Creating your own jewelry, whether it’s with glass beads, crystal pendants or even wooden pieces is always fun and often a little challenging. And while most of us spend a good majority of our time searching for and buying beads that can be put together into some wonderful jewelry pieces it is sometime a little more exciting to make “bead jewelry” without the use of traditional beads!

Creating jewelry out of objects that are not primarily designed for jewelry making can be both physically and mentally challenging. First you’ll have to figure out how you’re going to string or mount your items into a piece of jewelry and then you’ll have to spend the time actually doing it. This sounds easy at first, but a lot alternative materials need to be drilled for wire or string insertion or even soldered together or otherwise modified to work well in jewelry. There’s an added challenge in using materials in such a way that they still “work” as jewelry. Sure, creating beautiful jewelry from Swarovski crystal beads or elegant pearls is fairly easy because the materials are so stunning by themselves. But sometimes the biggest challenge is creating jewelry out of things that are not inherently beautiful.

Here are just some of the many things you can create jewelry from:

Bead Jewelry from Beans or Seeds: Whenever I start thinking about making jewelry from beans I immediately think of coffee bean jewelry. Obviously there are lots of other beans and seeds that are about the same size and could work just as well. The key is to pick beans that are durable and dependable. To thread or string beans you’ll probably have to either use a tension mounting system of some sort or drill a hole through them. After that you will probably want to protect your beans or seeds with a spray on sealant to make sure they don’t dry out and fall apart.

Beaded Jewelry from Computer and Game Parts: I wrote about several different people creating their own necklaces, bracelets and even earrings from old computer parts. I think this is a really fun and funky idea, though I’m not sure if I would personally wear jewelry like that. I’ve also seen a lot of jewelry artists make bead jewelry out of junk and typewriter keys and even Scrabble letters!

Paper Bead Jewelry: This idea dates back from the Victorian times when making paper beads was a popular hobby. You can make paper beads by cutting out strips of paper and rolling them around a toothpick or similar small tube and then gluing the end. You may want to seal these as well so they don’t fray and get damaged at the first hint of humidity or moisture. You can experiment with different types of paper, different colors and even different shaped strips of paper when making your beads. There is at least one wonderful bead jewelry artist who is making her paper beads with candy wrappers and newspapers!

Bead Jewelry from Hardware: This beading idea has really taken root from what I’ve seen. I’ve actually met a couple people who have used various pieces of metal hardware and washers in their own jewelry. I blogged about some inventive kids who were making their own washer bead jewelry. Washers, screws, bolts and other fasteners can sometimes make for some incredible looking beaded jewelry! A visit to a large home improvement store can give you lots of ideas for making jewelry out of hardware items.

Making jewelry from alternative materials can quickly become a totally new form of jewelry making built off the foundations and skills of basic bead jewelry making. There are actually a few books that deal exclusively with making jewelry out of non-traditional materials. I’ve actually read and paged through a few of them and they all offer some unique bead jewelry ideas and projects to try.

Remember, don’t be afraid to try something new! If you already know how to make your own bead jewelry then you probably already possess the skills and even the tools to make some of your own alternative bead jewelry!

I love it when large companies dedicate some of their resources to helping the world with special campaigns, especially when it involves bead jewelry! From now until July 27th Brighton Collectibles stores all over the country will be selling bead jewelry made with real Kenyan Kazuri beads! This special sales campaign will help raise awareness and money for new clean water wells to be built in Kenya. Brighton hopes to raise over $250,000 from this month long bead jewelry sales campaign.

The story of Kazuri beads is a fascinating one that is similar to the story of other charity beading organizations such as the Mercado Global bead jewelry or World of Good jewelry that attempts to employ women in developing and impoverished countries. The word Kazuri means “small and beautiful” in Swahili and the company was started by Lady Susan Wood back in 1975 as she attempted to start a small business. She employed some disadvantaged women and quickly realized there were many women who were also in need of work. The company grew and today Kazuri is a company known for creating wide range of hand made, hand painted ceramic jewelry from Africa. Kazuri beads are actually made from the clay of Mt. Kenya which gives them an authentic and interesting back story as well! All the Kazuri beads I’ve seen are earthy but modern looking with beautiful hand painted designs on them.

Brighton used its own designers to create some amazingly unique bead jewelry pieces, all made with clay Kazuri beads. The proceeds of these sales will help bring clean water to Kenya by building desperately needed water wells and improved sanitation systems. For every Kazuri bead item sold, Brighton Collectibles will donate a portion of that sale money to the project. Brighton Collectibles will donate $7.50 for each Kazuri bead necklace sold, $5.00 for each Kazuri bead bracelet sold and $2.50 for each Kazuri bead pair of earrings sold.

Besides just selling Kazuri bead jewelry in all their stores, Brighton Collectibles will also be selling bottled water (they are calling it Love Water) through CharityWater.org to raise money for clean water as well. I don’t usually need an excuse to buy anything from Brighton, but I think I’m going to take advantage of the fact that buying Kazuri bead jewelry from them will benefit both me and families in Kenya!

Handcrafted jewelry artists Debbie and Diane are friends and mothers who have been through good and bad times together, but the jewelry business they have built together is a total delight… literally! Total Delights sells handcrafted jewelry that is both beautiful and unique at the same time.

The Total Delights website is an amazing online jewelry store filled with all sorts of handcrafted bead jewelry of any type imaginable. Their work is top notch and they use quality materials such as lots of Swarovski crystals, semi-precious and precious gemstones and Sterling silver wire and clasps. Their jewelry store is broken out into logical categories such as necklaces, bracelets and pendants. They have a section for holiday jewelry, teen jewelry and even jewelry where the proceeds go to raise awareness of Leukemia and Lymphoma on Haley’s and the Awareness pages.

Their site is a total delight (sorry, can’t help myself) to explore and shop on, too! They have great photos of every jewelry piece they offer, there are plenty of explanations and descriptions of each piece and I love the way they describe the properties and powers believed to held by different gemstones. One unique aspect of their store is the “Sold Gallery” where they feature customer raves and photos of pieces they’ve sold in the past. I think that’s a great idea and one which not many jewelry websites are featuring.

Besides having an amazing selection of jewelry and resources at their online store, they also have a Total Delights blog which they’ve been running for over a year now. They update pretty regularly with photos and blog entries and all sorts of great things journal entries about making jewelry.

I’ve saved the best for last: Total Delights now has a monthly jewelry contest where you can enter to win a piece of jewelry! All you have to do is visit the website and enter, but please shop around and buy something if it catches your eye… You never know… that beautiful piece of bead jewelry you saw today might be in the “Sold Gallery” tomorrow!