Chandelier Necklace

Have you ever been to salvage yards, where you can find all kinds of home décor pieces for sale? We had a great one near us that recently closed down. That's really too bad because it was a wonderful source for artists, particularly assemblage artists. I had a friend who found door handles, metal P.O. Box doors, funky hinges, and old candlesticks to use for her art. I found a few things I could use for jewelry, most notably chandelier crystals.

This store had boxes and boxes of different crystals, all sorted by shape and size. Presumably, people would go there to find a match for their home chandelier when a piece broke. I just looked for their individual beauty, as well as a suitable size for a necklace. I didn't want to go to big on the crystal piece because they can be quite heavy.

Here's a necklace I created using a chandelier crystal.

I painted a background for the crystal. First, I used watered-down acrylic paints on watercolor paper. I splashed a few of those around. When the paper was dry, I traced the crystal on it, then cut a piece of paper to size. The paper was then glued to the flat back side of the crystal. To finish it, I then traced the crystal on a piece of black adhesive felt paper. The felt has a paper side that you pull off so that you can then adhere the felt to the back of the painted paper on the crystal. The felt gives it a nice soft feel when you're wearing it around your neck.

The chain is a purchased chain and I added my own crystal dangles to match the color scheme of my chandelier piece.

I didn't put a clasp on the chain since it is long enough to slip over your head. Voila! Instant crystal charm.