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Upcycled Neon Necklace

Neon jewelry is all over Pinterest lately, and when I received a box of Tulip neon paints from iLoveToCreate, that’s the first thing I thought of for this DIY project. My upcycled neon necklace is made out of bottlecaps, a thrifted necklace, and a great helping of Poppin’ Purple paint. Read on to learn how to make your own neon necklace.

Upcycled Neon Necklace

The package of Tulip Slick Dimensional Fabric Paint I received came in 6 different colors. For this project I played with the Poppin’ Purple and Fluorescent Orange, but you can mix and match and choose any color–or make a necklace in every color!

Upcycled Neon Necklace

The main supplies you’ll need include:
  • Your Tulip fabric paint of choice
  • Bottlecaps (I used five)
  • A spare or thrifted necklace chain
  • Medium-sized jump rings (you can find these in the jewelry-making section at the craft store)
  • Some jewelry or needle-nose pliers
  • A drill with a 1/16″ drill bit
You’ll probably also want:
  • Some safety goggles
  • A permanent marker
  • A piece of scrap wood (to use as a drilling surface)

Upcycled Neon Necklace
To begin, arrange your bottlecaps so that they’ll fit nice and neatly for your finished piece.

Upcycled Neon Necklace

Mark each point where the bottle caps meet, and make two extra marks on either side of the piece where you want to attach your necklace chain. These marks are where you’ll drill holes to connect the bottle caps with your jump rings.

Upcycled Neon Necklace
Next, get out your drill, scrap wood, goggles, and pliers.
Upcycled Neon Necklace
To begin drilling, hold each bottle cap with the pliers, with the marked point sitting against the block. Drill each mark (while wearing your goggles of course).
Upcycled Neon Necklace
With your bottle caps prepped, take your paint (making sure to tap it upside down to eliminate air bubbles). Circle around and fill each bottle cap generously with paint. Don’t worry about blocking the drilled holes, and if you get any air bubbles just fill them in.
Upcycled Neon Necklace
Let the paint dry overnight on a flat surface out of the reach of pets and little ones.
Upcycled Neon Necklace
Once dry, arrange your bottle caps back into their original placement (line up all the holes you drilled). Use your jewelry pliers to open each jump ring, insert them into the matching bottle caps and close the jump ring back up. Repeat this until you have all the bottle caps attached.
Upcycled Neon Necklace

Now here’s where I pull my cooking-show trick and bring out a set of bottle caps I had ready for the photo shoot. These are the Poppin’ Purple painted bottle caps ready to attach to my necklace chain.
Upcycled Neon Necklace
To attach the necklace you first want to determine how low you want your cluster to hang. To do this, put your necklace on in front of the mirror, hold up the bottle caps at the length you want, and mark each side evenly with tape.

Next, attach your chain and bottle caps with a jump ring on either side–don’t cut your chain!

Upcycled Neon Necklace
Try your necklace on to make sure it hangs evenly, and then get ready to cut the leftover chain. My jewelry pliers came with a handy metal cutter. Cut just below each jump ring  and you have your necklace!
Upcycled Neon Necklace
Upcycled Neon Necklace

What do you think? Are you up for some neon jewelry this fall? What Tulip paint color would you choose? I’d love to hear if you make one!

For more info about iLoveToCreate and Tulip products find them online at these locations:

Web: http://www.ilovetocreate.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lovetocreate
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ilovetocreate
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/ilovetocreate/

And for even more great ideas, check out these projects from some of my fellow crafty bloggers:

Disclosure: I wrote this post as part of a paid campaign with iLoveToCreate and Blueprint Social. The opinions and ideas in this post are 100% my own.