Vintage Gumball Machine Necklace

Happy Tuesday, everybody! I’m Lindsay of Shrimp Salad Circus, and this is my first project for Crafts Unleashed. I don’t know about you, but all those little dollhouse miniatures in the craft store always make me say ‘aww’ – so tiny and adorable! I think it’d be a waste to leave them in the dollhouse, so I thought this little vintage-style gumball machine would make a perfect necklace. A few bubblegum-bright beads finish it off for a fun, whimsical bit of nostalgia to brighten up any outfit!

What you will need to make this vintage gumball machine necklace:

• Pearl Beads
• Miniature Gumball Machine
• Jewelry Wire
• Chain Necklace
• Round Nose Pliers
• Wire Cutter Pliers
• Eye Pins
• Bright Nail Polish
• Toothpicks

1.   Stick a pearl bead onto each end of a toothpick. Holding the middle of the toothpick, paint both pearls with the same bright, fun shade of nail polish. I found that it works well to hold the brush onto the bead and then twirl the toothpick. The bead picks up a nice, even coat of color. Prop the toothpick over something so that neither bead touches anything. Leave it to dry while you do the same thing with two more colors of polish, for a total of six beads. In between later steps, go back and add coats of polish to the dried beads until you’ve got a nice, opaque color.

2.   Clip your necklace right in the front middle. Alternately, you could use chain and clasp components if you want to start from scratch, but if you start with a chain necklace, half the work is already done for you!

3.   Cut a piece of wire about 4-5 inches long so that you have plenty of room to work with. Using your round nose pliers, bend a loop in one end, leaving enough ‘tail’ on the loop to wrap it in the next step.

4.   Thread the tail of the loop through one end of the chain. Wrap the tail around the base of the loop a few times to secure it. You can see the wrap in the next step.

5.   Now wrap the wire around the neck of the bubblegum machine. Start the wrap so that the loop with the chain is tight against one side of the gumball machine. Wrap the wire around the whole thing twice, making sure that it’s really tight.

6.    Now make another loop at the loose end of the wire, thread it through the chain, and wrap it around its base again. Clip the extra wire flush with the base of the loop so that there aren’t any pieces left to poke you.

7.   Now you’re going to clip the necklace chain again. This time, clip it 1.5-2 inches away from the bubblegum machine on each side, measuring to be sure you’ve left even lengths.

8.   Thread the looped end of an eye pin through one end of the chain. After the beads have been painted with enough polish and are completely dry, slide one of each color onto the eye pin. Use the round nose pliers to make a loop in the other end of the eye pin, snipping the excess with the wire cutters.

9.   Repeat for the other side, and then thread the end loops of the eye pins through the necklace chain. If you used a pre-finished necklace, then you’re good to go! If you started from scratch, then attach your clasps, and then you’re finished, too!