How to make a square pendant necklace

Upcycle mosaic tiles with your favourite patterned paper to make this darling square pendant necklace - ideal if you're looking to make and sell jewelry!

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Holly Spanner

Published: May 26, 2021 at 5:05 am

Want to make and sell jewelry? Jewellery always draws a crowd at craft fairs and markets and if you need to make lots of small projects quickly to fill up your stall, then our pretty pendant could be just the project for you to make and sell jewelry!

This square pendant necklace is made from basic bathroom mosaic tiles that are covered in background paper, then embossed to give a protective layer. There are 121 tiles in a mosaic sheet, and a single sheet is between £5 and £20 (sometimes less!) - this works out at between 4 pence and 16 pence per tile - great if you want to make and sell jewelry. White tiles are ideal because it helps to make the colours on the papers more vibrant - so choose the right papers and you'll be onto a very profitable make.

We used a pretty cherry blossom paper that came in two patterns and five colours, which means you can really offer a choice to your customers. Digital paper is perfect for this project as you can print onto paper that is thinner and you can easily rescale the pattern before printing.

Looking for more awesome jewellery making tutorials? Check out these funky crochet earrings - perfect for festivals, or how about learning how to make a jewellery roll to keep all your homemade jewellery safe and protected.

We love seeing what you make, so don’t forget to share your craft projects with us on Facebook and Twitter, too!

To make this square pendant necklace you will need:

2.5 x 2.5cm (1 x 1") square white mosaic ceramic tile
Appliglue
Patterned paper
Fine clear embossing powder
VersaMark clear pad
Heat gun
Silver-plated leaf tag pendant bail
50cm (20in) of silver-plated chain
Silver-plated jumprings
Silver-plated bolt ring fastening
Fine sandpaper or sanding block

How to make a square pendant necklace

Size

2.5 x 2.5 x 0.5cm (1 x 1 x ¼in)

Top tips

Try mixing up the papers you use - decoupage papers, book pages or old maps make for exciting patterns on your square pendant necklace!

Step 1

How to make a square pendant necklace

First – choose some papers for your square pendant necklace. If you’re working with digi papers – insert the digital paper at full size into a Word document, then reduce to 10 x 10cm (4 x 4in) and print out. Draw around a tile onto paper and cut out the aperture to make a template. Place onto the paper and mark the corners when you like the pattern you see.

Alternatively, if you’re working with your own papers (decoupage papers are great for this project), position the mosaic tile onto your papers until you’re happy with the positioning of the pattern, draw around and cut out.

Step 2

How to make a square pendant necklace

Cut out the paper square. Spread a thin layer of appliglue over the front of the mosaic tile and stick the paper onto the tile, smoothing any air bubbles as you go. Once the glue is dry, then trim away any excess paper that overhangs the edges of the tile.

Step 3

How to make a square pendant necklace

Sand the edges of the tile in a downward motion using fine sandpaper or a sanding block. Removing a little of the colour around the edge of the paper gives a vintage look.

Step 4

How to make a square pendant necklace

Press the tile, face down, onto the Versamark pad, then repeat to make sure the surface is covered. Sprinkle fine embossing powder over the surface and tip off the excess.

Step 5

How to make a square pendant necklace

Lay the tile on a clean, heat resistant surface and heat with the craft gun until the embossing powder melts. Don’t overheat or it will go cloudy. Repeat step 4 twice to add more embossing powder and reheat. Three thin layers are better than one thick layer.

Step 6

How to make a square pendant necklace

Stick the leaf pad of the pendant bail onto the reverse side of the tile using a strong glue such as F8000, epoxy resin or super glue gel. Thread with a length of silver chain and close the chain with jump rings or a fastening, if required to finish your square pendant necklace.

If you’re looking to make and sell jewelry, now that you have one square pendant necklace made you can think about how you would like to package it. Kraft card is excellent for this – cut a square or rectangle of kraft card approximately, cut two slits in the top and thread through your necklace, so that it hangs in a ‘V’ shape at the front of the card. The excess chain will sit at the back. Handwrite the name of your shop, or the name of your pendant (get creative when naming your jewelry!) on the front of the card, then repeat until you have enough square pendant necklaces to make and sell jewelry!

How to make a square pendant necklace

Staff Writer, BBC Science Focus

Holly is the Staff Writer for BBC Science Focus and looks after the popular Q&A section. She holds an MSc (distinction) in Geoscience (Space and Climate Physics) from UCL, and specialises in astronomy and earth sciences. Before joining Our Media, she worked as a geoenvironmental consultant and engineer, informing on ground risk and remediation in the north of England, while hunting for exoplanets in her spare time. Alongside this, she was regional editor of a popular theatre website for nine years, and has a solid background in curating and developing content for the digital space. Holly is also an artist and illustrator, and regular contributor to the craft website, Gathered. She has previously worked with the RSPB, English Heritage, Disney, Pilot and Brother, as well as on BBC Good Food magazine, Home Style magazine, and Papercraft inspirations magazine. She enjoys photography and has a sustained interest in antiques.