Wednesday, February 22, 2012

$175 Necklace Knockoff

I never thought I'd care that much about bridal jewelry. To me, "bridal jewelry" meant boring, thin chains with tiny gems or pearls attached--the kind of necklaces and earrings that you can't even see from afar. I'm a tacky person (and I mean that in the best way possible), so traditional bridal jewelry just wasn't doing it for me. I wanted something big and bold. Something that made a statement. And that statement would be "I'm tacky and I'm proud." Not that the ol' ball n' chain reads this tripe anymore, but just in case:

And by "dress pics" I mean "necklace pics."

Back in the day, when I still thought bridal jewelry looked like this:
(which is fine if you're not tacky. But I am.)

I came across this picture:


I think I dry heaved a little when I saw it. Not with disgust, but with jewelry lust. I actually included it in my retro wedding inspiration post, but I didn't think I'd actually wear it because you're not supposed to wear big, chunky necklaces to your wedding. Oh, and it's $175.

As the weeks went by, "get wedding jewelry" loomed bigger and bigger on the wedding timeline horizon, and I started actually thinking about what to do about the jewelry problem. Since I had kept going back to this one picture I decided that maybe I could wear a big, bold statement necklace on my wedding day. I definitely couldn't afford the hefty price tag (to be fair, it's made with Swarovski pearls and silver, so I'm sure it's worth every penny), so I decided to find something else similar. Long story short, I failed at that and decided to just DIY it. If you want your wedding necklace to be made out of quality materials, then by all means support the person who sells this necklace. But for someone on a tight budget who can't tell the difference between plastic and crystal, this DIY project is a perfect solution.

Personal pic

Here's what you need:
  • Strands of faux pearls. I bought 4 packs from Michael's.
  • Jump rings
  • A clasp
  • Beading wire
  • Crimp tubes
  • E-6000 glue
  • Scraps of felt (not pictured)
  • Brooch (I got mine on eBay for $10!)

I enlisted the help of my co-worker Maggie, who told me exactly what to buy, let me use her jewelry making tools, and spent an entire lunch hour helping me make it. Thanks, Maggie! I'm not going to give a full tutorial because I'm really not qualified, but we basically just made 4 strands of pearls on wire, crimping the ends and attaching to jump rings and a clasp. The clasp actually hooks to the brooch itself, so the back of the necklace is continuous.

Personal pic
I love that the newspaper it's on says "trial & error." How apropos.

I used the glue to attach one end of the strands to the brooch. To reinforce it, I glued a small square of felt over it. I also glued some felt around the pin back to keep the clasp from sliding around when I wear it. It's a little...home ec...but it's fine by me!

Personal pic
No one's going to see this side of it anyway, right?

And now for the big reveal!

Personal pic (image reversed due to Myspace-style mirror shot)

Personal pic

[Yet another gratuitous] personal pic. 

Personal pic/I so wish I still had a Myspace
Oh, and there are my $9 wedding earrings too. I didn't make those.

Personal pic. Yes my skirt matches my walls.

And just for fun, I tried it on with my wedding dress:
Personal pic. Excuse my childlike excitement.


Thanks for indulging my necklace narcissism. If you couldn't tell, I'm really pleased with how it turned out!

Where did you get your wedding jewelry from? Would you have paid $175 for a necklace?

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