Wednesday, June 8, 2016

JUNIOR JEWELER BADGE



My goal when choosing activities is to try and create not only a memorable experience, but a useful end product; something the girls would be proud to give away as a gift or use themselves.  Most importantly I love when an activity instills confidence, creativity and cost conscientiousness in the girls.  There is nothing I enjoy more than hearing, "I can't believe I made this myself!" 

I spent a great deal of time in search of a fun jewelry project ad was thrilled to find 2 on Pinterest which I modified to meet our needs and keep within budget.  Kendra Scott jewelry is all the rage in our area, but that comes with a hefty price tag so I knew if I could find a similar craft the girls would love it!
The girls were able to create a Faux Quartz Necklace, which is very similar to the Danay Platinum Crystallized Drusy Earrings and a Glitter Sparkle Necklace, which looks like the Layden Necklace in London Blue Illusion.


FAUX QUARTZ NECKLACE SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Pendant Bezels in any size or shape you like (Hobby Lobby $2.99/each)
Necklace Chain
A variety of metallic fingernail polishes
Mini Glass Mosaic Tiles (Hobby Lobby $3.99 - $5.99)
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic (Hobby Lobby $6.49) (A Must for craft, a little goes a long way!)
Toothpick
paper dixie cups
Heavy Duty Zip-Loc Baggie
Hammer

Place mosaic glass tiles in a bag and crush with hammer.  You want to strive for a variety of sizes, but not too large.  I took care of this step for the girls.  I placed a small amount of glass tiles in paper dixie cups for the girls.  My parent helpers placed a thin layer of Mod Podge in each bezel.  The girls then poured the glass pieces into the bezels.  (I did caution them that they were handling glass and to use discretion).  Next, they used a toothpick to sort of place the glass as they would like inside the bezel. Then the girls applied one more layer of Mod Podge filling in gaps and sealing the glass in place.

Then we set these aside and worked on the Glitter Sparkle Necklace while the Mod Podge dried.(Ideally I would give this 2-3 hours, but we only had about an hour and it worked fine.)

When we returned to the semi-dried faux quartz bezels, the girls dotted the glass with their favorite combination of metallic fingernail polish using silvers, purples, blues, turquoises and pinks.  By far Silver seemed to be the favorite so have a bottle or 2 on hand.  I just asked my girls to bring any metallic fingernail polish they had and we had a plenty and a good variety!  The end results were STUNNING!  And the girls loved them.  Be sure and seal the fingernail polish with one last layer of mod podge.


GLITTER SPARKLE NECKLACE SUPPLIES NEEDED:
Round Bezels, any shape will work.  (I found at Hobby Lobby 30/$3.99 but these were too small, but cost efficient) 
Necklace your choice or yarn, rope etc
Glitter (Dollar Tree has the best glitter for this project) because the colors are nice and in small packages you can pass out and the girls can use individually with as little mess as possible.
Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
Toothpicks
coffee straws to blow out bubbles in mod podge

Pass out bezels with a thin layer of mod podge.  Have girls sprinkle in 1-3 colors of glitter.  Use toothpick to swirl for effect.  Add more mod podge to seal. Viola! Amazing results for very little effort.  This would be great as a ring or magnet for their lockers too.

Because the projects take a while to dry.  My parent helpers cut 2 vertical lines into the side of a dixie cup and placed the bezel in the cup and threaded the necklace chain through the cut lines in the dixie cup so the girls could transport them home.

They all wore them to school the next day and with 30 girls it was definitely a hot topic at school.  They were proud of them and their classmates could not believe they made them.  These would make wonderful Mother's Day gifts too.


 Resource photos:










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