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Today we’re going to knock out a some gorgeous DIY Chanel for a fraction of the price!
Apparently I have expensive taste. Always have and probably always will. You know how when you’re flipping through your newest fashion mag and you see this thing, be it a purse, belt, pair of earrings, whatever that are to die for and rather than a price, there is an 800 number with “price upon request”.
That’s what happened when I saw inside of my Marie Claire. I was quickly flipping through the pages to get an idea of what was going down this issue and I saw this bracelet in the upper left hand corner of my book that made me stop. I saw it and I knew I had seen it, but I had to go through page after page after page to find this darn thing. It almost felt like a dangum mirage after a while. But the page was found and I saw that it was Chanel and so incredibly expensive, that it just isn’t decent for them to publish the price for the likes of riffraff like me.
Check out that gorgeously blinged out closure! I’d been saving it for the perfect project!!
I was out buying glass pearls the very next day. Not a week later, not in a bit, the very next day. Oh, and the store I would normally go to that is about a 45 minute drive is and was no more, so I had to tack another 40 minutes onto my travel round trip and with the price of gas, that is something I don’t take lightly. But I did it and I am so happy I did!!!
What you’ll need to knock off your own:
- jewelry chain
- rhinestone magnetic clasp
- 2 strands – 6mm glass pearl beads
- 2 strands – 8mm glass pearl beads
- 1 strand – 12-mm glass pearl beads
- head pins, about 200
- Jump Rings (6mm worked well for me), about 50
Take your first bead and string it onto a head pin. Use wire cutters to trim the head pin so that you have approximately half an inch after the top of the bead.
Take the wire and wrap it around some rounded jewelry pliers to form a loop. It doesn’t have to be pretty or perfect because we are going to jam pack these suckers together. It is great practice for future jewelry projects!
Just to make things easier on myself, I went ahead and did up all of my beads like this before I moved on. It’s totally okay if all of your beads aren’t on head pins that are exactly the same length, in fact I think it works out best if they’re not.
Starting with the smallest beads, take four and put them onto an open jump ring.
Attach the jump ring onto one of your links. Skip every other chain and add four on a jump ring. Continue for as many links as you need to make a bracelet to fit your wrist. I latched onto 18 chains.
This is the point where I got sick and was supposed to be in bed. I wasn’t told that I couldn’t make a bracelet in bed, so the backdrop is my blanket.
Take your middle sized beads and put four to a jump ring and attach to each link that is empty (in between the links holding the smallest beads. This sucker is getting pretty full so you’ll have to be really patient.
I have a jump ring tool that I think may have been a godsend for me on this project. Check them out here, Beadalon Jump Ring Open/Close Tool
, I use it every time I’m opening or closing rings anymore so mine gets crazy use!
Attach your biggest beads randomly, or wherever they look best.
Finish with jump rings and the closure of your choice. Because I wanted a little extra bling, I went with this rhinestoned super magnetic closure. Now, this bracelet is heavy and I wouldn’t recommend a normal magnetic closure by any means. But this is a crazy strong thing I got and it means bidness and even with me crazily whipping my arm around like a madwoman, that sucker stayed firmly in place. You can get one just like it here.
Now, if I had brought my magazine page with me, I probably would have gotten the beads that were a more of a champagne beige than white-white to be more true to the original. But honestly, this thing would be awesome no matter what color it is!
So, what do you think? You willing to put down a tenner (and a few hours) to have your own Chanel inspired awesomeness? Happy Monday!
