Upcycled Personalized Initial Necklace

by Confessions of a Refashionista

5 Materials

1 Hour

Easy

Discover how to create your own upcycled personalized initial necklace from bits you may already have around the house with my simple tutorial!

Totally inspired by the groovy necklace worn by the main character in Ugly Betty

Did you spot the letter necklace I created for my Ugly Betty copycat look? It was hidden under the layers of my preloved celeb outfit version but it was definitely there!

Fun factoid: Betty’s necklace is a replica of Anne Boleyn’s.

Grab a pearl necklace, 3 extra pearl beads, a plastic letter (mine is from a broken key ring that had been in my stash for ages), golden nail polish or paint + needle nosed pliers.

(my fancy old plier handle covers are made from vintage necktie scraps)

As my “S” initial was made of rubber I heated a thick embroidery needle to poke the 3 holes needed for the bottom pearls.

Quick tip: Heated needles slide easily through most rubber and plastic materials.

I trimmed off the excess melted rubber bits with an exact-o knife for a smooth look.

A base coat of shiny brown nail polish covered up that awful orange and black combination.

Then a few coats of gold as well as a strong, clear varnish completed the faux golden metallic look!

Once the polish and varnish was completely dry, I raided my deconstructed jewellery stash for jump rings and whatever other bits I needed and then put the whole thing together!