DIY: Gold and Leather Bolo Necklace

5 Comments

I’m hating the silence over here. We’ve been busy packing up Black Friday orders, driving 700 miles, nursing some serious head colds and doing laundry. Anxious to get some creative time under my belt this week, I made a couple necklaces with Penelope. She rummaged through my jewelry stuff and strung any kind of pendant and bead onto a leather string. I played around with some leather and metal and came up with this. I love how my new necklace turned out. It’s reminiscent of a bolo tie because of the length and windsor knot-like shape of the leather piece.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-1

I found this laser cut scale leather in a scrap bin at Michael Levine back in May when I went to LA. It’s such a small piece. It’s so nice to be able to use small scraps for things like this, I feel like there’s no waste that way!

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-9

Make one with me!

Leather Gold-Dipped Bolo Necklace Tutorial

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-2

Supplies

  • gold chain 11-18 inches
  • 20 guage gold wire
  • 4 jump rings
  • closure
  • leather strip, 8 x .5 inches
  • scissors
  • jewelry pliers
  • liquid gold or gold foil
  • junk brush

If you’re going the vegan route, go for felt instead of faux leather. Felt will wear and look better over time than faux leather.

Click below to read the rest of the instructions!

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-3

Cut your wire to about 3-4 inches, curl one end with your pliers.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-4

Fold the leather in half with both right sides facing downwards. Center your wire just above the loop.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-5

Curl the right end in and to the left. Tighten just a little.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-6

Curl the left end through the loop and to the right. Tighten all the way along the wire.

Paint the tips and trim the ends.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-7

Cut the extra wire about 1/4 inches away from the end of the leather. Curl the end to loop all the way back over.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-8

Trim your chain in half and lay findings out. Connect chain to closure and pendant with jump rings.

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-9

Repeat!

istillloveyou-diy-jewelry-leather-gold-10

Instead of  cutting the chain in two, you can attach the pendent to the middle of the chain and allow a little bit of slack go overtop the pendant.

Enjoy! This project took about 10 minutes to put together. It’s perfect for last-minute gift-giving/making or last minute accessorizing for all of your holiday parties.

This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering any files is NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

 

view or add a comment
  • Categories
    1. Stacia says:

      I like the one without the chain hanging in the middle the best, but I love how simple this idea is!

    2. Jaimie Lloyd says:

      Hello. Good morning hope all is well. I will be teaching a class of young ladies at a friends sumner camp program in Dc, called Miss Fancypants I would love to include this project in the portfolio of projects they would have to choose from. Thanks in advance Jaimie

    mobile site