Plastic Toy Jewelry :: A DIY

Lately I've been seeing a lot of these really cool necklaces made of Lego bricks, almost all of which were DIY-ed. I've also seen some Barbie shoe-earrings....can you say "Cladia Kishi"?! I've even seen some famous people wearing things like this! So, after some investigation, I learned how to make these cool plastic-toy jewelries myself.

You will need: Plastic toys, a candle (plus something to light it with), a sewing needle, jump rings, and your preferred jewelry findings.

First light your candle. Heat the sewing needle with the flame for around 30 seconds. Don't burn yourself!! (Seriously, this sounds really cheesy, but it feel like being branded like a cow.) (Also now I have a scar.)

Quickly take your super-hot needle and poke a hole in your plastic toy. For the Barbie shoe I made a hold in the back, for the Lego I made a hole in the short end of the brick, and for the dinosaur I made a hole in the spine spikes*.

Let it cool so the plastic has time to harden.

Attach a jump ring (if applicable) and your preferred jewelry findings. Done!

*A few variations of this:

1. I've never tried this because my lighter ran out of lighter fluid, but if your dinosaur/whatever doesn't have spine spikes you could probably use the needle to melt some plastic on the top of its back and attach the jump ring there.

2. I've also never tried this, but supposedly you can heat a blade or knife and chop a dinosaur in half, then attach each half to a flat-back post earring finding and achieve this super awesome result.

Jump Rings :: A DIY

If you know anything about me, you'll know that I'm broke and also cheap, which is a bad/good combination. It mostly just forces me to be creative. So, a while back when I first got into jewelry making, I taught myself how to make jump rings out of straight pins used for sewing.

You will need: Straight pins (one per jump ring), wire cutters, and round-nosed pliers (alternatively you can use needle-nose pliers and something small/round)

Start by cutting the head and the needle part off of your straight pin. It should look like a really short wire.

Now use your round-nose pliers and bend it into a circle. If you don't have round-nose pliers, you can use needle-nose pliers (I guarantee that your dad or other male in your family owns at least one pair) and use them to wrap the wire around something round (like a skewer). This might take some practice but it does work!

You'll end up with a wire circle and some non-bent ends.

Cut off the non-bent ends.

And there you have it! A jump ring that you can use for [almost] all your jewelry-making or other needs!