Recycled Jewelry Ideas

History has it that diamonds, rubies and emeralds have been considered as the most sought-after gems used for making jewelry pieces. Likewise, gold and silver have been the chosen media for binding these jewels into bracelets, necklaces, rings and earrings, thereby giving us some priceless pieces of jewelry to possess and show off. Today, it can be undoubtedly said that these sparkling gems and valuable metals are the most desired jewelry. But wait; are these gems and metals the only way for flaunting the ‘jeweled’ look? Definitely not! The world today has taken a step forward by using old trash items, such as beer bottle caps, soup cans, spoon rings, bicycle tires, newspaper and X-ray negatives, to come up with some magnificent and stunning jewelry items. Jewelry with bicycle tires, soup cans or X-ray negatives? Sounds strange, right! Presenting you some unique and funky jewelry ideas to make from recycled materials. Take a look!

 

 

Instead of throwing those extra buttons into trash, work them up to form a funky bracelet. Fun and easy to make, you will have your friends guessing the source for hours. Gather some ten to twenty shirt buttons, scissors, and elastic cord. Wrap the elastic cord around your wrist to measure its length. Leave a couple of inches, allowing you to tie a knot and cut it out. Thread the cord through the opposite holes in the button. Some buttons have four holes, but you will require only two. Take the next button and thread it the same way, but at the right side up such that the buttons face opposite to each other. Continue with the same pattern and secure the two ends with a tight knot.

 

Use your scrap fabric to make stylish earrings. Cut them into different shapes, ranging from square to circular or large to small, the choice is yours. For this, you will require small pieces of fabric, earring loops, and grommet punch or scissors. Cut out four 2x2 inch squares from the scrap fabric. Next, with the help of a grommet punch of scissors, punch a hole in one corner of each square piece, about 1/8 inches from the edge. Now, lay two pieces of fabric on top of one another, with the punched holes lining each other. Slip an earring loop into the fabric squares. Your earrings are ready to be flaunted. Try out different patterns and fabric for different looks.

 

You have a celebration or occasion coming up and you do not have a bracelet to match your outfit. Prepare this quick bracelet in a few minutes using colored plastic bags. You will need shopping bags in three different colors and scissors. Place the shopping bags straight on a table and cut out the bottom to remove the seam. Now, cut out 1 inch thick strips across the width of the bags. For each bracelet that you make, you will need three different colored strips. Now that you have three different strips, let’s move on to braiding them. Knot the strips together at one end. Braid the strips until you get a bracelet long enough to go around your wrist. Leaving one inch at the other ends, cut out the leftover strips. Tie the ends of the strips and your bracelet is ready.