Screen and Tackle Jewelry

Create unique jewelry with unexpected materials: window screen and fishing tackle. You will have ultimate bragging rights with this creative jewelry craft project.  Heidi Borchers of Inspired at Home shows us how with step-by-step instructions.

Materials:

• 12” x 18” piece of window screen
• Wire cutters
• Aleene’s® Original Tacky Glue®
• Metallic acrylic paints: silver, copper, gold
• Paintbrushes
• 30 gold jump rings
• Needlenose pliers
• 2 (size 7) brass snap swivels for earrings
• 1 pair of fishhook earrings
• 21 (size 10) brass snap swivels for necklace (can be found wherever fishing tackle is sold)

Instructions:

1. Using wire cutters, cut a total of 30 diamond-shaped pieces from window screen.
    
2. Apply a generous amount of glue directly from bottle to all edges of diamond pieces, being sure to cover all sharp points. Let dry completely. If any sharp points remain after glue dries, snip them off with wire cutters. Reapply glue if necessary to cover all sharp points.
    
3. Paint both sides of each piece, completely covering glue and allowing paint to fill some of the holes in the screen. Let dry.
    
4. Using needlenose pliers, attach 1 jump ring to top point of each piece. For each earring, attach 1 silver diamond to small end of size 7 snap swivel. Attach 1 gold diamond to large end of same snap. Attach earring hook to end of swivel.
    
5. For necklace, link together all size 10 swivel snaps to form necklace chain. Attach remaining 26 pieces to necklace, placing where desired.

Heidi’s Designer Tip: Metallic acrylic paint adds a rich look but you can also change the look by trying other colors or other shapes.