Blah to Statement Necklace

A good friend that I work with is leaving soon to go to Colorado, and I knew I had to make something to send her off with.  She and I are always admiring each other's clothes, and she is the one that inspired me to try wearing colored jeans.  We've traded some crafts over the years, and she's been very supportive of my new refashioning endevours.  I asked her what kind of piece she felt she needed more of, and she stated that she needed more statement necklaces.  I used to make jewelry back in the day, so the idea of refashioning some baubles for her sounded super fun.

I found this collar necklace at a local thrift store for a whole $4.  I liked the settings, and that the plastic gems were a nice pale color that would be easy to paint.  I broke out my nail polish for this as it is an enamel paint and with some enamel sealant (found anywhere paint-your-own model kits are sold) will last a good long time.  It is also cheaper and comes in a bigger variety of colors than model enamel.

I went with magenta, green, and teal along with some green and gold glitter over the tops in some places.  I wanted this to be a very striking piece, which meant COLOR to me.  Once the paint dried I sealed every gem.  I also picked up some larger plasic gems at a craft store and painted those to match.  Mix in some new lengths of chain, and this was then end piece.

My friend put this on the moment I gave it to her and wore it the rest of the day.  What greater compliment is that?