Jewelry kits are great gifts for people who love crafts and/or jewelry. Depending on the person, you can make a simple or more sophisticated kit.

How To Make A Really Simple Kit

Simple kits are could be interchangeable chains and pendants. These are for someone with very little crafting skills but likes variety and personalization. Basically you include a few chains of different lengths and some pendants or Pandora beads to put on them. You could include a leather, stainless steel and/or ribbon for hanging a pendant on. Include a few different pendants or charms that fit their style to add to each necklace. If needed, be sure to include jump rings for the pendants.

For children, elastic string, plastic beads and safe scissors can often be enough to create a kit.

Creating More Advanced Jewelry Making Kits

A more advanced kit would include the makings for earrings, bracelets or perhaps sets. Often kits like to be centered on a color theme – so if you are using beads be sure that they can mix-and-match as desired. Often you include extra beads to allow more creativity. Usually more advanced kits include tools, a book (or link to a how to make jewelry video) as well as all the supplies needed to make 1-8 pieces of jewelry. (Of course the kit you make can be for any number of pieces and include whatever you deem necessary!)

If you are creating a kit for making earrings you could simply include all the materials listed on that page as well as the instructions. Giving them the URL would enable them to watch the video.

If you want to give jewelry – but want to save both money and time – making up a jewelry kit may be the answer you are looking for. They are simple and fun. Of course you can also buy a pre-made Jewelry Making Kit

In the U.K., today is Mothering Day. This is their version of Mothers Day. To all mothers out there, thank you for all you do.

In the US, Mother’s Day is May 9, 2010. Though that seems far off, if you are actually make jewelry gifts, you may want to buy the materials now. You can usually make jewelry for a much lower price than buying jewelry from stores. Additionally, people appreciate that you took the time to make them a gift.

If you haven’t made jewelry, see our How to make bracelets and earrings section in Jewelry Mall. There are helpful videos to get you started.

See bracelets you can make for ideas.

Technorati Tags: jewelry gifts

Sometimes one needs inspiration for jewelry making projects, so now that the holiday gifts are opened, I can share some of the crafts I have made. Here are some projects that were finished last minute – I took pictures of them yesterday.

Fun Bracelets

I enjoyed using a variety of clay, glass, cloisonne and gemstone beads in many bracelets. Often trying for different styles. Some beads from these came from jewelry shows, favorite bead stores and EBay. These make great gifts that are fun to make. You can really let your imagination run wild.

A Simple Set

This set took less than 20 minutes to make. You can make fancy gifts very economically. The materials used were high quality (Henn jasper, sterling silver beads, memory wire and sterling silver earwires) and look much better than pictured. If you are having a hard time finding great beads, try trading with a friend. Sometimes they have exactly what you are looking for.

If you don’t know how to make either, see How to Make Beaded Bracelets and How to Make Jewelry.

If you are an avid crafter – here are two sales to enjoy!

Until 9am (PST) on Thursday, November 12, 2009, Artbeads.com is having it’s famous $1 day sale. There over a 1000 items being sold at $1. Beads, stringing supplies, charms, pendants, and findings.

Create For Less Virtual Craft Warehouse is having a huge EK Success sale for those people who love scrapbooking through 11/9/2009.

Making jewelry can be very easy. Sometimes we forget just how easy making them is! Here’s our newest video on how to make memory wire bracelets. It shows you step by step what is involved to making a great gift.

We intentionally kept in some of the gotchas that may happen so you will know it isn’t just you. These include having your memory wire get tangled with itself. Also it goes into details on how to close memory wire as that is the tricky piece.

For more jewelry making videos see: How to Make Jewelry

We hope you have fun creating great gifts!

Technorati Tags: how to make memory wire bracelets, creating great gifts

For those who want to start beading, ArtBeads, has great beading supplies.

I have found them to be the cheapest priced vendor for Griffon silk thread on the net when I have searched. Even cheaper than EBay. If you appreciate the convenience of having the needle already attached to the thread for beading, this is the place to go. (For beginners, it is really a nice way to start into crafting!)

So if you are wanting to find discount silk thread for beading, enjoy discovering ArtBeads. It is a great place to go for people who make jewelry.

Technorati Tags: discount silk thread

If you like beading, ArtBeads is having their dollar days sale!

Their dollar days sale has over 2000 items at $1.00. This includes a wide selection of beads, stringing material, findings and more. Save up to 60%!

I love the Griffin Silk cards for $1 — they usually are $1.25 each or more! As they have free shipping and a good selection – it really saves money.

The beading supplies sale ends at 9am (PDT) on Tuesday, April 28, 2009.

Technorati Tags: beading supplies sale

If you love brooches but do not have the money to spend on diamond brooches and other jewel-encased pins, it doesn’t mean you have to go out unadorned. There are simple ways to make handcrafted brooches that rival the beauty of even the most expensive jewels. More often than not, what makes handcrafted brooches attractive is the effort that went into the making of it and the meaning attached to it.

