Miley, Hammers are NOT for Licking!

Miley Cyrus has been all the rage these days with her provocative reinvented image; however, this entry won’t be about her. Now that I’ve got your attention, this blog is actually about tools (and I’m not talking about your ex-boyfriend either). I’m talking about jewelry making tools.

There are multiple different forms of jewelry making. These include: wire jewelry, bead jewelry, metal work, hemp jewelry, clay jewelry, and plastic jewelry.  Read about these and more here. You can basically make jewelry out of anything if you’re creative. I’ve seen necklaces made from things ranging from toilet paper rolls to pistachio shells. There is even a relatively new trend of jewelry incorporating hardware tools.

I mostly do wire jewelry. Everyone needs a hobby, something to help de-stresses, something fun to do in your free time. Jewelry making does that for me. My hobby began about 6 months ago where all great things begin—Pinterest. I was browsing pictures of my first love (nail art) when I looked over at my jewelry and decided I needed a better way to organize it. One picture led to another and before I knew it I was looking at pictures of handmade jewelry.

I couldn’t believe that people and not machines made these beautiful objects. After probably pinning 50 pictures and watching multiple how-to videos on YouTube, I decided it was time to transform my DIY (do it yourself) jewelry board into my actual jewelry collection. I went to Wal-Mart and bought what I thought I would need to get started.

I came home with this kit and three different colors of wire.

So far I have made use of four of the tools. The bent-nosed pliers (dark purple) are great for working in tight spaces. They help hold one end while closing jump rings, which are used to hold different components of jewelry together. Needle-nosed pliers (blue) are used for similar purposes yet they don’t have the curvature at the end.

Round-tip pliers (lavender) are especially helpful in making loops and curves. Lastly, flush cutters (green) are for cutting chain and wire. Read more about these and other tools here.

 Here is the first piece of jewelry I made simply out of chain and ribbon.

 Next, I made a blue wire heart ring.

Then I made this wire bow bracelet by attaching it to chain. 

Afterwards I made this necklace by painting washers with nail polish. Combining hobbies for the win! I also used wire to link the washers and chain. It got pretty scratched up but I’m still proud of my work.

Lastly, I made this bracelet out of wire, chain, and beads.

So, now you know about some of the tools used for one of the types of jewelry making. Don’t be like Miley, use the right tool for your purpose (unless your purpose is to be a weirdo, in which case go ahead and lick a hammer!) So go on. Get inspired, de-stress and keep on making jewelry.