Bubble Wrap Jewelry

Bubble Wrap Jewelry<br /><br />Jewelry chain linksWhen I was young, my dad was in the service and had to go to the orient. He came back with a jewelry piece for each of us and the jewelry had mother of pearl accents. I thought it was the most beautiful jewelry I had ever seen. I was so fascinated by that jewelry that Ive never forgotten it and that was many years ago. Thats why, when I discovered that I could make something similar, but spend no money, I wanted to try it. Now I know that I can make pretty, fake, mother of pearl disks, and you can, too. Made from bubble wrap, youll love them on a new necklace or or an earring set.<br /><br />Okay, the fake mother of pearl isnt anywhere near as convincing as the real thing, but, nonetheless, its stunning when incorporated into a jewelry piece. You have to iron the bubble wrap and its really simple to do. Cut two exact pieces of bubble wrap and stack them on top of each other. Cut a piece of parchment paper, stack the bubble wrap on it, and fold it in half. The parchment paper should be at least a tad larger, all the way around, than the folded bubble wrap.<br /><br />Set the iron to the wool setting, or the no steam setting, and iron the parchment paper for about 30 seconds. Pay close attention to the edges. Allow the paper to cool, flip it over, and repeat the process. Allow that side to cool. Cut and lay another piece of bubble wrap, cover in the parchment paper, and iron again. Continue to do that until you have between five and seven layers of bubble wrap, melded together.<br /><br />Cut the disks or shapes that you want from the bubble wrap. Poke a hole at the edge of each shape to create a way to hang the disk. Open a jump ring, slide it through the hole, and clamp it shut over a chain necklace link, bracelet link, or earring hardware piece.<br /><br />Create more of a mother of pearl look by sprinkling small amounts of glitter in between the layers of the bubble wrap, before ironing. Or, paint the bubble wrap, stack it so that the painted sides face each other, and iron. Youll be amazed at how beautiful bubble wrap jewelry truly is.