Autumn Fires Jewelry Set

This beautiful necklace, earrings, and bracelet set from AMACO makes a great gift for anyone.  Decorated with colorful accents, this set is made with friendly plastic and is a great way to mix and match your favorite colors.  This jewelry set is great for any season and can easily be worn with a dress or jeans and a tee.  Don't forget to create a set for your friends, too!

Materials:

• 7" sticks of AMACO® Friendly Plastic® 7” in the following colors:
  • Copper/Black
  • Red/Red
  • Indian Red/Black
  • Purple/Black
  • Royal Blue/Black
  • Swirl/Blue
• Small dish of ice cold water with a few drops of olive oil in it (keep the cutter in this dish)
• Non-stick baking sheet
• Envirotex Lite® sealer or any high gloss acrylic sealer
• Non stick cookie sheet
• Jewelry Findings
  • 3 Sizes of silver, oval link chain
  • Silver pendant bail
  • 2 Silver lobster claw clasps
  • 2 Silver ear wires
  • Silver head pins
  • Silver eye pins
  • Silver jump rings
  • Silver and antiqued brass bead caps
  • Silver spacer beads
  • 8mm Swarovski crystals in assorted colors
  • AMACO® Craft Marbling Comb
• 3mm crystal and glass beads, bi-cone and square
• AMACO® Needle tool
• AMACO® PolyRoller
• AMACO® PolyBlade
• Cutters – rectangles in three sizes
• Cutting mat
• Matte knife or utility knife
• Scissors
• Electric griddle set at 265°F (130 °C)
• Heat tool
• Round nose and needle nose jewelry pliers
• Wire cutters

Instructions:

1. Using the cutting mat, ruler and matte knife, cut two 1/4” strips from each color of plastic. Now cut each strip in half with scissors.
   
   
    
2. Pre heat the griddle to 265°F (130°C). Place the baking sheet onto the griddle. Place the plastic strips onto the baking sheet one at a time in the color pattern shown. Make sure each strip is stuck in place before adding the next strip. Try to press each strip tightly against the one before, to prevent any gaps. Allow the plastic to soften and seal together. If any gaps do appear, simply tap over them with your finger pressing the softened plastic together.
   
   
    
3. When all the strips have softened and sealed together, place the teeth of the Marbling Comb against the baking sheet and draw the comb towards you in a wavy “S” pattern cutting through the plastic. NOTE: It is very important that you keep the teeth of the comb against the pan while cutting through the plastic. If you only rake over the top, you only split the metallic finish and take the chance of exposing too much of the base plastic.
   
   
    
4. Place the teeth of the marbling comb in between the lines you just cut. Now push the comb away following the same wavy pattern, bisecting the previous pass.
   
   
    
5. Remove the pan from the griddle. While the plastic is still warm, cut two large rectangles (pendant, front and back), 4 medium rectangles (earrings, front and back) and 8 or 10 small rectangles (bracelet, front and back) by pressing the cutter into the softened plastic. Dip the cutter back into the cold water after each cut. This will help keep it from sticking to the plastic. Allow the plastic to cool. You may place the pan under cold running water to speed the cooling process along.
   
   
    
6. Use the Needle Tool to press under the edges of the cooled plastic and remove it from the pan. Pop out the rectangles. If needed, use the craft knife to cut around each one. Repeat steps 2 through 6 two more times. You need at least 10 marbled pieces.
    
7. Apply the Envirotex® Lite sealer following the manufacturers instructions. NOTE: Place pieces on a non stick cookie sheet. This way if there is any run off, it will be easy to remove later. If you are working with small pieces like in this the bracelet, place a strip of double sided tape across the cookie sheet and adhere the pieces onto the tape. This will help keep them from moving around. For the other pieces, just hold them in place with the needle tool. Once the Envirotex® Light sealer is mixed, pour it into a small squeeze bottle. The application will be more precise. Blow softly through a straw, in order to pop any bubbles that remain. Allow to dry, at least 12 hours. If there has been any run off, remove the piece from the pan by pressing the needle tool under it and lifting. You can cut the excess off with scissors. Envirotex® Light cures completely in 24 hours.
   
   
    
8. To create the components for the pendant, earrings and bracelet heat and soften the back of a marbled rectangle using the heat tool. You don’t want to soften the whole piece, just the surface, enough to press the jump ring with bail (pendant), jump rings (earrings), or eye pin (bracelet) into place. Be careful not to touch the softened plastic with your fingers. Once the jump rings eye pins or is in place, align the two pieces (front and back) one on top of the other and gently press the two together. Moisten your fingers with water and lightly rub around the edges of the component to smooth and secure the bond. Allow the components to cool completely. For the bracelet components trim the long end of the eye pin to approx. 5/16”, use the round nose pliers to form a loop.
   
   
    
9. Assemble the jewelry pieces into a pleasing composition. The beaded components are created, by sliding the beads and bead caps onto the head pins and eye pins. Trim the long end of the pins to approx. 5/16”, use the round nose pliers to form a loop. Use the jump rings to attach the beaded components to each other or to the chain. Try cutting and attaching different size chains together for a more updated and interesting look.