I have never made any jewelry.  When I see some of the beautiful beads in the craft store, I am tempted to make something.  The thing is, it seems when you add the price of all the items needed to make a piece, it can be much less expensive to buy something already made!  Some day I plan on experimenting with jewelry making with my sea glass collection, but today I want to tell you about a necklace I created for less than $5!

A while back, I ripped a photo of a necklace I really liked from a magazine…it had a nautical feel to it since it was made from rope.  But, at $215., it was way beyond my accessories budget…actually, I don’t even have an accessories budget!  So, $215. more than my budget!

I was able to create the same look as the necklace in the magazine with a piece of rope from the marine store (less than $2.) and some Plasti Dip I had left over from my seafood fork project.  I got a little fancy and bought a bracelet clasp and some wire to use as an attachment and the total for supplies still came out under $5.

The best part is that I love the necklace!  I thought I would wear it with t-shirts, but I really like the way it looks with my gray and white striped long t-shirt dress…so perfect!  All I did was to knot the rope and dip it in Plasti Dip.  The necklace I saw had a red accent, but I decided to use blue since I had some blue Plasti Dip on hand.  I liked the look of two coats of Plasti Dip, but you can easily add more coats if you want the colored area to have a thicker look.

When you buy the rope at the marine store, it is best to get the exact length you want, because they will burn the edges for you to prevent it from unraveling.  There are plenty of different rope options to choose from and the cost is calculated per yard.  I thought the craft store would have some type of clamp to use as a fastener, but I couldn’t find one large enough to fit the diameter of the rope so I crafted a fastener out of a bracelet fastener.  Maybe a jewelry supply store would have something different or, another fastening option would be to tie or fuse the two ends together – slipping the necklace over your head.

So, that is a simple way to create a nautical feel necklace!  I think knotted napkin rings dipped in Plasti Dip would be another great variation on this project.  Plasti Dip can be tinted any color, so there are plenty of color options…have fun with it!

Thanks so much for stopping by.  Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

Sharing at Elizabeth & Co. and Silver Pennies.

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