Wire wrapped rainbow add a charm bracelet for girls

I'm not a mom or a teacher, so I've been getting ideas for my children's jewelry line from my friends who are mothers or teach young kids. My friend Karen, who is an elementary school teacher, has been particularly helpful to me in suggesting pieces that children would want to wear.

She noted that charm bracelets are very popular amongst the girls in her school, especially the kind where you can add on your own charms. So I came up with my own wire wrapped version of the add a charm, or choose a charm bracelet. I made it with different color 20 gauge plated copper wire so it looks like a rainbow. It's festive and fun, and just an explosion of color:

I wanted to come up with a safe way for the charms to be added. With many charm bracelets, you can order the charms separately and then add them yourself, however, I don't want kids playing with the wire or for the charm to be put on wrong and then break. So instead, I set it up on my Etsy page where you can pick five charms from a list of various charms and colors that each is available in. This way, the customer can make it a personalized gift, but won't have to add the charms herself.

Creating children's jewelry is an interesting challenge because I'm learning that it's not just about what the jewelry looks like. The jewellery almost has to be like a toy, something that can be played with. And this charm bracelet is exactly that!

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs. To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations.

Colorful rainbow wire wrapped bracelets

Great news! I made my first sales at MayaGirl Creations -- and in under a week. Yay! Plus, the woman who's hosting that charity event at which I'll be selling my children's jewelry told me that the kids and their moms loved my sample piece.

But I'm not letting it get to my head. I have so much work to do to make my latest shop a place worth checking out. And as always, I'm trying to create fun and unique items.

My latest designs are these colorful wire wrapped bracelets:

I've made both design before: the daisy links and the filigree clovers. But I had a good time using the colored wire and arranging the links like a rainbow. I'm imagining my future stand at craft fairs and just envisioning an explosion of color. I mean, when you were a kid, weren't you drawn to colorful things? Heck, I still am!

When it comes to kids, I'm also thinking in terms of safety, so I'm using ready-made hypoallergenic ear wires and am double checking pieces to make sure that there are no sharp edges. It's a new kind of challenge, but as you know, I always welcome that when it comes to doing something creative.

To purchase my children's jewelry, head to MayaGirl Creations. To purchase my grownup jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs.

Rainbow heart charm bracelet anodized aluminum with adjustable silver chain

This cute, little bracelet took sooo long to make. Working with anodized aluminum is fun, but actually constructing the pieces is very time consuming.

Perhaps it would help if I had proper tools. For the past few weeks, I've been using a center punch (a took that you punch to make a little dent, marking where you'll drill) AS a drill. It worked... for the most part, though I'd have to punch about a million times to carve a hole through copper and silver. Punching through the aluminum was easier, but still took quite a bit of effort.

Then today my punch broke. I'd noticed that it was getting less, well, "punchy" so I took it apart to see if I could fix the spring ... and everything fell out. Once I put it back together, it was no longer doing its job. But it wasn't me, I swear! I think it just got worn down since I was overusing and misusing it.

I managed to finish my heart bracelet by hammering a sharp file into the metal to create the hole, but that's not really the way to do it either. So I ordered a little hand drill and we'll see how that works out. I'm looking forward to being able to create a hole in a matter of seconds and to not getting my hands blistered while doing so.

Meanwhile, I'm happy that I finished this bracelet. I have an idea for a whole line of colorful bracelets and I'd like to get a bunch finished by this weekend so I have them for the craft fair. I think their rainbow colors wll attract customers -- which is what I want.

I'm becoming such a geek about jewelry tools and supplies. How weird is it that I'm so excited about a DRILL?

To purchase my jewelry, head to Naomi's Designs on Etsy.