Cheap Jewelry Making Supplies for Bead Artists – Creative Shopping
If you make polymer clay beads, check out Home Depot for buying inexpensive jewellery supplies:
With the rising costs of craft supplies and the need to be original, all you polymer clay jewelry designers need to always be thinking creatively about how to shop for jewelry making supplies.
One way to find unique materials is to think outside the box. As far as supply resources, think of other stores besides the everyday bead shop and craft store.
This means going to places that the average DIY jewelry maker may not think to look. I have many places I look, but today we are going to discuss the home improvement or hardware store as a place to locate alternative findings and beading materials.
Let's start with wire. Copper, aluminum, zinc and stainless wire can be found in various gauges in several locations of your typical Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart or Canadian Tire.
In the electrical department you can find large spools or pay-by-the-foot wire. Bare wire (without the plastic coating) is ideal to buy for making wire jump rings, clasps, links, eye pins, head pins and hooks. You can use coated wire and strip the plastic off with wire strippers but it is much more time consuming.
Bead stringing materials can be found in the fishing supply department. Fireline is well known as a durable, flexible beading 'wire' and comes in a few different strengths and colors. You can also look for cool little clips, swivel eyes and links in nickel, brass and bronze colored finishes, which all have jewelry making potential.
For some great chain, cable, brass clips and rings check out the hardware section. You can often find grommets, eyelets, rubber rings and all sorts of alternative findings if you just keep your eyes open and check every aisle in the store.
Creative jewellery makers aren't the only ones to use hardware for great fashion accessories.
A friend of mine received a Coach handbag recently for a gift. On it I noticed the handle was clipped to a large brass ring on the purse using a very large brass clip, similar to a lobster clasp. These two brass units were the very same items I saw in the hardware store the week before in the rope and chain section.
One of the reasons her purse was so fabulous looking and worth the big bucks her husband paid for it, was because of the originality that the heavy duty brass clasp brought to it. Not bad for a $5 brass clip and brass ring from the hardware store!
So hopefully you get the point I'm trying to get across… The craft store is not the only place to purchase your jewelry making supplies for your polymer clay bead designs. Home Depot and other large hardware stores are a great place to look as well.
By the way, for times when you do need to shop for supplies at the craft store, I wrote this article that may be of interest to you: How To Buy Jewelry Making Supplies at Michaels Arts and Craft Stores
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Comments on Cheap Jewelry Making Supplies for Bead Artists – Creative Shopping
2:43 pm
Where is the most creative place you have found supplies for making your jewelry?
Cindy's last post..Green Beads For Polymer Clay Faux Fashion Jewelry – Fimo Colors
1:33 pm
I go everywhere I can think of…Wal=Mart, the dollar store, Home Depot, Lowes, craft stores, baking supply stores, even automotive part shops. You never know what you will find.
4:55 pm
You are a smart cookie Cynister! You can not only find cool polymer clay supplies in those places you can also find great substitues for typical polymer clay tools and jewelry making tools!
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Faux Amber Jewellery from Polymer Clay – Victoria Hughes
7:54 pm
Home Depot is an artist's best friend! I 100% agree with this post.
4:30 pm
Thanks Brandi! Went to your blog BTW… Cute stuff! Great to see you here!
Cindy Lietz's last blog post..Rainbow Jewelry Pillow Beads Made From Extruded Polymer Clay Canes
8:15 pm
YOU MAY THINK THIS IS WEIRD, BUT I HAVE SAVED SODA POP TABS,CAT FOOD TABS,FOOD CAN TABS AS WELL. TAKE A LOOK AT THE TABS,YOU HAVE TWO HOLES,YOU CAN USE EITHER HOLE TO EMBED YOUR CLAY PIECE INTO AND THE OTHER HOLE FOR STRINGING.YOU CAN ALSO PUT IN JUMP RINGS ON EACH SIDE OF THE HOLE AND HAVE TWO SEPARATE SIDES TO STRING YOUR OTHER BEADS ONTO TO COMPLETE YOUR NECKLACE OR BRACELET OR WHATEVER YOU ARE MAKING.IF YOU WISH YOU CAN PUT TWO TABS TOGETHER SO YOU CAN HAVE A MORE FINISHED PIECE FRONT AND BACK.YOU CAN FINISH THE BACK OF YOUR PIECE AS YOU WISH. COVER WITH MORE CLAY OR FABRIC. HOPE THIS GIVES SOME INSPIRATION OR A SNOWBALL EFFECT FOR MORE USES. LYNN
6:16 pm
Great ideas Lynn! Thanks for sharing them they are definitely not weird! BTW this was the perfect post to list these ideas on!
Being resourceful whether it's hunting down alternative supplies in the hardware store or recycling objects from home for your handmade jewelry projects, is always a good thing to do. It is not only great for the pocketbook but in the case of recycling, it is also good for the environment!
One more recycling idea is to use plastic coated paper clips as hangers for your beads. If you want to see an example of that click the purse bead link by my name.
6:14 pm
Hi:
I went to Home Depot for a tile, but they don't sell singles. I saw an open package and asked to buy one, but the man said they were returned defective and would be smashed. (They wouldn't have been good anyway, they had a carved-in design.) He asked why I wanted just one and I told him. He thought a moment, said, "wait here" and returned with a perfect flat tile with a teensy weensy chip on one edge. He told me to tell the cashier it was free. So I got my tile and he got A LOT of good will for Home Depot.
10:08 am
That is a great story Maureen! I love hearing stuff like that! I have had great help from the Home Depot aound here. Glad to hear you had a good experience as well!
2:17 am
I have been saving just about everything for my jewellery making, the latest finding was a plastic meat tray under some sliced meat, it has a honeycomb pattern on it, just perfect, I am yet to use it, but I am sure I will find plenty of uses for it. And I love going to the local hardware store for things, It would have to be my fave shop of all, as our local bead shop has now closed down grrrrrrrrrrrrr. Cheers Debra.
4:16 pm
Thanks Debra for passing along this cool tip! That's too bad about the bead store closing down. We don't have one around here either. Sure is a pain isn't it! So glad to have you as part of our clay community!
3:26 pm
I've got grommets to make pandoro style beads with fimo – how do you make the bead the right shape and do you bake the grommets in the bead or glue after?
1:03 am
@Dorothy Wood: Hi, I love the Pandora-style beads! I've noticed lots of people showing interest. Makes me wonder if Cindy has been busy experimenting on these; it would be cool if she had a video tut coming up…
I've never made these beads, but I was hoping I could help with your questions. First, you almost always want to bake your metal with your clay. This way the clay holds the metal's impression or shape, & you get a perfect fit. After baking, remove the metal, sand/finish the clay, and then use the appropriate glue (2-part epoxy, cyanoacrylate, E-6000, etc.) to join them back together.
So, if you're using regular grommets (2-pieces,) you would use this method (bake them in the bead.) To make this bead shape, you could make a more rounded version of Cindy's disk beads.
You could even use the grommets to pierce them for perfectly-sized center holes. Then bake, remove metal for finishing, and glue grommets back into place.
However, if you are talking about the special 1-piece bead cores, you wouldn't have to use glue. The polymer would be baked onto the metal core, but wouldn't be removable after baking (because of the "lip" on the edges of the hole.) Since I'm not sure how you would do the bead for this type, I'm hoping you weren't talking about the bead cores! lol If this IS what you meant, perhaps someone else can help with information?
2:34 am
Hi. :) The tip you gave on shopping at hardware stores is a great help. I have one question though, are the chains at the hardware store good enough for necklaces? Or would they stain easily? I'm having a hard time looking for chains for the clay pendants I made. :(