Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Fun To Wear Hardware

What do you get when you pair a
rusty piece of hardware with a vintage bottle cap?

Jewelry, of course!



 I found some cool old hardware at the thrift stores and from a fellow blogger who just happens to have a store only three miles from my house. Barbara Jean at Treasures From the Heart has some of the best rusty, chippy pieces of anything and everything.



I found some bottle caps from another blogger friend.
Linda at Itsy Bits and Pieces had a fabulous collection of them
and I was lucky enough to snag a few.


The first step was to hammer the bottle cap. I used a regular carpenter's hammer to lightly tap around the edges of the cap.
I continued working my way around the cap
until the edges had curled up.


Then I hammered the center area with the ball end of a ball-peen hammer to create a concave area or a "well".


The cap looked like this once I finished hammering it.


I filled the "well" with ICE Resin®. I rubbed the hinge with wax and buffed it. And then once the resin was cured I used
an epoxy glue to adhere the cap to the hinge.


I glued a piece of brown suede to the back of the pendant to cover the glue that showed through the holes on the back.


And then the fun began!
I embellished the hinge with wire and gemstones.


I added a black suede cord and finished it off
with a handcrafted hook and eye clasp.



I've designed several more of these Fun To Wear Hardware pieces but I have plans for them and I will have to keep them a secret for now!

19 comments:

  1. LOVE it, Kathy! You have such a wonderfully creative talent! Thanks for the shout-out! I'm looking forward to seeing more!

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  2. FANtastic!! How long are you going to make us wait to see the others?....I can hardly wait. I love the combo of the hinge and bottle cap. Using the hinge/hardware is brilliant.
    <3 Christina

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  3. Great pieces...and so fun to see how you did it.

    Thanks for the shout out and linking to my place...so appreciate it. =)

    blessings
    barb

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  4. These are adorable you always come up with the greatest pieces...

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  5. Came over from Gotta Create. Very envious of that bottle cap collection. I think caps are miniature pieces of art and you raised them to high art with these mixed media pieces. Beautiful!

    Distressed Donna Down Home

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  6. Very nice pieces, Kathy!

    Barb's hidden gem of a store is awesome! Glad you are finding fun things to create with.. Blogging is great for networking and meeting life-long friends... :-)

    Cheers! See you soon...

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  7. Ok call me crazy...but it looks like an old phone to me!! Really neat....

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  8. This is gorgeous! I just love the industrial vintage-y feel of your jewelry! Hope you stop by and join in the fun at my under 300 followers blog hop @ http://pinkapotamus.blogspot.com/2012/07/under-300-followers-blog-hop-9.html
    I am your newest follower~
    xoxo
    Amie @ Pinkapotamus

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  9. I'm impressed! You're very talented. Who would have seen just fabulous jewelry in a pile of old hinges and bottle caps? Gorgeous!!

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  10. love, love, love this piece! so creative!

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  11. Wow, love stuff like this - it looks pretty awesome!

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  12. Love how this turned out! I love the look of any type of rusty hardware too! Thanks for sharing. Found you via a blog hop and am now a new follower!

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  13. LOVE these!!! So cute and clever...I want one :) Laurel

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  14. Found you from the Knick of Time blog hop! Your work is WONDERFUL! Thanks for blogging!...I will be following!

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  15. Hi there, oh, I really love your jewelry! I will be coming back to visit your shop, thanks for sharing!
    Dorothy

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  16. awesome! i need more hardware!
    www.minnesotajunker.blogspot.com

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  17. Another fun piece! I kept seeing bottle caps while hiking last week. I should have picked them up for you!

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I look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!

Have a great day!
Kathy