DIY how to refresh an old necklace

I've recently bought an old necklace in a vintage store. It looked pretty dull and uninspiring but I somehow liked the beads and thought I could remake it into something fresh and new.

I first disassembled the necklace and separated all the beads into three piles. I washed all the beads thoroughly in a soapy water to remove all the dust. I dried the beads on a piece of paper.

I decided not to use red beads this time as I didn't really like the original combination of charcoal grey, golden and red. I put them aside for the next project. Instead I decided to go with gray and golden beads.

I threaded all the beads in a particular pattern with two gray beads followed by one golden bead. With a regular crocheting hook I crocheted beads one by one into a necklace.

The necklace is about 40 in. long and I can wear it as one or two strings depending on my mood and my dress:).

Since the necklace is rather long I can wear it as a bracelet or a head accessory. Its neutral colors go with pretty much any dress and it works ideal with a business casual or an office outfit.

How to make a new upcycled necklace from an old one

I've recently bought a vintage necklace that looked rather old style and dusty. However, the beads were of high quality and of a very pretty color. They reminded me cranberries of all sizes and shades of red. I decided to upcycle the vintage necklace and turn it into something more contemporary and hip.



First of all I cut the necklace with a help of regular scissors to free up beads. I was lucky that the base of the necklace was a regular cotton thread and not a metal wire.
Beads looked very nice but were a bit dusty. I washed them with soap and left them to dry.



Once dry I put my beads in a glass jar. They looked so pretty with light coming through the jar and making beads shine. Beads are of all shades of red and of different sizes. I decided I won't use metal beads that were originally a part of the necklace. I'll to save them for a later project.



To crochet a new and hip necklace I used a crocheting hook and a super thin light blue thread. The combination of bright red and light blue looked super pretty! For a start I threaded all the beads mixing up sizes and colors. It saved me time and made the process of crocheting a necklace easier.



Having so many beads I was able to crochet a long necklace. It's really great as I'll be able to wear it not only as a necklace but as a bracelet, a belt or a head accessory. I crocheted a simple foundation chain adding red beads about every inch. The necklace crocheting took about 15 minutes. When the necklace was ready I attached a toggle clasp to complete the work.

It looks bright, hip, and very different from the original vintage necklace I bought. The new necklace is a perfect summer accessory! I'm especially happy I could reuse something I already had and turn it into something new.

GIY Tutorial How to make felted bracelet with buttons

I still have some buttons left from my crocheting adventure. I don’t like nice items to rest idle on my working table in my studio so I came up with an idea of a felted bracelet with buttons.

To make the bracelet we will need undyed felting wool, buttons of different colors and sizes, bubble plastic wrap, a needle and a white thread.



I first started with felting a bracelet. If you don't feel like felting today you can always buy a prefelted wool in any of craft and supplies stores. If you decide to go with a prefelted piece just cut a rectangle shaped piece out of a prefelted wool. The measurements could be about 2 and ½ inch by 9 and ½ inch.



I prefer to felt a bracelet myself as, thus, I’m able to make it as soft and thin as I wish.

On a bubble wrap piece of paper I lay out pieces of wool to form a rectangle. The rectangle will later turn into the bracelet. Since the wool will shrink I make the rectangle about 30% bigger that the original size. I’ll go with about 3 and ½ inch by 12 inch shape this time.



Once the rectangle is formed I wet it with clear water and add soap. Liquid soap should be fine. Once the piece is all wet and soapy I cover it with the rest of bubble plastic paper and start the process of felting. I stroke and rub the plastic helping wool fibers to bind and felt. When the wool has felted I rinse my bracelet in clear water and let it dry completely.



On my bracelet I lay out buttons of different sizes and colors. I can color coordinate them and add some extra buttons here and there for the pattern to look the way I want it to be.

I sew on buttons one by one with a needle and white thread. It makes sense to sew largest buttons first. It will help you preserve the original pattern and distribute buttons evenly on the bracelet.



Once all the buttons are on the bracelet it’s time to make a snap. One of the buttons can easily be used as a snap. Just make a cut on the opposite side of the bracelet for the button to fit in.

The bracelet looks bright and unique! It can be a great gift for someone who loves buttons. One can always substitute simple buttons with vintage ones or use dyed wool instead of white one as a base.

Happy crafting!