Saturday, July 6, 2013

Freeform Scribble Pendants

Scribble scribble!  Look at these sleek little necklaces.




They're made from these inexpensive stretchy-coil bracelets.




I think it's a cool transformation - abstract and fun.
 





Plus, if you use your scribble as a pendant hanger instead of a pendant, the possibilities multiply by approximately infinity!








And the best part: you can make one in five minutes or less.  Wanna try?  Read on for the simple DIY.



First, locate a stretchy-coil metal bracelet. I found some here, here, here.  Also needed: round nose pliers, a wire cutter, and about ten inches of craft wire.


Make a wrapped loop on one end of the craft wire.  Like so:



 


Next, cut the coil bracelet apart with wire snippers.  Try to find the spot where the coil is soldered together.  (Sometimes it's hard to tell - in that case, cut anywhere!)

 

Thread the craft wire through the stretchy coil, and finish with another wrapped loop.





Now create a scribble.  Any old scribble will do.  (This is pretty forgiving - you can bend and rebend several times until you get something you like.)


That's yer pendant!  Add a neckwire, chain or cord to create a delightfully squiggly necklace.





An alternative is to use a ready-made necklace chain.  Link one end of it to the scribble with a jump ring.  Then the clasp can simply be attached to the scribble's other loop:



To use your scribble as a bail, just slip a pretty pendant over the coil.






(BTW, the pear pendant is an antique brooch from my collection - I added a loop to the back so I could hang it on my scribble.)

 

Tip: if you want to try this without waiting to acquire the stretchy coil, you can actually create this design with any kind of tubing.  I made the following scribble with rubber window screen spline:



I know, I know - it's a bit, um, large.  But interesting, eh?  I hung a big, BIG piece of branch coral from the center; I kinda love the bold result. 



Just think of all the fun ways you could style it.




That's it!  If you get the urge to scribble up a super quick necklace, I hope you'll give this a try.

Next time, a pair of staggeringly simple matching earrings:





And yep - it's another five minute project.  How could you not love that?



28 comments:

  1. What an amazing effect! You are a genius.

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  2. These are soo cool! LOve the rainbow ones!

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  3. Replies
    1. Where did you get the rainbow ones?

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    2. Drat drat drat, I knew somebody would ask me that! I got them at Fire Mountain online, but wouldn't ya know it - just when I post this tutorial, they seem to be sold out. They have larger diameter rainbow ones - I linked to them above - and I bet they would make a pretty scribble.

      If anybody finds a source for the skinny rainbow ones, let us know!

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    3. OK, I will keep checking with Fire Mountain. I love the rainbow ones! Thanks Michelle.

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  4. What a cute idea! I've got to give this one a try...

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  5. Now I have to search for such coil bracelets! :)

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  6. That red pendant looks Chinese..........just sayin'! Really pretty, these.



    Sakura Yamamoto

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    1. Oh yeah, is infinity ''approximate''?

      I think that the window thingy pendant is really nice, actually! BTW, I have an ''infinity'' negative supply of raft wire, like always. Is it okay if, for this project, I use Twist-Ease? You know, those red or green paper covered pieces of memory wire that you pull from a stand in the grocery store? I use that all the time, even for msking eye pins and jump rings. Thanks!


      Sakura Yamamoto

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    2. Hi, Sakura! Re using the grocery store twists: I don't see why not - any wire that's thin enough to fit inside the coil should be good.

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  7. You are a creative genius! I'm going to be creating "scribbles" in my head until I can attack this project. Love it!

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  8. Wow, ingenious. When I saw the stretchy coil bracelet, I wasn't sure how you managed to fix it into beautiful loops, but now I do! Thanks for the inspiration :-)

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  9. Awesome, I LOVE the earrings..did you cover a jump ring in the colored coil??? I will be scribbling for days. I hope your life is getting back to a happy normal. :)

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  10. awesome.....I love it when 5 min proj end up looking like u fretted hours at the bench...

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  11. I think these are adorable, and so ingenious! I'm looking on Fire Mountain for the craft wire, but it comes in several different guages. As a non-crafty person, I'm clueless here- which size wire is best?

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    1. Hi, Robynne! So glad you likee! That's a great Q. Anything from 22 to 26 gauge would work great. 24 would be perfect - if you're buying just one roll of wire, I like 24 gauge for versatility - it can be used in most jewelry projects, IMHO.

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  12. Ohmygosh...you are amazingly creative! I got those in my crafty kit and love the pretty colors but had no idea what to do with them. I will definitely try this. Big humongous thanks! This is too cool!
    Jayne
    Handmade Cuties

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  13. So cool! What a great idea. You are so creative.
    ~Kelsy

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  14. Brilliant Mich! Super cool and oh so easy! Love them

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  15. wow, brilliant as always, love the coral one! thanks for sharing on craft schooling Sunday!

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  16. Perfect! I love the huge wire one!

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  17. You always come up with the most creative ideas! I just wanted to let you know that I tweeted about you (since you don't seem to be on Twitter so you'd probably never know about it if I didn't tell you). Here it is: https://twitter.com/tutebot/status/355352027250962432

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  18. Aaaaah, your creativity is boundless! These is SO sribblingly fun, Michelle! And indeed, the possibilities are limited only by the imagination. Amazing, you!

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  19. Cool! Where do you get your coil bracelets from?

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  20. Hi, Gloria - happy you like them! I included some links to sources in the post - check the paragraph that begins "First, locate a stretchy coil bracelet..."

    Hope that helps -

    Mich

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  21. Coolness - I love how variable you could make this...

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