diy braided necklace

Good morning folks! Apologies for the belated post today, but I am pleased to announce that I have a post for you that does NOT contain butter or sugar! I know. Crazy, right? A gal needs a little break from butter and sugar every once in a blue moon. Plus, I made something pretty! :)

My friend, Maudie, and I were thrift shopping last weekend when I found the necklace below. I really loved the chunky chain link and the heavy weight of the necklace. But more than that? I really really loved that it was three dollars. Sold!

I just had to figure out what to do with it. Naturally, I went to Pinterest, where I found this DIY necklace and this DIY necklace and this really really ridiculously expensive necklace, all of which led to me rushing out to the nearest fabric store to stock up on embroidery thread.

Here's the step by step:

Step One: Gather your supplies. All you need is a chain link necklace, any color and length, and embroidery thread, any color. I know I have six packs of thread pictured here. I really didn't know how many I would need. I ended up using three total, two ivory and one peach, and it was the perfect amount for this shorter chain. Just FYI.

Step Two: Gather your thread together. I took each pack and cut it into eight equal lengths and bundled all three packs (so 24 total pieces of thread) together. This will really depend on the length and size of your chain though so use your best judgment. Then tie your thread around one end of the necklace.

Step Three: (not pictured because I got too excited to take pictures) Divide the thread into two bundles and braid the bundles through the chain link. You can kinda see in the picture above how I did this.

Alternately, you could also just leave the bundle as one and loop it through the chain link for a simpler look.

Step Four: Knot the excess thread at the end of the necklace and cut off remaining thread. Ta Da! That's it!

Mine took me maybe twenty minutes and cost me a total of $4. Not bad, huh? I love my neutral colors but I would like to do another with hot pink or neon yellow thread. Cute, cheap, easy...this is my kind of craft!