I Love to Create: Pendant Size is in the Eye of the Beholder

Have you ever noticed that objects may seem larger than they appear when looking at them online? Even if the size is clearly listed, I don’t know off the top of my head what 40mm means. Sometime I order things and am pleasantly surprised when they are much larger than I thought they would be, but more often than not items are smaller than I had hoped. Given smaller for me is probably just about right for most, if not a little on the large side – so take this with a grain of salt. I recently had one of these experiences when I received my Garden Snail stoneware pendant from Art Beads. The pendant was just as lovely in person as it was on the website it was just despite being clearly marked Height 41mm, Width 30mm on the website it was smaller than I had envisioned when I actually got it into my hands. Today on I Love to Create I am going to show you how to take a subtle small pendant and work it into an elaborate one of a kind necklace.



SUPLLIES
Aleene’s Liquid Fusion Glue
Aleene’s Fabric Fusion Glue
Red Ricrac
Yellow Polka Dotted Ribbon
4 Large Wooden Beads
2 Plastic Yellow Beads
Quilting Square (vintage fabric)
Medium Button Covering Kit
Large Button Covering Kit
Stoneware Rounded Rectangle Pendant - Garden Snail
Gold Chain
Round Nosed Pliers
Wire Clippers
Flat Nosed Pliers
Dremel Drill
2 Gold Eye Pins
Small Paint Brush
8 Gold Jump Rings
2 Tiny Gold Heart Charms
2 Small White Beads
2 Red Plastic Flowers
2 Yellow Plastic Flowers
2 Brown Plastic Flowers
1 Large Wooden Disc



ADORNMENT
The first thing I did was use my 2 different sized button covering kits and vintage quilting square to make custom cabochons. Using my flat nosed pliers I removed the button shanks. I adhered the buttons to the yellow beads and wooden disc using Liquid Fusion Glue. I used my Dremel tool to rough up the yellow plastic surface before gluing and give it some tooth.

Next I spiced up the plain wooden beads I stole from another necklace with some yellow polka dotted ribbon and very thin red rickrack. I used Fabric Fusion Glue to adhere them to each other and the wooden beads. I used a thin paint brush to apply the glue to the rickrack. Careful not to use too much glue as it can darken and discolor your ribbon.



FLOWER POWER
After the glue had dried on my wooden disc I used a larger drill bit on my Dremel to drill two holes directly across from each other. Using an array of vintage plastic flower petals and new fabric flowers found at your local scrap booking store I added flowers to my wooden disc.



WIRE WRAPPING
Using a long gold toned eye pin I attached the small heart charm to the loop and then stacked on the small white bead, red flower, brown flower, yellow flower and aqua flower. Using my flat nosed pliers I wrapped the wire around the back of the flowers and over the top of the wooden disc to create a bail and make my wooden disc into a pendant.



PENDANT BECOMES A CHARM
Next I needed to attach my snail pendant to the wooden disc. As mentioned the pendant is probably plenty big for most, but for me it was more the size of a charm. Using a long gold toned eye pin I attached a small gold heart and then strung a small white bead, red flower, brown flower, yellow flower and then using my pliers I attached the garden snail charm to the wooden disc pendant.



STRINING BEADS
Once my extra large pendant was made it was time for me to string my beads. I made two sets of bead sections using 2 ribbon wrapped wooden beads and one yellow bead adorned with a custom fabric covered cabochon. I attached the beads using my flat nosed pliers and gold jump rings. Next I strung my pendant onto some gold chain which I attached to the beaded sections. I finished the back of the necklace off with more gold chain making it long enough to slip over your head without a clasp to fasten.



Next time the mail man delivers something that is not quite what you were expecting, never fear. It’s a lot harder to make a pendant smaller, but pretty dang easy as you can see to make it larger. The Garden Snails in Guiana Necklace is available for sale on Naughty Secretary Club, or you could always just make your own.

Do you ever get the size wrong when you order things on the internet? Are you like me and love a quarter in the picture for a frame of reference? Do you keep a ruler next to your desk for this very reason? Fill me in on your tips and tricks.



More Necklace to Make:
Specs Appeal
Eco Friendly Ping Pong Balls
Fabric Necklace