The Charm Hunter: findings

March's DIY Project

Re-Assemblage Charm Necklace...

from The Charm Hunter

"Re-Assemblage" Charm NecklaceDesign by The Charm Hunter

What is Re-Assemblage? Assemblage art was born as an act of recycling and repurposing. Fundamentally, it is accomplished by taking something that is broken (or without use in its current form) and putting it together with other found objects to create a piece of art. Like pieces of a puzzle, you too can use found elements to re-create something new, beautiful and one-of-a-kind.

The Charm Hunter's Supply List:

Seed bead necklace
Miscellaneous chains, 5 short pieces
Rhinestone strand
Crystal Chandelier Glass Disk
Miscellaneous beads, pearls, bling, crystals, buttons, etc
24 gauge beading wire
3mm jumprings
2 pair jewelry pliers

My Big Beautiful Mess!
I'm really a very organized person, but somehow I always
end up working with a pile that looks like this!

STEP by STEP...

As always, make use of what you have. Mismatched earrings, broken chains, buttons, and out of style jewelry pieces can transformed. And as I've always said, SAVE YOUR BROKEN JEWELRY. Don't throw ANY part of it away; you'll be amazed at all the tiny components (findings) that you will re-use!

Here I have a 36" glass seed bead necklace, chandelier glass pieces,
a broken rhinestone necklace, and random beads, pearl, crystal and button.
(You can also use a necklace that you already have - metal chain, leather, pearl, whatever!)

And of course, my famous jar of broken chains.

I used 24 gauge silver beading wire, only because that's what I had on hand.
You can use silver or brass, and/or a thicker wire (The smaller the gauge, the thicker the wire)

Use your wire to wrap around findings to make loops
whereby you can add jumprings to attach to necklace

Here I added a single pearl to the bottom of a
chandelier piece. Again, if a headpin or wire
loop is missing, make your own with beading wire

I played around with varying lengths of chain and
added my miscellaneous beads to then ends

I used tiny 3mm jumprings to attach each different length of chain
to the necklace. HINT: lay them all out and play around with
placement BEFORE attaching to the necklace

A simple wire wrapped button makes a nice touch. Don't over think wire wrapping - the more
wrapping and the more rustic looking, the better! You can re-use the wire as you practice. After a couple
attempts, you'll have an unrefined look, which is what you want!