Quick & Easy Choker Necklace

With just a few inexpensive materials, you can quickly and easily make a versatile and stylish choker necklace ~ I'll show you how! All you'll need is a trip to your local craft store and some creativity!

The last time I was at Jo-Ann, I saw some cute Project Runway trims ~ lots of styles with sequins, chains, etc. I fell in love with a simple black sequin and lace trim, and at only $1.99 a yard, I couldn't resist. I got to thinking, what can I make with this? I wound up in the jewelry-making section and saw metal ribbon clasps by Blue Moon Beads and a light went off. I decided I would turn this fabulous, sexy sequin trim into a choker-style necklace!

What you'll need ~

1/2 yard trim of choice (my Project Runway sequined trim measures 7/8" wide)
Metal ribbon clasps (Blue Moon Beads sells them in packages that will create three necklaces, bracelets, etc. ~ it includes jump rings, lobster claw clasps and ribbon clamps)
Scissors

Hot glue
Pliers for working with jewelry (I used round-nosed)
Small mallet/hammer
Vintage brooch

How to make it ~

Seriously, this is so easy. I'm not a jewelry maker by any means, so these instructions are about as non-technical as it gets! Take your trim and wrap it around your neck to get the approximate length for your choker. It's always better to err on the side of being a little larger, though. Take your scissors and cut it to the right length.

This next step isn't required, but I think it helped with my particular trim. Heat up the glue gun and bead a thin line along each end of the trim and allow it to dry.

Put each end of the trim into the ribbon clamps and carefully (watch those fingers!) tap them shut with your mallet. The little teeth of each clamp should be firmly nestled into your trim and a gentle tug should prove that it's nice and snug inside each clamp.

Use your pliers to open up two jump rings - attach one to each ribbon clamp. Close one of the jump rings; add the lobster claw clasp to the other and then close that jump ring.

So, you should have a super rad choker now, right? You can stop here, or if you want to be even cooler, you can add a brooch!

What I really love about this simple choker is that you can add all sorts of vintage pins/brooches so you can customize it for any outfit.

You can also make a pin yourself (see the shot of the lace, ribbon and pearl rosette). I won't go into the details of how I made that here, but if you want to learn how to make some of the components for it, check out the instructions for our Romantic Rose Headband.

--- This project was created by Erika Pitera, the managing editor and art director here at ZEST