Home   >   Daily Wire Jewelry Tips   >   When is a Ring, not a ring?

When is a Ring, not a ring?

By on February 24, 2016
Print Friendly

by Judy Ellis, Wirejewelry.com

Wire Jewelry Free Pattern for February 24th 2016

When is a Ring, not a ring? When it’s a pendant!

by Judy Larson

We are always looking for fun, new and creative ways to make inventive jewelry pieces. Today we share a quick project from Judy Larson.

Judy Says:
judyheadshot

When is a ring not a ring? When you turn it into a pendant, of course!

ring1

My daughter had ordered a few ring blanks, not realizing that they were adjustable rings. She was going to throw them away, but I scooped them up thinking I might be able to do something with them. They sat on my work table for a while before I remembered that I had made a pendant from the Mother’s Ring I inherited from my mother. Of course, the same could be done with these rings!

This is how I did it.

Materials:

Tools:

Instructions:

      1. Carefully open the ring to disengage the crossover portion of the shank that makes the ring adjustable.
      2. Cut off the portions of the ring shank that that make it adjustable (the “box” on the shank needs to go), leaving as much of the shank as possible on each side. You may only need to cut the end off one side.
        Woven
        Line Break
      3. Gently grip as much of the ring shank on one side of the ring as possible with a soft jaw pliers. Apply gentle pressure to slightly flatten the shank. You must be careful as you may break the ring shank off.
      4. You can further flatten the ring shank by lightly pounding it with a rubber mallet.
      5. File the ring shank cut ends smooth.
      6. One shank will be longer than the other. Form that into the bail. You may find you want to make a small loop at the end of the bail in the back if the shank is too long. It can add a decorative detail to a plain shank.
        Woven
        Line Break
      7. Construct your wire wrapped bead dangle.
        Swan Hook
      8. The other shank can be formed into the lower loop, sliding on the dangle before completely closing it.
      9. If your ring has a bezel cup, add your stone. Press the bezel edges in to hold the stone in place.
        Swan Hook
        ring2

What a great project! I hope you all have a chance to create one of these ring pendants to share!

Happy Wrapping!

Click to Receive Daily Tips by Email

3 Comments

  1. avatar

    Marcia

    February 24, 2016 at 11:52 am

    I would have liked to see the whole ring form you used before you cut it up. So I know what I was using and what I was starting with. Thank you, Marcia

    • avatar

      Judy

      February 26, 2016 at 8:07 am

      If you google “JBB Silver Plated Bezel Ring Blank” under images you will find photos of the ring blank from my daughter that I used. But really, almost any ring can be made into a pendant if you are careful. Just don’t try to change the curvature of where the stones are set in a finished ring. You may break the stones or pop the stones out and not be able to reset them.

  2. avatar

    Janis Capraro

    February 26, 2016 at 4:22 pm

    This is so awesome! I have a lot of adjustable ring blanks, and since purchased, I have had a few come apart from the band, so decided to no longer use them. Now, thanks to you, I have a way to be creative with them!!!!