Zipper Floral Ring and Bracelet

I have seen zipper jewelry for a while now and have really liked them and wanted to make some for myself and I finally did. I have hesitated to make some jewelry with zippers because I didn't want to waste any of them. I fell like they are expensive even though I know they are not. I know they sell one side of a zipper like they do lace but it is even more expensive.  One of my Husbands Grandmothers passed away a few months ago and I inherited some of her sewing supplies. In the sewing supplies there were several zippers. I didn't pay for them so I don't feel so bad using them! 

Supplies: zipper, glue gun & glue, sewing machine with zipper attachment, Amate Studios ring and bracelet base and a glob on clay. 

To start making the flower you will need to take the zipper apart. I did this by cutting across the zipper. Since you will not need the pull and my zipper was extra long I cut the zipper so that I could use part of it on another project. (With the left over piece you can add a few stitched and the bottom to keep it closed.) Take one side of the zipper and make a basting stitch using the zipper foot on your sewing machine. (You can hand stitch this if you don't have a sewing machine.) Leaving long tails of thread. 

Pull the bottom thread and start to make the zipper "ruffle."

Using your glue gun add a small dot to one end of the zipper and roll the zipper to make the center of the flower.

Add a little bit of glue and roll the zipper. Keep doing this until the flower is complete. Glue the end of the zipper just slightly under the flower so you don't see unfinished ends. 

Of course I forgot to take a picture of the finished flower by itself! Now put your ring base into a glob of clay to hold the ring in place. 

Add a large amount of hot glue to the well of the ring. Add more than what is in the picture, about 2/3 full. The more glue I added to the well the more you couldn't see it in the picture. If you fill it to full when you insert the flower the glue will overflow. Then insert the flower into the ring and press gently and hold in place for a minute to let the glue start to harden.

The ring.

The bracelet.

The ring and the bracelet.

I love how these turned out! They will go with so many outfits. I will probably make a few more in other colors. I am eyeing a turquoise zipper right now! 

Not your ordinary jewelry box!

My Grandmother lived with my mom and step dad for a few years and the time came when she needed to be moved into an assisted living home. When they did this they went threw her stuff, sold some of it, kept some of it and gave some of it away. Out of all her stuff I received this jewelry box. You can tell by they type of box that it isn't old. So why is this box so special? Well this box has all of her buttons that fell off of clothes and broken jewelry.  I know when my mom asked me if I wanted it she sounded a little hesitant. Who would want a jewelry box of broken things? A normal person would not be excited by this but I was! What could I make with all of this stuff? 

Since I have worked with Amate Studios in the past I have some of their wonderful jewelry blanks. I knew that I had some of their Designer Series ring blanks and could make some rings with the buttons.

 Some of the buttons had flat back and some had a ring to thread through. The buttons with a flat back I used their flat ring blanks and attached the button with Dazzle Tac Jewelry Glue by Beacon. The buttons with a ring to thread threw I used the bezeled ring blank and filled the well with the glue and then set the button inside. I could have cut the ring off of the buttons but I didn't want to take the extra steps to cut and file to make sure that it would fit right on the flat ring blank. All of the rings needed to dry for at least 24 hours before wearing. I hope this inspires you to look at your broken jewelry a little differently!