This is an example of what my "scrap" bin looks like. When you start letting everyone around you know that you'll take old, discarded, broken jewelry, you'll start accumulating some really great stuff that you can take apart, dismantle, rearrange, and make something unique out of.
Many of these were cheap jewelry purchases made by myself. Some of the earrings were simply too heavy for me to wear.
These are some of the items I ended up selecting. My plan was to make a bracelet that matches with an existing jewelry set I made about a year ago. I selected one of my "map of California" cabochons, which is simply a map glued underneath a glass flat back marble. I chose some lengths of rhinestones, some brass bird charms, some chain from an ankle bracelet, and some little black and gold charms that were from a pair of vintage earrings. I also knew I'd be using a lot of beads, so I've got my pearls and glass beads out as well.
I cut a piece of felt that is the length of how long I want my bracelet. This one is about 7 inches, which is a standard wrist size. I glued the cabochon and birds down in the middle of the bracelet, since I want those to be the centerpoint of the bracelet. I also took my rhinestone scraps and glued them around the central cabochon. I use E6000 contact cement in clear.
Once the glue was dry, I hand stitched the little black/gold charms and the decorative chain down. Interestingly, I used some nail polish remover and removed some of the black paint from the charms. They were much more interesting when I could see more of their fine detail.
I should have taken some more shots before this, but this is after I have hand stitched all the beads onto the bracelet. I like things to be symmetrical (both horizontally and vertically) on a bracelet, so what I put on one side will go on the other. I did use some glue underneath some of the larger beads, while also sewing them down. Since I am using a sewing needle and thread, I am limited to a certain extent to what beads I use, because they need to fit over the sewing needle itself.
Once the bracelet has everything on it that you like, you're going to trim around the bracelet with scissors, to get rid of the extra felt. I also like to glue another layer of felt on, then trim that too.
I added a lobster claw clasp to the bracelet. These types of bracelets are going to be more fragile than not, and should not be worn if you are to be doing any active or messy activities. That's not to say you can't wear and enjoy it, and if a bead does get lost, it's easy to sew a new one in its place. As with any jewelry piece, your jewels will last much longer if you do not sleep or bathe in them.
