So I'm pretty sure all of us are obsessed with emojis by now. I need like emojis everywhere in my life. As a graphic artist, I totally believe in the idea that images speak louder than words. Hence my love for The Emoji.
So when I was at Target one day, and spotted a package of - what?! - Emoji stickers?! I was super excited. Who knew these existed?! Did you?! Why didn't you tell me?!
So anyways, I totally grabbed a pack and decided to get to work. I knew I wanted to make some sort of kitschy-style statement necklace, because, well, why not? Emojis have attitude, and while I usually don't love super-bright, in-your-face colors, they totally work here.
To turn these stickers into charms, I turned to one of my favorite materials: polymer clay. Backing these stickers with clay, then baking, creates cool components with some serious style. For this necklace, I picked out my very most favorite emojis: the 100, the Skull, The lightning bolt, the Peace Sign, the Lips, the Sly Guy, the Shining Star and the Money Stack. It just so happened that these emojis all shared the colors red, white and yellow. Even better. Color palette, check.
Adding these emoji charms to chunky chain from Cousin Corporation, and mixing with rhinestone pave beads, totally completes the look. It's a little over-the-top, but totally on purpose.
I'll show you exactly how to make your own below. The hardest part might just be finding the emoji stickers. I'm telling you, you need them. I have a list of places that sell them below in Step 1.
Are we ready?! Let's start.
Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, polymer clay, a tissue blade or Xacto knife for cutting, clear gloss glaze, a paintbrush, pave rhinestone beads, chain, a clasp, headpins, and the pièce de résistance - the Emoji stickers. I got these from Target! You can also get them from Amazon and Urban Outfitters.
Step 2: Choose which emoji sticker you want as your charm. Take a marble-sized piece of clay (I'm using white here for a clean look. I used yellow for some of my other charms. Use whichever colors you like!) and gently roll out (I literally used a sharpie like a rolling pin). Roll till it's about 3mm thick. Make sure it's evenly rolled out like a nice little pancake!
Step 3: Gently peel off your sticker, and stick it right on the pancake. Press down and burnish gently. Start trimming the excess clay away with your tissue blade or Xacto knife.
Step 4: Continue trimming, using your Xacto blade to get right up against the sticker. Smooth out the edges by rubbing gently with your fingers.
Step 5: Carefully make a vertical hole in the clay with a needle. Make sure this hole goes all the way through the charm. I leave this needle (or sometimes I use headpins to make the holes) in the clay as it bakes to make sure the hole stays put.
Repeat the above steps for any other charms you want to make! Go ahead and bake these in a toaster oven at VERY LOW HEAT. I had my dial turned down below the 125 degree mark. You don't want to bake these at a high temp because of the sticker. I baked my charms for about 20 minutes or so. When finished, let them cool fully.
Step 6: Coat all your charms in clear gloss glaze. Let all air dry.
Step 7: Add your charms to headpins and create wrapped loops. Start laying out the orientation of your necklace, and making charms out of the pave rhinestone beads. I stuck with yellow, white and red rhinestone beads to keep the color scheme coordinating.
Step 8: Simply add your charms and rhinestone bead charms evenly across your chain. I used jump rings to attach my charms to the chain links, which made it easier for me to sort of play with the right amount of charms, and where to place them. I alternated my rhinestone beads with my charms. There is no right or wrong way. Play around and see what looks best to you! To finish, add a clasp at the end of the chain.
Are you lovin' this as much as I am? I like the contrast between the fancier sparkle beads, fun icons and industrial-type chain. What's also great is that you can switch up the colors based on the emojis you pick. You could also use gold chain instead of silver if you prefer.
Make a matching bracelet if you want too. Might as well. Go all out.
If you make one of these, I say to with the punk vibe - a rocker-chic outfit of a long black tunic top, leather leggings and combat boots works totally well. I'm gonna leave you with two closing pics to inspire you. If you make a necklace using this tutorial, post pics to your instagram and tag me @quietlioncreations! I'll repost you!
All images copyright Allison Beth Cooling. Do NOT repost without crediting me and linking back to my blog.
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