Jewelry making craft projects typically involve using jewelry supplies to make all sorts of items – some wearable, some useable, and some decorative. It’s a fun way to use up bits and pieces of leftover supplies, or to mix other craft forms with jewelry techniques. If you’re having a creativity block, have some fun using your supplies in a totally different kind of project.

Kids love jewelry making craft projects too. You can set out an assortment of beads, findings, colored art wire, ribbon, glue, and a few other odds and ends – and a group of creative children can happily entertain themselves for a couple of hours.

You can also make and sell kits for specific projects, and include photos of a few suggested ways to create the project using the supplies in the kit package. Jewelry making craft kits are popular gifts, and can sell well if you hit on currently cool projects and colors.

Jewelry Making Craft Ideas

Here are a few idea starters for projects you can experiment with. Many of these items make wonderful gifts, especially if you personalize the design for the person you give it to.

* Home decor – try using your jewelry supplies to embellish vases, create wall hangings, craft a bookmark, or make a wind chime.

* Baby gifts – make a dream-catcher to hang over baby’s crib, or a sun-catcher to sparkle in the window.

* Clothing – use rhinestones or faux pearls to decorate a T-shirt, a pair of jeans, or a jacket. Make a belt buckle fancier with your jewelry making craft supplies.

* Handbags – embellish a cigar box into a purse with jeweled clasp, or crochet a beaded evening bag, or decorate a tote bag with beaded fringe and photo-charms of grandchildren.

* Shoes – make pretty shoe clips from wire and other items. Or add beads to the ends of tennis shoe laces.

* Gift packaging – use jewelry supplies to decorate a gift bag or create package ornaments.

* Holiday ornaments – design seasonal decorations small enough to hang on a tree, or large enough to hang on a door. Or give ordinary ornaments a makeover with jewelry making craft supplies.

* Party favors – make wine glass charms or coffee mug markers.

* Small gifts for anyone – create zipper pulls, cell phone charms, ceiling fan pulls, and key chains.

What Can You Use for Jewelry Making Craft Supplies?

In addition to your regular jewelry supplies and tools, here are some examples of other great crafty items to have on hand for your projects:

* A variety of glues.

* Fabric paint.

* Spray paint.

* Sharpie markers – wide tip and fine tip.

* Craft knife and cutting mat.

* Mod Podge.

* Bits and pieces of interesting paper and ephemera.

* Used postage stamps.

* Sponge brushes.

* Small paint brushes.

* Scrapbooking paper.

* Embossing powders.

* Ribbon, string, raffia, embroidery floss.

* Rubber stamps and ink.

After enjoying a few sessions of jewelry making craft projects, don’t be surprised to find yourself crossing over into using craft materials in your jewelry designs. It opens up a whole new universe of addictive supplies and tools to collect!

A jewelry toggle is a set of two pieces: a jewelry loop and a jewelry stick. The jewelry loop is attached to one end of your unfinished jewelry; the jewelry stick attaches to the other end. The jewelry stick gets pushed through the jewelry loop, then turned so it rests longways against the loop, gravity holding the two components in place. A skin-tight jewelry piece without any slack will not last long — this style closure is made to have some slack.

Toggle clasps come with a bit more risk than lobster claw clasps. However, many jewelry fans seem to regard jewelry toggles as more fashionable than lobster claw clasps. Jewelry closed with toggles may fall off the body if they are made with too much slack; sometimes the toggles may come undone when the tension on the jewelry is relaxed.

Fancy toggles will often be used at the front of a necklace as a visual centerpiece — especially fancy shaped toggles or toggles with addition decorations.

Jewelry toggles come in many different shapes: round, oval, square, diamond, heart-shaped, floral, stirrup, etc.

Toggle Mechanics

A toggle is most secure when it cannot easily slip back through the loop accidentally. The widest opening of the toggle loop must still be smaller than the shortest distance from your anchor point (often a ring soldered on or cast midway a metal toggle stick) to the end of the stick. The toggle loop must also be big enough to accommodate the smallest beads on the end attached to the toggle stick. The stick must be pulled through the loop before it can be turned to rest against the toggle loop. Many jewelry pieces with toggle clasps will have beads graduated in size from the larger beads at the center, where they are most visible, to the smaller beads at both ends. Toggles that are light with respect to the center beads will shift to the top as a bracelet rotates due to gravity. A heavy toggle will help a bracelet to hang comfortably, with the toggle loop underneath the wrist.

Fastening Toggles

In pieces made with jewelry chain, you may see chain end caps soldered onto the chain and toggles connected with link locks or soldered jump rings. Unsoldered chain pieces will often use open jump rings, split rings or link locks. Jewelry designers will usually fasten toggles to bead wire projects using flattened crimps. Some designers favor clam shells or bead tips to make the transition to the jewelry closures for bead wire projects and fiber projects such as knotted silk jewelry. Inexpensive leather or fiber pieces may be knotted directly onto the toggle pieces with overhand knots.

Toggle Materials

Your “stick” may be as simple as a button with a shank used with a loop of seed beads on bead wire. Your loop may be quite fancy, with “expandable” toggles of several rings attached together. The rings on both the toggle loop and toggle stick should be firmly attached. Toggle sticks with spiral patterns seem to be susceptible to bending more than many other designs.

Toggle in the United States will often be made of one of the following materials:

* Platinum
* Palladium
* Gold
* Gold-Filled
* Silver: Thai silver, sterling silver (.925 silver)
* Titanium
* Surgical Steel
* Brass, usually plated with gold, silver, copper, antique copper, antique brass, gunmetal/black nickel and imitation rhodium
* Wood
* Stone

Many of these materials are available in different surface textures: shiny, matte, brushed, etc. Crystals, cubic zirconia and gemstones may decorate toggles of the more expensive metals.

The jewelry designer’s unique sense of design and style will define the jewelry aesthetics and the the possible toggles for a jewelry piece. Fortunately, toggles are available in a wide range of prices, shapes and materials.