recycled necklace {friendship bracelet}

Lately I have seen so many cute DIY bracelets going around, and I have been wanting to do one for a while.  I just didn't ever want to buy all the supplies to make them, then only make one, and the leftovers lay in my craft closet forever.  This happens a lot, I always have a bright idea of a project, get the supplies and only use about 1/3 of what I bought.  As you can imagine I have quite a stash of scraps! Paper, fabric, yarn, felt, the list goes on and on.  So to help the cause, I have held off as long as I could to make these cute little friendship bracelets.    I finally couldn't take it any more, but instead of buying chains and hooks, I just went through my jewelry box and used old necklaces that I didn't wear anymore! 

The only supplies I did buy were the colored hemp and the end clasps to hold the strands together.  I also used pliers to close the clasps and scissors. So I only spent about $5. Sweet!

So what you need:

hemp or other string

clasps and rings

old necklaces

scissors 

pliers 

This was SO so easy to do, and really didn't take that long to do, I made 4 of these, it took maybe 30 minutes to make each one.  I just worked on them throughout the day and after Cart went to bed I really cranked them out. :) Ok so lets just talk about my old necklaces for a minute, I never actually wore the one in the middle, the one with the shark tooth and feathers, yea, I always try to buy "cool" stuff then never have the guts to actually wear them when the time comes lol, but this time it worked out since I was able to give it a new life ;)

First off, I cut 3 strands of 3 different colors, fairly long, about 14", since I wanted it to wrap around twice, but I have really skinny wrists, so how ever long is up to you.  Then secure each end with the clamp clasps, this is where I used the pliers. 

Then I used a ring to hook through the three clasps and the chain.

I taped the starting end to the counter to hold it in place, then braided the strands together with the chain added to one of the colors.

After I got it braided the length I wanted, I taped the end to keep the braid together while I added the clasps to this end of each strand.

After I got the clasps on, I cut off the excess strands and hooked another ring around the clasps and chain.  I added the original hook from the necklace as well to clasp it together when you wear it.

That's it! And since they ARE "friendship" bracelets, I had to give one to my girlfriends, right?!  I just doodled out their names for a quick tag.  I LOVED making these, for one they were super easy, and didn't take a lot of patience or skill to do, and another, I just love the mix of textures and colors.  

I hope I have inspired you to turn some of your old jewelry into something else as well! :)

Parties I link to...

Craftomanic ~  The DIY Showoff ~  Under the Table Dreaming ~ Today's Creative Blog ~  Tip Junkie ~  Blue Cricket Designs ~  Organize Your Stuff Now ~  Shabby Creek Cottage ~  The Crafty Blog Stalker ~  See Vanessa Craft  ~ Southern Lovely ~ Grits and Giggles ~ Thrifty Decor Chick ~ It's Overflowing ~ Creatively Living ~ 52 Mantles ~ 30 Handmade Days