Book Thong and Kindle Charm

I’ve been having fun with jewelry findings, beads, and 3D Crystal Lacquer. Both of my sisters are avid readers–one used to be a librarian–and I wanted to make each of them a bookmark. These are so much fun to do. And easy!!

To make the charm I cut a word out of an old dictionary that I got at a yard sale. I put my jewelry finding on top of the word I wanted to use and traced around it with a pencil. I used the tracing as a guide for the initial cut, but did need to trim it up to fit inside the finding.

When I was satisfied with the cut out, I put a very thin layer of the clear 3D Crystal Lacquer in the bottom of the jewelry finding. Then, using tweezers, I placed my dictionary cut out into the finding. Adhering the cut out with this thin layer of lacquer prevents it from floating when the finding is filled with crystal lacquer.

Now’s the time to add any micro beads or other tiny gems. Next, fill the finding with your choice of colored crystal lacquer and finish off with a dusting of ultrafine crystal glitter. Some of the colored lacquers are more translucent than others, so you may want to test your colored lacquer on a scrap before filling the finding.

Here are my Kindle charm and book thong.

To make the thong you’ll need two crimp beads, decorative beads, a length of beading string or fine twine. I used a length of beading string about 12 inches long. You can adjust this for different size books. First, put one of the crimp beads on the string followed by the charm that you just made. Thread the end of the string back through the crimp bead and pinch it closed. On the other end, put on the other crimp bead, followed by your decorative beads. The last decorative bead should be a very small bead. After the last decorative bead is strung, thread the string back through the remaining decorative beads and the crimp bead. (The last decorative bead has only one thickness of beading string through it. The other decorative beads have two thicknesses of beading string.) Close the crimp bead and trim any thread ends.

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