Today I’m sharing a quick and easy jewelry-making project- a necklace that holds your rings. It’s an easy way to keep my engagement ring safe while I’m working with something messy, or doing anything with tools where jewelry might be a safety concern.
It’s a fun optical illusion-like party trick to show friends that you can take the ring on and off of the holder without removing the chain.
(more…)This guide will demonstrate how to make a silver ring that holds a glass RFID tag. It’s the same kind folks get implanted in their hands to unlock things like door, computers, or vehicles. I’m not quite brave enough to get the implant but I do like making jewelry and wearing rings, so this solution is perfect for me.
I got these tiny glass ampoule tags and RFID reader from Trossen Robotics– they are the daintiest tags I could find. Normally when mounting a stone on a ring, it’s surrounded on at least one side by metal. I was worried the standard bezel would impact the tag readability, so I wanted to create a design that would allow the most possible open space around the tag. I prototyped the design without a tag, just to see how comfortable it was before scaling up to add the extra pieces and figure out the construction.
I got these tiny glass ampoule tags and RFID reader from Trossen Robotics– they are the daintiest tags I could find. Normally when mounting a stone on a ring, it’s surrounded on at least one side by metal. I was worried the standard bezel would impact the tag readability, so I wanted to create a design that would allow the most possible open space around the tag. I prototyped the design without a tag, just to see how comfortable it was before scaling up to add the extra pieces and figure out the construction.
Prerequisite guides:
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To make this project, you will need:
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(more…)These wire wrapped and beaded earrings are a great first project to make with wire. You’ll learn to manipulate wire with your hands and pliers, shape wire with a hammer and bench block, and open and close jump rings to attach your creations to ear wires. This project is an excerpt from my free Instructables Jewelry class, so if you like it, be sure to check out the other new skills you can learn!
For this project, you will need:
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This guide introduces the tools and techniques you’ll need to create finished jewelry from precious sheet metal! We’ll walk through the steps to create a chevron pendant (or keychain) from copper (or sterling silver, etc. if that is your preference) by sawing, filing, sanding, and polishing the metal before attaching jump rings to a necklace chain or key ring. This project is an excerpt from my free Instructables Jewelry class, so if you like it, be sure to check out the other new skills you can learn!
For this project, you will need:
To keep up with what I’m working on, follow me on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and subscribe to my newsletter. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases you make using my affiliate links.
The metal you choose may vary based on your budget and preference, but should be non-ferrous, which means without iron (the primary component of steel). Iron and steel are very hard metals, making them less than ideal for small jewelry projects where malleability is key. Copper, sterling silver (silver alloy with a small amount of copper or other metals to make it stiffer), and brass (alloy of copper and zinc) are all soft enough to cut and shape into jewelry with ease. Gold and aluminum, among others, are also used for sheet metal jewelry, though not recommended for beginners (they are both very soft).
(more…)This tutorial guides you through the steps to create a beaded wrap bracelet.
You’re welcome to experiment with your materials! The colors, shapes, and sizes are all matters of personal taste. Here is a list of the supplies used to create the bracelet shown throughout this project:
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(more…)Over 15 years ago I made a silver ring with a bezel-set amber stone in a jewelry making class, and I’ve been wearing it ever since. In this project, I’ll walk you through my process for recreating this ring (a newer, nicer version of the original).
For this project, you will need:
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Build yourself a buzzing bracelet for subtle haptic feedback as time passes! It’s great for reminding yourself to get up and walk away from your desk for a few minutes each hour, or just as a way to have a new awareness of how the perception of passing time varies based on what you’re doing.
You’ll whip up a vibrating motor circuit using a transistor, resistor, and diode, and use GEMMA to control the frequency of vibration in between low-power microcontroller naps. The circuit lives inside a linked leather/rubber bracelet, but you could build it into whatever you please. This project involves some precision soldering, but is otherwise quite easy!
Before you begin, make sure you’ve read the following prerequisite guides:
For this project, you will need:
Light up those warm nights at the beach or summer camp with this simple soft circuit bracelet.
We were inspired by Etsy’s nautical knot bracelet tutorial and when we read the word “rhinestones” we immediately substituted LEDs. Read on to stitch up your own illuminated friendship bracelet!
For this project you will need:
Unlock your phone by just picking it up! No more pesky password or gesture PIN, just scan an NFC tag! This guide covers creating an NFC ring, putting an NFC tag in your nail polish, modding your Android installation to read tags from the lockscreen, and creating an automation toolchain to unlock the phone when the desired tag is scanned.
The software side of this project can be pretty tricky, and even scary if you’ve never jailbroken a phone before, which is required to get the phone to read NFC from the lockscreen.
However, you can still do a lot of fun projects without modding your Android install, just skip that step and head straight to the page about NFC+ Tasker Automation. You won’t be able to log into your phone with your nail polish, but you could do all kinds of other things like start playing Barry White when you place your phone on the nightstand (just sayin’).The following pages were very helpful while making this guide:
Get your cybergoth on with five color-changing NeoPixels studded onto a leather collar. The tiny GEMMA microcontroller can display endless animations on this fun funky accessory that’s easy to make with a little soldering!
GEMMA jewelry! The bitty board fits perfectly in the center of a NeoPixel ring for flashy hoop earrings or a charming pendant. Read on to build your own!
Before you get started, follow the Gemma M0 guide or the Classic Introducing GEMMA guide.
