Steampunk jewelry typically incorporates machinery parts and metal.

It does NOT however, usually include glitter... which is what makes this instructable rad!

By completing this instructable, you will create a necklace inspired by steampunk fashion, while still having a little sparkle.

You may choose any colors you want but I chose to stick with metal colors.

I hope you enjoy this!

please vote for it if you do!

Best,

Elana

Step 1: Gather Materials

Tools:

1) 1 small pliers. 2 if you have them.

2) tool for cutting chain (first tool pictured in the first picture). scissors will work as well.

Necessary supplies:

1) spray adhesive (I used Elmer's multi purpose spray adhesive)

2) acrylic coating spray (I used Krylon Crystal Clear Acrylic Coating Spray).

3) E6000 glue

4) 3 colors of glitter. (I used a glitter sample pack that had 6 different colors of "metal" colors (2 copper 2 silver and 2 gold. each packet of each color was slightly different but 3 glitter colors in general is what is needed).

5) package of gears. (I used a package of gears by Found Objects that I purchased from Michaels craft store).

6) 4 jump rings: Two of them need to be large (mine are 9mm) because these two will each be attaching a gear from the necklace to a piece of chain.one of them can be smaller but its easier to just use 4 large jump rings unless you purchase a package of assorted sized jump rings.

7) 1 lobster clasp

8) chain. length of chain depends on how far down you want your necklace to hang. cutting from an 18 inch piece of chain should be enough if you want it to hang at a traditional bib necklace length.

9) Q-Tip for applying glue to gears. the glue needs to be spread thinly and a Q-Tip is great for this.

10) newspaper to cover workspace

11) 4 paper plates (not pictured in this step). one will be used for each color glitter and the fourth will be used for glue

12) piece of paper (optional) it would be used for helping keep your necklace from drying to the newspaper

Step 2: Separate Your Gears

To make it easy, separate the gears based on their color (3 colors). Doing this kept the original ratios of small and large gears in each color intact.

Next, figure out which color glitter you want to use on each color of gear. I chose to match colors just to have a system, but as long as you end up with 3 different colors of glittered gears, any method you pick is okay.

Step 3: Glitterize Your First Group of Gears

1) Lay out your first group of gears onto a paper plate. Make sure none of them overlap.

2) spray your gears with a layer of spray adhesive

3) sprinkle/pour glitter over the gears

4) use your finger to take the gears off the plate. Be sure to not scrape glitter off the gears by accident with your nails. We want to take the gears off the plate. let dry.

5) spray the glitter side of these gears with a thin layer of acrylic coating spray. Let dry.

6) spray the gears again with another coating of acrylic 2 more times, letting them dry in between.

Step 4: Glitterize Your Second Group of Gears

1) Lay out your second group of gears onto a paper plate. Make sure none of them overlap.

2) spray your gears with a layer of spray adhesive

3) sprinkle/pour glitter over the gears

4) use your finger to take the gears off the plate. Be sure to not scrape glitter off the gears by accident with your nails. We want to take the gears off the plate. let dry.

5) spray the glitter side of these gears with a thin layer of acrylic coating spray. Let dry.

6) spray the gears again with another coating of acrylic 2 more times, letting them dry in between.

Step 5: Glitterize Your Third Group of Gears

1) Lay out your first group of gears onto a paper plate. Make sure none of them overlap.

2) spray your gears with a layer of spray adhesive

3) sprinkle/pour glitter over the gears

4) use your finger to take the gears off the plate. Be sure to not scrape glitter off the gears by accident with your nails. We want to take the gears off the plate. let dry.

5) spray the glitter side of these gears with a thin layer of acrylic coating spray. Let dry.

6) spray the gears again with another coating of acrylic 2 more times, letting them dry in between.

Step 6: Start Gluing Your Necklace Together

Tips for assembling your necklace:

- try arranging the gears so that gears of the same color are not touching.

- apply thin layers of glue. be patient. let your piece dry after every few gears. this will save you the frustration of trying to keep your piece from adhering to your newspaper.

- try to keep your gear layering to 2 levels. This will make sure that your gears dry flat and that will make your necklace more sturdy and secure.

1) Squeeze some E6000 onto your fourth paper plate

2) Use Q-Tip to spread a thin coating of glue onto one gear and place another gear on top of the first gear (where the glue was spread).

3) continue attaching gears until you have a size that you want to be your necklace.

Step 7: Check on Your Necklace

make sure your necklace hasn't adhered itself to your newspaper at all places. If it has, you can use a piece of paper to lift it off the newspaper.

this is the most difficult portion of this instructable. Be patient and your necklace will turn out great!

you can see from my last picture that I had a decent amount of gears left over... you can use these gears to create smaller gear pendants for necklaces! I did not because I want to publish this instructable asap.

Step 8: Reinforce Your Necklace

If your necklace seems a little flimsy, flip it over so the glitter side is down and dab a small amount of glue where gears touch.

Be sure that the glue does not drip down to the newspaper.

let dry completely.

Step 9: Attach Chain to One Side of Necklace

1) Open (large) jump ring by gripping both sides of the jump ring (with either your fingers or pliers) and twisting the ends away from each other.

2) put the open jump ring through the necklace

3) place the end of the chain into the jump ring

4) close jump ring by gripping both sides of the jump ring and twisting the ends towards each other until they meet

Step 10: Figure Out Your Desired Necklace Length

Hold your necklace to where you want it to hang

Drape chain from necklace over the back of your neck until it meets your necklace

If you are happy with this length, cut the chain with your tool or scissors (not pictured).

Step 11: Finish Up Necklace

cut your chain in half. each half will be

Attach chain to the other side of your necklace with a jump ring (use same method as explained earlier).

Figure out which side you want your clasp based on if you are right or left handed.

attach your clasp onto the end of that side's chain using a jump ring (using same method as explained earlier).

attach a jump ring to the end of the other chain. this will be the jump ring that you attach the clasp to when you want to wear the necklace. attach this jump ring using the method explained in a previous step.