Hey there! A new spin on things today – I’ve been seeing these necklaces all over sites like Tumblr.com and etsy.com. Originally from Unearthen (Unearthen.com), these necklaces are made with old bullet casings and a gem/stone of your liking that are said to have special properties to each one. So cute, right? Of course there’s a downside – they’re around $300 each.
Now, being college students, we don’t really have $300 just lying around. So, in this predicament, I easily made one for about $3. Craft time with Justin starts now.
Materials needed: super glue, thin chain, small jewelry connectors, bullet casing, rock/stone of your choice, hammer, thin nail, and pliers. Where to get these items? Hobby lobby will have your chain and small jewelry rings that clasp the chain together, they’re just little 1/8th of an inch tiny, tiny hoops. For a bullet casing, many shooting ranges have a ton of leftover scrap casings. Just walk in and kindly ask for a couple that you may be able to buy from them. (Be polite and assume to the employees you’re going to buy the casings off of them, then they’ll surly give you them for free.) The stone, many craft stores have decorative stones for vases of flowers and that sort, just get creative!
First: Take your bullet casing, hammer and THIN nail, be patient and tap the nail through the casing. The metal isn’t very thick, just stay persistent. Go through both sides and make sure your chain can move freely through the holes. (Probably the most time consuming part!)
Second: Go outside with your stone, a hammer, and a cloth of some sort. Place the rock on the concrete
under the rag (to protect from shards flying up at you) and give your rock some love taps until it splits into a few pieces. This may take a few tries to get the perfect shape for the bullet. Look for an elongated piece that will fit nicely with your bullet!
Third: Take your new cut of rock and glue it into the bullet with superglue and Elmer’s glue. Make sure not to use so much that you cover/fill the holes you punched through the top of the bullet!
Fourth: Cut the chain about 18 inches so it will be a little bit of a longer pendant necklace. This way you don’t have to worry about attaching a clasp and it can just slide over your head. Take your chain and thread it through your holes. Make it full circle and take one of your little jewelry rings and attach to two ends of the chain together with your pliers. Make it tight!
Done! Step back and admire your work and feel accomplished in the fact that you just saved $300 and still look fierce. Hope this helped! If you make one, be sure to email me a picture! I want to see! Thanks dolls, till next time, and happy crafting!