Easy DIY Gypsy Coin Necklace

Squirt doesn't have school today, which means we've got a friend over to play. I cannot say enough how thankful I am that she has good friends. Yesterday one of my mom friends commented that Squirt gives her hope that her kids can grow up and still be sweet and innocent. That made my mother heart swell just a little bit and today I realize that I owe a lot of her sweet temperament to the kids she's chosen as her friends. It really is enlightening to see how many good, honest kids there are in the world. Even though I secretly know they give their own moms moments of sheer insanity just as my girls do for me...

As Squirt was gallivanting around playing Monster High with her BFF of the moment, I sat down to do a little creating. The other day I found these coin beads at Walmart for somewhere around $2. I love coin beads. Like, a lot. I was especially intrigued because the copper color is perfect to go with the brown leather boots I saved spit in test tubes in order to buy. {Long story, but lets just say there are interesting research projects to participate in while living in a University town}

Fortunately I already had a package of mixed copper colored findings from some earrings I made years ago. Honestly, the amount of stuff I have kept forever and moved multiple times is insane. In the bag was a length of chain, so I was good to go.

All I did was measure out the length I wanted the necklace to be and slap some of the coins on there. Well, it wasn't quite that haphazard. I think my head would explode if I didn't do at least a little planning.

I held the chain up to decide how long of a section I wanted the coins to fill, then measured from each end to be sure that section was centered. Then I attached the coins to every other link in the chain until that section was full. I was really surprised how hard it was to open these copper (fake) findings. Most base metals are more pliable than these.

I am pretty non-committal when it comes to necklace lengths since I have a wide variety of necklines and moods so I added one jump ring at 16.5 inches long with a little chain extender and another jump ring at 18 inches long.

The finished product! I find that the coins don't all lay flat on the table because of the way the chain gently rotates, but once it's on I love how it all lays.

(Ignore the crazy storage room that I've claimed for a project space since it's the only room in our apartment that gets natural light)

Even more than that I love how it gently jingles when I walk. I feel a touch sassy like I'm wearing a bejeweled scarf for belly dancing.

The goal was to coordinate with my boots, and it does. It also exposed exactly how lame I am in front of the camera and how desperately I need to get new layering tanks. 

What I love about this project: 

• cheap! affordable
• the color can be layered with gold or silver, real or costume jewelry (here I've layered it with a 30" 14k yellow gold snake chain from my "real jewelry" phase of life that fits around my neck twice)
• it was relatively fast to make
• the jingles
• it coordinates with my favorite boots

What I would do differently: 

• file my nails afterward since jewelry tends to beat them up
• do my hair before taking any pictures

If I get ambitious I may add a second strand but I hesitate since I think it would limit the layering options. I love it, but I already can't wait to see how much better it looks when my hair is straightened and I have some earrings on.