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Thursday, July 1, 2010

Decal Penny Pendants: Group Project

My daughters participate in many fun activities through our church, one of which has been a Thursday morning girls group where each week they gather and a different guest teaches the girls a special skill, while the jr. high boys are off on another activity. The first week the girls learned to sew their own aprons, last week they all made homemade pie, and today was my day to teach a project.

Hartlyn, the jr. high group leader, chose the decal penny pendant from my blog as the project to do and it was a fantastic choice for the girls ages 12-14.

I pre-ordered enough copper ball chain, connector ends and jump rings from the Etsy shop, Cindy’s Art & Soul/casbeads. Cindy put together a custom listing of everything I needed to make up to 20 necklaces.

Instead of hammering a nail into the pennies as before, I lined them up on a block of wood, Lincoln’s head straight up, and duct taped them to the board, (a technique suggested to me by jewelry maker, Julie Ke Banwellund). I used a bit of spray lubricant on each penny and drilled a small hole in each. It was good to show up with the pennies ready to craft with rather than having each girl try to punch or drill their own.I went through the project step by step and then let the girls loose to choose their own vintage decal from my stash and start creating their own pendants with the embossing powder.One by one I helped them bake the powder to the pennies in the toaster oven, while another mom helped with jumprings and chains.

The finished pieces all turned out fantastic! We did have two that didn’t quite work out well the first time around, so it was good I had extra pennies and decals. Here are the sweet results!For more details on how to make these decal penny pendants, click HERE.

31 comments:

Kelly said...

Those are just adorable! I bet the girls loved it.

Now I want to make one!

Kelly

sara@augustfields said...

i saw these about a year ago and lost the tutorial...so thanks for doing one! these turned out so cute. :)

good tip about the duct tape too......

Cindy Pestka said...

Taping the pennies together like that before drilling may be the best idea I've heard all year. Thanks!

Michelle said...

These are so cute!

Joyful said...

those are beautiful.

Cheryl ~ ZanyMayd said...

That is Fabulous ~ Guess I'm off to check out your details on How To Make..... Thanks for Sharing!

Amy's Stocking Stuffers said...

How lovely! It's a terrific idea.

Tales From My Empty Nest said...

Those are so cute!! Each one so unique. Thanks for sharing. Love & blessings from NC!

Che said...

these are beautiful! thank you x

Crystal said...

This is such a great idea, forget about the young girls. I love it. I would have never thought of this in a million years.
Thanks for sharing all of your inspiring ideas.

bigeyedchick said...

I love this idea! I will have to try it. I just want to add that I don't think you can get in trouble for using a coin, it's not any different than all those souviner penny smashing machines you see at tourist attractions!

bigeyedchick said...

Oh, and I had a question... So that backside is the national monument? I have never used this stuff before, can you do the same to the flip side once side one is cooled?

Cathe Holden said...

bigeyedchick, you are correct. It is not illegal to do this to a penny. You can modify money as long as you don't put it back into circulation or try to pass it off as a more valuable penny (coin).

I do not recommend doing anything to the other side that requires reheating the piece as it will also reheat the front again. Try another resin such as Diamond Glaze that air dries.

Createology said...

Fabulous idea and great item for teenage girls to make. You are super clever and generous to show the girls they can be creative and make something fun. Happy creating...

My Life Under the Bus said...

Awesome idea - Also if you don't have a drill - My favorite tool is a steel coin punch. A. few twists and poof your thru the coin ! Like butta : ) works on all sorts of metals and is so easy a four yeart old can use it ( mine did LOL )If you want to cover both sides UV resin ( like Magic Glos) which sets after about 5 minutes in the sun would work great !

Staci at Craftify It ! said...

WOW! So glad I stumbled on your blog today! I am your newest follower...one of the thousands that admire you! Can't wait to look around some more.

Charo said...

So fantastic proyect! So creative too.

Hugs
Charo

hoffee and a nuffin said...

Those are AWESOME! I can imagine how much fun the girls had making them :)

June said...

I love this idea! They are lovely necklaces and I know the girls must have had a blast making them. Thanks for sharing!

Artsnark said...

what a cute idea! They must have had a grand time

Cindy said...

What a great post...happy to stumble upon this too! Cindy's Etsy shop is wonderful...and who would have thought. I think this would be a fun project to make with my kids...thanks for the inspiration!
Cindy
www.sweetbeadstudio.com

Anonymous said...

Cathe, I haven't visited in a while, and I'm enjoying getting caught up! The penny pendants are so charming! Thanks for the directions. I might give them a try this summer!

I LOVE color! said...

That is a really cute idea. reminds me of the fun I had with my Campfire group eons age. Be Blessed

Olivia said...

I really really want to try this!!! :D

olivia
x


http://goldielocksandcupid.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

What a neat project. I'm always looking for things to make with my daughter and her best friend

Deb said...

That's amazing! Beautiful pendants. Now I know how to drill holes into tiny bits and bobs at one time. Thanx for the visuals.

Boni Boutelle-Jones said...

these are AWESOME!! The girls did a great job! thanks for the quick tutorial!!! I see some of these in my future!

*jean* said...

what a fabulous project!!! they are so cute!

Amanda said...

These are just gorgeous!!

eNGie said...

Those are so fantastic, i love this, i want to make one! Thank you!

Daile Wilson said...

I'm new to your blog and I love it!! I enjoyed reading every post! Thanks for all the amazing fun craft ideas! I'll have to check by often!

Daile
dailecwilson.blogspot.com