How cool are these people?!

Sarah West Ervin

Cari Eddy

Monica Olmo

Joslyn Taylor

Claudia Zhao

Kristen Lombardi

Rebecca Goldschmidt

Yours truly!

Debbie Carlos

Again, I had such a blast organizing this exchange, and I can’t thank everyone enough for participating.

Let this be my official announcement that I’ll do another one later this year — stay tuned!

View the Fashion Loves People Necklace Exchange Flickr set

Viv wishes the happiest of holidays to you and yours!

xo

Hat from KnitandCrochet2009 on Etsy

People have been sending me pictures of their necklaces since last week — they’re so fantastic! If you’re a part of the exchange, be sure to send me pics and get your package in the mail by tomorrow. For those of you working at the last minute, here’s one last round of inspiration: Eight super-simple-yet-awesome bead necklaces.

Custom wood beads and brass hex nuts on a simple cord and a mini ball chain, by Alyson Fox. You can buy a selection of Alyson’s designs here.

I’ve had this image saved on my desktop for months and can’t remember where I found it! But I love the colors and textures. This one’s all about the beads.

Handmade beads (probably clay) and brass washers on a gold chain from amerrymishap on Etsy.

Brass hex nuts, black sequins and a chain from an old broken necklace — check out Mrs Priss’ DIY for this necklace.

More great beads — vintage copper and colorful wood, by SPARKLEFARM on Etsy.

This geometric pendant was made out of Sculpey clay — get the step-by-step DIY from Dismount Creative.

I bought this necklace at Renegade Craft Fair last year from designer Tanya Aguiñiga, who is best known for her chunky braided rope bracelets and matching necklaces. She had a pile of these necklaces for sale in her booth, but I’ve never seen them offered online, so they are limited-edition!

For this necklace, Tanya used fine strands of yarn as both the filler and the outer wrap, which made every color change perfectly seamless. This material also hides imperfections beautifully.

The ends are secured in a way that actually adds flair to the necklace — it can be worn either at the front or back of the neck. Two randomly placed wooden beads make this necklace even awesomer, and I love this color palette!

It made me SO happy to see so many sign-ups, and those of you who joined in will be excited to know that you just might be receiving a necklace from Kristen from Manimal, Pamela from Market Publique, Amy from Swap.com, Joslyn from Simple Lovely or any number of artists and jewelry designers! Everyone who signed up is awesome. And guess what, our exchange even got noticed by Science of the Time, a trendwatch and innovation agency and blog.

If you think you signed up and didn’t see an email from me on Saturday, please let me know!

DIY Braided Hex Nut Bracelet « click for the step-by-step DIY

Granted, this DIY is for a bracelet — but I think it has awesome necklace potential! The trick will just be to turn the direction of the braid half-way through so that the hex nuts are angling down on each side. The awesomeness-to-easiness ratio on this piece is so good that I can’t help but experiment with it!

Manimal founder and designer Kristen Lombardi started her brand with handmade moccasins, but what I love most about her line now is her suede accessories, made of scrap leather left over from the mocs. If there is a creative way to string suede cut-outs onto a string, she’s used it, and she keeps releasing amazing new variations each season (like this and this). Her designs are awesomely eclectic — and totally inspirational for a DIY necklace that doesn’t require much handicraft, just a lot of creativity.

If you’ve read this blog for long you’ve seen this Manimal necklace of mine before. I love that it’s made of an unexpected material, and that it has an obvious handmade look without being “crafty.” Here are a few close-ups for inspiration!

The hardest part of recreating this necklace would have to be punching holes in each scrap. Instead, I’d try making holes with a heavy-duty needle and then experimenting with what cord works best accordingly. (This variation apparently used string rather than cord, to incorporate seed beads between the scraps.)

If you make a necklace inspired by Kristen’s designs, be sure to say “thank you” by grabbing something awesome from the Manimal store!

DIY: Braided Bead Necklace from ECAB « click for the step-by-step DIY

Here’s a necklace DIY that would be hard to mess up! A lovely, simple style that requires more time than it does skill. This necklace style will be more or less refined depending on the hardware and beads you get for it, so choose wisely.

A different blogger made a red version of this necklace here — I love the color!

DIY Friendship Necklace from Honestly…WTF « click for the step-by-step DIY

This type of necklace has so many possibilities! You can really change up the colors, textures, layers and more to make it your own. I think the friendship bracelet-style in this DIY gives the necklace a more home-gown look than in the version below, but I love their color choices. These easy knots are perfect for tying up while watching a marathon of Christmas movies.

Weekend Project: DIY Rope Necklace from Refinery29 « click for the step-by-step DIY

A more detail-oriented method = a more refined necklace. Doesn’t this one look great? I love letting the pattern of the climbing rope peek through the color blocks. Again, you can change up the colors and textures as much as you like.

Because who doesn’t want an awesome new necklace for Christmas?!

This December, I’m super excited to be hosting my first-ever handmade necklace exchange! Not only does it combine two of my favorite things — jewelry and gift-giving — but I hope it will inspire some extra spirit and creativity in all of our holidays.

Here’s How It Works…

1. To join, fill out the form below. Sign up by this Friday, December 9!
2. On Saturday, December 10, I’ll email you the name and info of your randomly selected “match.”
3. You’ll spend the next 10 days making a necklace just for them. Mail it by Tuesday, December 20!
4. By Christmas, you’ll receive your own necklace, made just for you!

What You’re Making

First and foremost — you don’t have to be a designer to join in! Or even a creative person at all. PROMISE. Starting tomorrow, I’ll be posting awesome handmade necklace inspiration and DIYs (many of which are previewed above), and you are free to use and copy them as literally as you like.

Plus, I hope we can all extend our design inspiration beyond just necklaces! For one, a lot of my favorite necklace design ideas lend themselves to creative gift wrapping. For two, I’m dying to make Viv a stylish pacifier clip, and I have a hunch it’s going to match whatever necklace style(s) I take on.

Bonus points if your necklace includes upcycled materials, like beads from thrifted jewelry, etc.

Lastly, you should most definitely make at least two necklaces — one for yourself!

Who You’re Making It For

Each person who signs up will be randomly assigned a match. (Matches are not two-way, so you’re not giving and receiving with the same person.) That person will include links to their blog, their Pinterest account and anything else that gives you an idea of their personal style, and you’ll make them a necklace that fits.

UPDATE: We are open to international sign-ups! But FYI, I’ll be drawing names among the international sign-ups separately from the U.S. sign-ups, so that U.S. residents can all get their necklaces by Christmas. Those of you from elsewhere will receive yours according to your respective shipping times.

The Schedule

As long as everyone mails their necklaces by Tuesday, December 20, via First Class or better, the USPS holiday schedule says they’ll be delivered by Christmas.

The Fun Of It

I can’t wait to see the fruits of everyone’s creativity! Be sure to send me photos of both the necklace you make and the necklace you receive, and I’ll share them all after the fact.

If this necklace exchange suits your blog, please be sure to post about it along the way! I’d love for you to spread the word now to get more people to sign up. On Twitter and Pinterest, use hashtag #NecklaceExchange.

I know the holidays can be a crazy time, but I can’t wait to put some of my energy into sharing awesome gifts with new friends!

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