DIY Vintage Buckle Pendants

Today I want to share this really straightforward DIY for making pendants from buckles!

You could incorporate these into a great gift for any vintage fan or family history nut--see below for how I used mine!

You'll need:

Vintage photographs

Vintage tri-glide buckles

Jump rings

Multi-purpose glue

Scrap of paper

Optional: Photo paper, scanner, image editing software

Tools:

Ruler

Flat-nosed jewellery pliers

Scissors

Toothpick or disposable cocktail stick

1. Measure the buckles. Either cut the photos down to size, or use image editing software to crop them as you want, so you don't damage the originals.

Tip: Print onto photo paper rather than normal printer paper.

In the picture above, I've compared ordinary paper (top) to photo paper (bottom).

See the difference in quality between the two!

2. Trim the edges of the photo to match the buckle size, and use a toothpick to apply glue around the back of the buckle.

I squirted a blob of glue onto scrap paper and applied it with a pin, because I didn't have a toothpick to hand!

3. Attach a jump ring to the central bar of the buckle, at the back. Join a second jump ring to the first to make it easier to attach to other things!

You're done! Time to make it into something beautiful!

I used my pendants to make this necklace.

Almost all decorative parts have some link to family--the buckles belonged to a great-grandma, the photos are of family, the watch keys belonged to my grandad and the threepenny bits came from my nan!

The chandelier crystal at the bottom was from an antiques shop - I use them for items on my Etsy store - and the small, plastic ones have been in my stash for ages, along with the little watch gear.

Hope this tutorial was helpful/inspiring! Check the tutorials tag or the jewellery tag for more. :)