Do It Yo’self: The Great Necklace Exchange of 2011

This past December I had the fun opportunity to sign up for the Great Necklace Exchange of 2011, hosted by Janette of Fashion Loves People. In short, this exchange consisted of making a necklace for a stranger and receiving a handmade necklace from a different stranger. I was a little intimidated at first–not knowing if I could make a necklace that I would be proud to share with someone I didn’t know–but I needed some motivation to get crafty. Without too much thought, I signed up and let the journey begin!

Luckily, Jannette posted many a pretty DIY necklace tutorial and inspiration photos, so the ideas started coming right away. After a few days, I received the info for my necklace recipient.

To my delighted surprise, I was randomly charged with making a necklace for Mallory of the popular blog Where The Lovely Things Are. I’ve been a follower of hers for a few years, and knew that she loved color and a bit of adventure. To get started, I poked around on her Pinterest boards, and within a few minutes, the light bulb turned on.

She had pinned this photo….

And it reminded me of these lovely bracelets. This would be my design inspiration!

I ran to our nearest JoAnne’s and picked out some embroidery floss in taupe, light pink, and navy blue.

I also grabbed an assortment of jewelry findings, including various chains, clasps, jump rings, and end caps. I didn’t know exactly what I would need, but I thought I should be prepared.

For the tassel, I found this simple tutorial and got to work. Within a few minutes, I had my first tassel! For a way to keep it neat and attach it to the chain, I just used my little pliers and clamped one of the end caps around the top.

And a few minutes later, I had three!

Attaching them to the necklace was a little challenging. The jump rings I had didn’t match the chain, and they were too big for the holes. I had to attach them with a bit of fine gauge wire that I had. Not the prettiest solution, but it did the trick.

And before I knew it, I had a colorful tassel necklace that I was really happy with!

But I didn’t just want a pretty necklace. I wanted it to have a pretty package, too. I dug a little blue candy box out of our holiday wrapping supplies and cut a piece of black, sparkly cardstock to fit inside.

I wrapped it up with the thread used for the tassels and attached a little tag, on which I embroidered “WESTERVIN”. Gotta represent.

And finally, I typed Mallory a little note on our vintage typewriter. It was good to finally have another use for the thing after all our wedding crafting! A few days before Christmas, I sent my little package off in the mail. A couple weeks after that, Mallory sent me a sweet email to say it arrived and that “YOU are the best! I couldn’t possibly love my necklace more: I’ve already worn it at least 3 times and I will continue to wear it until it disintegrates.” I guess she liked it

You can see some of the other fun necklaces on Fashion Loves People. I had some mighty talented company! I’m definitely signing up for the next one, and I’d love for you to join me…