How to make jewellery out of your cracker prizes. Part 4 - Skittles Necklace

This is the last in our series on how to make jewellery out of your Christmas cracker prizes. Bowl them over with this cute skittles necklace. Score extra points for the way the ball sits halfway down the chain. You'll need: Hand drill or pendant drill. DO ask a responsible adult for help if you've never used a drill for anything this fiddly before. We repeat: get a responsible adult to help. 0.8mm drill bit Safety goggles Dust mask Masking tape Clamp or vice Beeswax Scrap wood Flat-nose pliers Round-nose pliers Eye pins (pieces of wire with a loop on one end - you can easily make your own with fine wire and some round-nose pliers) Necklace chain Wire cutters (or heavy duty scissors) Glue (we like Araldite but you could use superglue, contact adhesive or a glue gun) Cocktail stick Put on the safety goggles and mask, tie your hair back, and ditch any dangly scarves or jewellery you're wearing. Safety first please. Drills can get hot, so if possible use a clamp or a vice. Drill one skittle at a time. Mark a dot at the top where you want the hole to go. If you're worried about scratching the surface of your skittles, smooth on a bit of masking tape first. Hold each skittle firmly so it doesn't spin out of control. Always drill straight down, over scrap wood. Take your time. Use a dab of beeswax on the drill bit to make everything smoother. To get melted plastic off the drill, drill into a scrap of wood or wipe it off with beeswax. Drill straight through the ball, too. If it is too small to drill through, you can cheat and use a bead instead. (We'll admit it: we cheated.) Using the wire cutters snip some eye pins so there's around 4mm of wire left. Mix up the glue on a bit of used cracker card, using the cocktail stick. Dip an eye pin end into the glue and then pop it into the drilled hole on one of the skittles. Repeat for the rest of the skittles. Leave to dry overnight. Top tip: stand the skittles upright in a bowl of rice so they don't fall over and dislodge the pins. Now for the ball. Push an eye pin all the way through. Use the round-nose pliers to make a little loop at the end. Cut off any excess wire with the wire cutters. Decide where you want the ball to sit on the chain. Snip a gap in the chain, then use the pliers to open each loop on the eye pin and thread the ball onto the chain. When your skittles are dry, open the jump rings with the pliers and attach them to the eye of each eye pin, then thread them the skittles onto the necklace. Go bowling! You deserve it.

Share Article