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How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace

July 1, 2013 6 Comments

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Independence Day is Thursday, and if you’re on the lookout for a quick DIY accessory, this project is definitely it. It makes use of plexiglass, which is an awesome crafting material, particularly for easy jewelry projects.

Supplies

tthin acrylic sheet, a.k.a. plexiglass (like this)
X-acto knife
ruler
jewelry chain
2 jewelry pliers
small jump rings (I used 7mm)
hole punching tool (The crop-a-idle is my go-to.)
permanent marker
red, white & blue acrylic paint
paint brush
toothpick (optional)
jewelry clasp

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Directions

Begin by scoring your plexiglass with an x-acto knife, creating a 3.375 (3 and 3/8) by 1.75 inch rectangle. These measurements are approximately correct to keep the flag’s proportions accurate..

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Bend your plexiglass along the scoring lines, and it will snap cleanly apart where scored. Cool, right? :)

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Draw a dot in the top two corners of your acrylic rectangle, approximately the same distance in from each corner. Using a punching tool, punch a hole in each dot’s location.

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Paint a blue rectangle in the upper left of your acrylic rectangle. Then, paint your red stripes, being careful not to mix the two paint colors where they meet on the flag.

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

When that’s dry, paint your small “stars” using white paint and, if you’ve got it on hand, a tiny paint brush or toothpick. Let dry.

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Attach your jewelry closure to your necklace chain either with your jewelry pliers and a jump ring, or by opening a link in the chain, attaching the closure, and closing it.

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Close your closure, forming your necklace into a closed circle. Holding the necklace by its clasp, find the exact center of the chain. Break the chain at its center point so it looks like this:

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Attach your finished, dry flag pendant to the chain using two jewelry pliers and two jump rings. The best way to open a jump ring is pictured below, and to close it, you bend it back using exactly the opposite motion used to open it.

How to open a jump ring - HandsOccupied.com

That’s it! This pendant necklace is quite affordable to make, and the finished result is really fun – perfect for the Fourth!

How-to: Painted Acrylic Flag Necklace - HandsOccupied.com

Filed Under: Fourth of July, How-to Tagged With: accessories, crafts, diy, flag, fourth of july, independence day, jewelry, patriotic, pendant

About Heidi

Heidi Gustad (she/her) is a craft book author & designer specializing in yarn crafts. Her work combines vintage and modern design elements, prioritizing color and graphic motifs. Her first book, Latch Hook: 12 Projects for the Modern Maker, is out now.

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Comments

  1. SaveOn

    July 1, 2014 at 9:38 am

    Hi Heidi!

    We absolutely love your blog, but we especially loved this post! These necklaces look so cute yet so simple to make! We love your idea so much that we featured it on our own blog: http://bit.ly/1lO5QAE

    Reply
    • Heidi

      July 1, 2014 at 10:04 am

      Why thanks! It looks like I’m in good company! :)

      Reply
  2. Cindy deRosier

    October 31, 2016 at 6:20 pm

    I’m the Editor of Fun Family Crafts and wanted to let you know that we have featured your flag necklace! You can see it here:

    http://funfamilycrafts.com/painted-acrylic-flag-necklace/

    If you have other kid-friendly craft tutorials, we’d love for you to submit them. If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can get one from the right side bar of your post above. Thanks for a great project idea!

    Reply
    • Heidi

      November 3, 2016 at 8:42 pm

      Thanks for the feature!

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. 17 Last-Minute Amazing Decorations to Make for the 4th of July | Crafttuts+ says:
    July 3, 2013 at 8:53 am

    […] Paint an Acrylic Flag Necklace […]

    Reply
  2. 12 Ways to Save On the Fourth of July | SaveOn Blog says:
    June 30, 2014 at 2:12 pm

    […] On the lookout for a quick DIY accessory? Create your own American flag necklace. […]

    Reply

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Heidi Gustad from Hands Occupied / Craft Book Author and Knitting, Crochet, Latch Hook and Macrame Designer

Hi! I’m Heidi (she/her/hers), and I’ve been helping yarn crafters untangle various techniques on the internet since 2010. I got my start here, as a blogger, and since then I’ve shared more than a few tutorials here and on YouTube as I’ve grown as a pattern designer. 🧶 

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handsoccupied

Knitting & yarn crafts designer helping makers untangle various techniques with a blog & YouTube channel
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Stitching around the Christmas tree 🧶 . Working Stitching around the Christmas tree 🧶
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Yarn: @eweeweyarns Ewe So Sporty in Orange Peel
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Happy with how the mini Nightmare Before Christmas Happy with how the mini Nightmare Before Christmas sweater vest turned out! Now my dog and I can go on walks in matching seasonal fits 😂
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1. I knit this bottom up with scraps and ran out of black yarn. If the vest consistently drifts down her chest upon wear, I might extend the collar or redo the chest panel at a smaller size. If you’ve read this far, what do you think? As a designer, I so rarely get to improvise a knitting project, and I’m having fun working with fewer rules than usual. 🧶
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2. June has a grooming appointment this weekend. She’s currently the mayor of scruff town, I know. 🫡
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Pattern: Chart is from the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest pattern by yours truly in the official Nightmare Before Christmas knitting book 
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I finished June’s doggie version of the Spiral H I finished June’s doggie version of the Spiral Hill Sweater Vest & it’s so cute! 🥰
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Squeezing in some stitching on a selfish sweater t Squeezing in some stitching on a selfish sweater this Saturday morning 😋
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Pattern: Fruit Stripe Pullover with some intarsia mods on the front panel 
Designed by Rachel Brockman for @universal_yarn 
Yarn: Fibra Natura Cobblestone in Dragon’s Breath & Antarctica 🧶
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