Junk Accessories for The Altered Element - November Theme "Recycle"

It's a new month and a new theme at The Altered Element.

This month we RECYCLE.

I'm in a bit of a jewellery making mood at the moment so I'd like to share with you some of my "Junk" creations.

It all started off with an old belt I had, it was made up from square wooden tile beads and other wooden beads. As I never wore it, I cut it up and used the wooden tiles as a starting point for my jewellery.

I painted the tile black, when it was dry I glued some bits of card from the Tim Holtz Lost and Found Paper Stack to both sides of the tile, using Glossy Accents. I cut round the edges and inked all edges with Black Soot Distress Ink. Then I covered one side in glossy accents and let it dry overnight. It gives a nice shiny finish and transforms the old wooden tile into a brandnew shiny bead. Cover the other side in glossy accents and leave to dry again. Then repeat the same step around the edges.

When that had dried I attached a lot of random bits, charms, safety pins, beads, idea-ology etc to the bottom using some eyepins. It's a great way of using up old tatty bits, broken pieces of jewellery, beads you no longer want, just use your imagination, if you can attach a jumpring to it somehow, you can make it into junk jewellery.

For my next piece I used more of them wooden tiles, 7 were enough to fit my wrist. I cut out letters from the Tim Holtz stack again to spell JOURNEY and IMAGINE on the reverse side.

What would work well are the Artchix Inchies Collage Sheets. Roughly the right size, they would make a beautiful piece of jewellery.

Simply strung together with some elastic and some small coco beads as spacers. Done.

I do like bracelets, so I straight away made another one.

This time I used some silver chain, a lot of jumprings and I simply attached a whole lot of buttons with them. Very easy, although it can take some time. This is another great way of using up short pieces of chain and old buttons you have leftover.

Next up is a keyring. The Tim Holtz Swivel Clasps make great keyring.

Simply attach a lot of stuff to the ring at the bottom and you got a quick and easy keyring made from old tat. I especially like the little orange pawn. And I cut up an old wooden measure, drilled a hole in the top and glued an eyelet into it.

Last but not least is another keyring. This time I used another of them wooden tiles.

Again you could be hanging anything from this. Rummage round the attic and see what old games you may have lying around, even if it's not complete anymore, use up the little bits like scrabble tiles. Small chess pieces would work well too. I used a ringpull from a can here and some hooks I found in a sewing box a while back. Old snaps would work too.

I hope I've been able to inspire you a bit and I would love to see your junk creations.