{Handmade} Mermaid Tear Pendants

We brought home a handful of pretty mermaid tears (sea glass pieces) that we collected this spring on the beach in Positano, and since we’ve gotten home, I’ve been looking for the right project to put them to good use (other than looking pretty in a jar on our end table). So I decided to pick a few of my favorites and turn them into mini sea glass pendants. I didn’t want to have to drill into the pebbles since they’re so small, so I used wire and strong adhesive instead, and I love how they turned out!

Materials List:

• sea glass pebble(s)
• 26 gauge brass wire
• gold toggle clasp & ring or gold lobster clasp
• gold jump rings
• 18″ gold chain
• clear drying glue
• 18 kt gold leafing pen
• wire cutter
• pliers

Step 1. Cut a 10″ piece of wire and wrap around sea glass either creating an “x” with the wire, or wrapping the wire parallel.

Step 2. Tightly twist wires around each other at the back of the sea glass.

Step 3. Create a loop with the right side wire and tuck underneath the horizontal wire wrapping the gem. Tightly twist wire tail that created the loop with the other wire tail. Use wire cutter to trim wire tails close to the gem.

Step 4. Place a small dot of glue on the twisted wires to hold secure. Let dry.

Step 5. Thread chain through the wire loop.

Step 6. Separate ends of 2 jump rings with pliers and slide one onto the toggle clasp and one onto the ring clasp. Slide one end of the chain onto the jump ring with the toggle and close the jump ring with the pliers. Slide the other end of the chain onto the jump ring + ring clasp and close the jump ring with the pliers.

Add a touch of glam with a gold leafing pen. If not using wire to attach to the chain, attach a jump ring to the back of the gem with a dot of adhesive. Assemble chain and clasp as described above.