Give the Gift of Jewelry Making: Creative Gift Guide for Everyone on Your List

I can’t describe how much jewelry making and other crafting has enriched my life. So I appreciate any opportunity to share the maker life with friends and family. My BFF recently asked me to help her find a creative side career to make a little fun money while raising her two little ones. I was full of enthusiasm and ideas, which she loved. So I decided to offer you some creative jewelry making gift suggestions for your loved ones. No matter who’s on your list, whether they’re a maker or not, we have an idea for giving them the joy of jewelry making.

Jewelry Making Gift for A Busy Mom

Though you have to make two, earrings are still among the quickest and easiest options in jewelry making. This is especially true of the earrings projects in Denise Peck’s book, 101 Wire Earrings. Add variations in metal and stones for these 101 designs and you have a nearly endless supply of earrings from one book! I think it’s a perfect book for my BFF, who wants to be creative, have fun, and make a little money–but who has little time to spare.

Jewelry Making Gifts for a Cook

I’ve always said that metal clay jewelry making feels like magic or alchemy, and a good baking recipe can feel like magic sometimes, too! Introduce a friend who loves to cook–who most likely already has a butane micro torch in their kitchen–to the joys of torch-fired metal clay jewelry making. That same torch they use to brown crème brûlée or strudel toppings can also fire metal clay!

Since many metal clay techniques are similar to the clay techniques most of us learned in elementary school art class, everyone can do it. A great way to get started is with Tamara Honaman’s video, Sporty Leather Bracelet with Metal Clay Charms (or the convenient, coordinating kit), or with Darlene Armstrong’s five-star-rated online course, Getting Started Precious Metal Clay Series: Torch Firing PMC Introduction.

Jewelry Making Gift for A Stressed-Out Friend

Most of my metalsmithing friends have a thing for hammers–but I believe at least part of that hammer affection has to do with the stress-relieving, wild-abandon feeling of knocking the heck out of things! Hammering is a fun way to add texture to metal, to shape and form metal, and to harden metal–all depending on the type of hammer you choose. No matter which hammer or task, hammering is a great way to pound out some frustrations. And we jewelry makers know that if you’re going to choose a hammer, you might as well choose a Fretz hammer! Our new 7-in-1 Fretz Maker texturing hammer set is a top-notch jewelry making gift option.

Jewelry Making Gift for a Fantasy Fan or Romantic Soul

I based this one on myself, because I’m an old-soul, hopeless romantic who loves a good story. Cynthia Thornton’s book, Enchanted Adornments, is packed with pretty, whimsical jewelry designs in all kinds of techniques–resin, wire, metal, and more. The artistic, often mixed-media projects are diverse and beautiful, but each one comes with a fairy-tale-like story and Cynthia’s original art that makes the book even more enjoyable. This popular book has long been sold out, but fortunately, the eBook version is available.

Jewelry Making Gift for a Traveler

I have to tell you–when Anne Potter’s book, Global Style Jewelry, first came out, I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. At first glance, it seemed like a book about stringing, and our audience was more into metal, wire, enamel, resin, etc. So I had to take a closer look, to find the best way to share it–and I’m so glad I did! This beautiful book is part jewelry making, part wanderlust, part love letter to the people and cultures of the world.

All of Anne’s designs are inspired by an iconic place or landmark around the world. The background stories that Anne shares about them will tug at your heart strings as well as your luggage tags! Someone with a traveling heart will love making the projects in Global Style Jewelry— then sharing their stories with new friends met near and far.

Jewelry Making Gift for A Teenager

I never want to underestimate what children and teens can do, including jewelry making. Though texting has pretty much made extinct those fun folded notes we passed in school, the folding itself was fun. With a variety of excellent papers in the market today, modern teens can enjoy the folding while making something longer-lasting than a “Do you like me?” love letter: origami jewelry. Dozens of shapes, including elephants, dogs, owls, flowers, sailboats, hearts, stars, fish, butterflies–even shirts and purses!–in our Origami Jewelry book ensure there’s a design every teen will love.

Jewelry Making Gift for An Accountant, Math Whiz or Engineer

It’s no secret that chain maille has eluded me, but it’s not because it’s not fun–it’s because I’m too impatient. But for someone who enjoys detailed work, such as, say, an accountant or an engineer, chain maille is ideal. Karen Karon’s chain maille books, Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop  and Advanced Chain Maille Jewelry Workshop, would be creative treats for those technical, math-inclined types. I can’t think of a better pastime for someone who favors precision, math, equations, and counting than chain maille jewelry making. Pair Karen’s books with a bag of jump rings and two good pliers and voila! A lovely, complete, and unexpected gift.

Jewelry Making Gift for An Artist

My craft room/studio/office is a series of tables and stations for doing a wide variety of tasks–paper crafts in one corner, “clean” jewelry making here, torch work there, yarn for knitting and general craft supplies in another area, and my computer and work stuff in yet another area. In a past career, I dabbled in nearly every craft ever heard of, and most of them stuck! They also often overlap, with scrapbook stuff in jewelry making, torch work in paper art, ink here, beads there, rubber stamps everywhere. If you have a friend who is an equal-opportunity artist like me, I know he or she would love Jen Cushman’s beautiful book, Making Metal Jewelry.

Don’t be fooled by the name. Sure, readers will learn to make metal jewelry–but they’ll also include a pinch of glitter, a strip of paper, a scrap of ribbon, some paint, resin, and more along with that metal. It’s a mixed-media feast for any artist, and it just happens to have metal jewelry-making lessons along with the artful projects. I want to make every project in Making Metal Jewelry, and I don’t think I’ve ever been able to say that about a book before.

Jewelry Making Gift for a Nervous Nellie or Newbie

After watching our keum boo video, Keum Boo Techniques: Add Gold Foil to Silver Jewelry with Joe Korth, I was amazed at how easy and low-tech this impressive-looking technique appeared to be. But it wasn’t until I actually did keum boo last year that I saw firsthand how really easy it is! So for a friend who fears a torch–or isn’t a jewelry maker at all–I recommend keum boo.

In addition to the gold foil, only two tools are required for keum boo: a hot plate (even a small one, like those used to keep coffee warm) and an easy-to-find, affordable burnisher (some folks use smooth ends of old toothbrushes!). No torch, no flame, no kiln required to create stunning transformations on metal. Your friend can even add the value and beauty of pure gold to existing silver jewelry with keum boo, if they aren’t jewelry makers . . . yet. 😉

–Tammy

Find these and hundreds of other gifts, perfect for you and everyone on your list, in the Interweave Store!

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