4th of July Craft Necklace

June 29, 2008

This week would be a great time to get ready for those 4th of July celebrations! I found this necklace on Kaboose.com and thought it was really cute. You can take the same idea and change the colors for many different occasions/holidays.

You will need:

Clear jewelry cord
Red, white and blue pony beads
Small star shaped cookie cutter
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp water
Cookie sheet
White gloss acrylic paint

Directions:

Mix together salt, flour and water. If mixture is too sticky, add small sprinkles of flour until doughy.
Flatten dough to about ½” and use star cookie cutter to cut out your shape. Make as many as you can from the dough.
Place star(s) onto cookie sheet and poke a hole near the top of the star with a toothpick. Carefully move the toothpick in a stirring motion to cause the hole to get larger. It will need to be big enough to thread jewelry cord through.
Bake in a 250 degree F oven for 2 – 2.5 hours. Remove from oven and let cool completely.
Paint star with white gloss paint and let dry.
Thread jewelry cord through the hole in the star. Pull enough cord through until you have the length that you want for your necklace. Trim.
Thread 3 white pony beads on to each end of the cord and tie in a knot at the top of the star. Begin threading cord with pony beads, alternating colors as you go (2 red, 2 white, 2 blue, 2 white, 2 red, etc).
When finished threading on beads, tie cord into a solid knot and hang around your neck.

Tips:

You can purchase necklace closures at craft supply stores if you want to make this shorter and it won’t fit over your child’s head.
Pony beads are available in a large variety of colors and can be purchased in small bags of individual and assorted colors as well as in bulk sized bags.
Salt dough does not keep well as it will harden. Make however many ornaments you can to cut down on waste.