Brooches can be made from all kinds of materials easily found in your local department store, or even at home. You can brooches out of wood, buttons, beads or even bottle caps. Following are three examples of giftable brooches that you can make yourself and a step-by-step guide on how to make them.

1. The Ruffle Button Brooch. This brooch can be a hip attachment to your coat, hat or bag and is very easy to make. All you need is a needle and thread, a piece of fabric (approximately 8″x8″), a button, a pin back and a hot iron. The first step in making this brooch is by cutting your fabric into a circle, after which you need to create a hem by folding the edges of the fabric and pressing it with the hot iron. Once you have the hem, you may start creating the ruffle by sewing baste stitches along the hem of the fabric. You may adjust the size of the ruffles according to your preference. After stitching, place the button at the center of the fabric and secure it with the needle and thread. It is now time to attach the pin back simply by sewing it onto the back of the fabric. Presto, you’re done!

2. Classic Beaded Brooch. All you need to make this inexpensive but attractive brooch are the following: brooch back, beads, beading wire, a large jump ring and your charm of choice. You may also need a pair of metal cutters and round-nosed pliers. These tools are easy enough to find and are also inexpensive. Now that you have what you need, its time to make your brooch. Cut your desired length of wire and secure the first bit by passing it through one of the holes in the brooch back and tying it tightly. Thread on beads as desired, then pass the wire through the next hole and secure. Repeat the process until you have secured the wire through all the holes of the brooch back. Now, to add the charm to your brooch — open the jump ring, insert the charm then hang the jump ring on a central wire at the back of the brooch. Squeeze and adjust the wire holding the beads together to create the desired effect.

3. Beaded Safety Pins. Probably the easiest handcrafted brooch to make, all you need for this accessory are a number of small safety pins (10-14 pieces), beads and one larger safety pin. Open a safety pin, slip beads onto it then close the pin and pinch the end with pliers to make sure that it does not pop open and spill the beads. Repeat this step with all the small safety pins and beads. Open the large safety pin and slightly part the coils at the end. Slip the loop of the small safety pins onto the large one, puling it around the loop to the other side. Once all the small safety pins are in place, squeeze the loop back with the pliers to close it. You now have a fun and hip accessory for your hats, shirts or shoes.

There are a lot more ways to create trendy handcrafted brooches without spending a fortune, and the three examples cited above can get you started. With practice, you can move on to other, more challenging designs. The book linked above has some great projects!

Technorati Tags: make handcrafted brooches

Sometimes when making jewelry, one needs some inspiration. Here are a few of my newest designs (and some old standbys) that may inspire you to make your own. All were very fast to make as we know that the holidays are coming soon.

Bracelets

Here I fell in love with making memory wire bracelets. These are fun and fast to make. Memory wire bracelets take very little skill to create. Simply close the end, add beads, then close the other end. Very fast and easy to make. Wonderful gifts that are easy to make.

Pearl Set

This classic design seemed to be appreciated by all and was fairly inexpensive and easy to make. These are simply pearls beaded onto silk thread. I must admit that I didn’t knot when I made them to save time. See a video called: How to make pearl earrings to make these earrings for yourself.

Simple Beaded Necklaces

Sometimes you just feel like stringing gemstones for the fun of it. I just felt like making beaded gemstone necklaces. I had fun creating these. You too can make something too!

I hope these jewelry making ideas helped inspire you! I had lots of fun creating them. Have a great time making fast easy gifts

Technorati Tags: jewelry making ideas, making fast easy gifts

If you plan to make jewelry for the holidays, now is the time to prepare. Making jewelry can really save you money. Handmade jewelry is often a personal gift the recipient really appreciates. Here are some things to consider:

Deciding Who

In order to not forget anyone, having a list of people you want to create gifts for really helps. You may change your mind later, but at least it will be a conscious decision. Sometimes you will make jewelry for some, cookies for others, and buy gifts for a few.

Deciding What

Earrings are usually the cheapest and the easiest to make as there are less materials needed. I can make earrings in less than 5 minutes. Alternatively, you can often buy sterling silver chains in bulk and simply add a pendant. Also, making a memory wire bracelet is relatively fast and fun. Being able to estimate the time your projetcs will take helps you know if you will have enough time to make them.

Setting Aside Time

As we get closer to holidays, time gets filled quickly. Putting time to make jewelry or other crafts on your schedule can make certain you have the needed time for your projects. I enjoy having jewelry making parties so all of us can make jewelry together.

Purchase Any Needed Supplies

Of course, now that you know the projects you want to do, make certain you have the supplies you need on hand. Running out of findings, beads or other materials can change your timetable. Often I make sure I have extra on hand to make a few last minute extra gifts.

Have LOTS of Fun Creating

I really enjoy making jewelry. Whether making jewelry with friends or while watching television, I always feel like I’ve accomplished something as well as made something beautiful. I also feel like I’ve saved lots of money which really helps our budget too!

Technorati Tags: make jewelry for the holidays, make jewelry