Wood is not just for furniture! Rich natural colours and beautiful grains make wood a great material for making unusual jewelry. You don't need extensive woodworking skills, or expensive tools - with a little ingenuity you can make lovely wooden beads and pendants with just a hacksaw and some sandpaper.
Simple squares and rectangles of wood can be sanded and polished smooth, making simple dramatic pieces that highlight the natural beauty of the wood. Even exotic woods can be found in small amounts, suitable for jewelry making, for less than a dollar.
If your conscience or your budget forbid exotic hardwoods, even cheaper sustainable woods can make lovely statement pieces. Take beech, for example, which has a warm red-gold natural colour and a chatoyant grain - chatoyancy is the shimmery, almost 3D quality seen in gemstones such as tigers-eye.
Wood glue can be used to sandwich several woods together, which can then be cut across to give a striped or inlaid effect.
If you are feeling more adventurous, you could paint or woodburn designs on your piece, or even try inlaying, either with another wood, with shell or mother-of-pearl sheets, or with a material such as InLace.
If you have access to a jigsaw or tenon saw, you can make even more unusual shapes, or you could try your hand at carving to make something that is uniquely yours.
Jewellery findings can be glued to the piece, fixed by screwing or drilling, or the piece can be wire-wrapped - the possibilities and combinations are endless.
If you want to make jewelry that's just a little bit different, why not try one of these simple wooden jewelry projects?
About the Author:
Abigail Bailey is a craft blogger and teacher in Japan. She has been knitting and crafting for 25 years, and writes a craft blog at http://abigailscraftshowto.com.
Article Source: How to Make Wooden Jewelry
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