heart shaped charms. On cardboard backing, arrange the pieces so that none of the cardboard shows. Use a hot glue gun to adhere the pieces to the cardboard and to one another. Overlap some pieces and have fun with varying arrangements. They can be glued into shapes, such as half moons, crescents, squares, circles, or lines.
A colorful bead or charm will add zest to your brooch. Add ribbon and lace scraps to the piece for more personality. A few feathers poking upward or fur trim along the edges will make your design scream "original".
On the back of your brooch, hot glue either the permanently closed arm of a large safety pin or a pin back from the craft store. Don't forget to sign the cardboard backing. Your creation is a work of art!
About The Author: Shauna Smith Duty is a freelance writer with a penache for writing family and parenting articles. She composes articles for both print and web publications, reviews children's books and movies, writes short plays, and provides editing services. Visit her online at http://www.shaunasmithduty.com
By Teresa P.
By badwater
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Craft Project: Recycled CD Jewelry