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Handmade Jewelry Using Scissors: Snipping Your Way to Beautiful Accessories

creative invitation cards and scissors placed on table near succulents

Handmade Jewelry Using Scissors: Snipping Your Way to Beautiful Accessories

Introduction

Scissors make remarkably versatile jewelry making tools that enable snipping a world of materials into wearable art. With clever cutting, layering, and sculpting techniques, scissors transform paper, fabric, polymer sheets, and more into stunning pendants, beads, and components.

Discover the limitless possibilities of using scissors to craft jewelry. Learn innovative cutting methods paired with materials like shrink plastic, fabric, clay, and photos. Let’s dive into how everyday scissors unlock creative potential!

Benefits of Scissors for Handmade Jewelry

Scissors offer unique advantages for crafting jewelry:

Must-Have Scissors for DIY Jewelry Making

Certain scissors excel when cutting jewelry materials. Here are top choices:

  • Sharp micro-tip scissors – Ideal for detail work like cutting tiny shapes from paper.
  • Embroidery scissors – Sharp short blades easily cut through soft fabrics.
  • Zig zag scissors – Cuts fun zigzag edges for decorative trims. Creates tabs for weaving.
  • Pinking shears – Scalloped blade edges prevent fabric fraying. Adds interesting details.
  • Bent-tip scissors – Good visibility cutting fiddly pieces. Reach into tight spaces.
  • Round-tip scissors – Prevent puncture damage cutting flexible materials like plastic sheeting.
  • Heavy-duty scissors – Sturdy blades slice through thick materials like leather and polymer clay.

Helpful Materials for DIY Jewelry Made Using Scissors

Beyond just scissors, certain craft materials work especially well:

  • Shrink plastic sheets – Heat to shrink detailed cut outs into light plastic jewelry components
  • Scrapbook paper – Cuts into paper beads, origami pieces, confetti, and layered collage elements
  • Fabric – Cuts into motifs, strips for braiding, and woven threads for a textile look
  • Felt – Dense felt holds shape well when cut into jewelry forms like flowers
  • Self-adhesive papers – Cuts easily then sticks onto jewelry bases without glue
  • Polymer clay – Slice thin sheets then cut out designs and shapes
  • Natural materials – Cut leaves, feather, flowers to precise shapes
  • Photos – Cut into meaningful charms, cameos, or tiny decoupage puzzle pieces

Cutting Techniques for Making Jewelry with Scissors

Follow these methods for incorporating cut elements into handmade jewelry:

  • Cut jump ring shapes – Snip rings from cardboard. Cover in foil or washi tape and attach findings.
  • Fringing – Make a slit near the edge of a material then cut crisscrossing slits heading toward it to create a fringe.
  • Cut layered blooms – Stack varied papers and fabrics. Adhere together then cut flower petal shapes.
  • Sculptural cutting – Cut varying shapes from a material then layer and adhere together to build 3D forms.
  • Inlay cutouts – Cutout designs then inlay them into wood, clay, or resin to create decorative focal pieces.
  • Silhouette cutting – Adhere a material like photos to a contrasting base. Cut around the outlines of the top shape.
  • Slicing beads – Cut thin slices across round beads to divide into adjustable spacer beads.
  • Snipping chain fringe – Cut slits at intervals along a strip then snip each segment into a chain fringe.

jewelry Making Tutorials Using Scissors

Follow these tutorials to turn ordinary scissors into a DIY jewelry making tool:

Confetti Pendant Jewelry

Supplies:

Instructions:

  1. Use scissors to cut scrapbook paper into tiny confetti shaped pieces.
  2. Apply a layer of craft glue into each pendant tray.
  3. Sprinkle different colored confetti generously over the glue to completely fill trays.
  4. Allow glue to fully dry overnight.
  5. Fill trays with clear epoxy resin to cover confetti.
  6. Once resin has cured fully, attach keychain findings to createconfetti pendants.

Paper Quilling Gift Tag Jewelry

Supplies:

  • Cardstock paper
  • Scissors
  • Craft glue
  • Jump rings
  • Ribbon
  • Keychain findings

Instructions:

  1. Cut cardstock into long thin strips approximately 1/4-inch wide using scissors.
  2. Roll strips into tight coils using a toothpick or quilling tool.
  3. Arrange coils into floral shapes and abstract designs. Glue coils together.
  4. Glue completed quilled designs onto gift tag shapes cut from cardstock.
  5. Punch a hole near the top. Attach a jump ring.
  6. Loop ribbon through jump ring and tie ends into a bow at the top.
  7. Attach a keychain finding to the jump ring so the gift tag can be worn as a pendant.

Melted Crayon Shard Jewelry

Supplies:

  • Wax crayons
  • Scissors
  • Glass vials
  • Hot glue gun
  • Keychain findings

Instructions:

  1. Peel the paper wrappers off an assortment of old crayons.
  2. Use scissors to chop the crayons into small pieces.
  3. Place the multicolored crayon pieces into a heat safe glass vial.
  4. Microwave the vial to melt the crayons fully into liquid wax.
  5. Remove vial and allow the melted crayon wax to fully solidify and cool.
  6. Break the cooled crayon wax into shards with a hammer.
  7. Hot glue the sharpest points of the shards pointing upwards in the vial.
  8. Attach a keychain finding to the vial lid to make into a colorful melted crayon pendant.

Inspirational Jewelry Designs Using Scissors

Looking for more ideas? Here are beautiful ways to implement scissors into jewelry:

  • Cut colorful strips from maps to braid into earthy bracelets
  • Snip circles from sheet music to arrange into musical medallions
  • Create kaleidoscope beads encasing confetti and sequins between clear plastic slices
  • Cut intricate snowflake designs from translucent shrink plastic sheets
  • Layer cut out flower petals into realistic fabric flower brooches and pins
  • Cut long fringed tassels from fabric or leather cords for boho earrings
  • Pierce large beads then snip them into adjustable bead spacers for necklaces
  • Cut hand-drawn doodles and sketches from paper to seal like charms under resin domes
  • Craft mosaic beads using tiny photo confetti cut with patterned hole punches
  • Slice apart melty crayons to encase the colorful striations in resin pendants

Tips for Elevating Jewelry Made Using Scissors

Use these tips to take your scissor-crafted jewelry up a notch:

  • Invest in ultra sharp scissors suited to your chosen materials for cleanest cuts
  • Cut against a self-healing mat to protect blade edges from damage
  • Replace scissors immediately when blades start to dull for best cut quality
  • Cut slowly and carefully to maximize control for intricate detailed cuts
  • Print outline templates online as stencils for symmetrical repeating shapes
  • Trace designs onto materials before cutting for accuracy replicating pieces
  • Group cut pieces from coordinating color families for a cohesive look
  • Combine torn edges with clean cut edges for visual interest
  • Apply liquid glue sparingly so it doesn’t show once pieces are assembled

Conclusion

With a simple pair of scissors, crafters gain the power to cut paper, plastic, fabric and much more into an infinite array of jewelry components. A tool as readily accessible as scissors removes barriers to transforming raw materials into handmade wearable art.

Let scissors unlock your creativity! Snip malleable mediums into layered motifs, confetti, fringe, and dimensional forms. Pair strategic cutting with jewelry making techniques like knotting, gluing, and encapsulating to incorporate cut elements into necklaces, bracelets, and pendants.

Scissor crafting allows efficiently producing quantities of identical shapes for batch production. But scissors also nimble enough for impromptu freehand designing in the moment. With a steady hand and imaginative vision, scissors help create handmade jewelry as unique as you!

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