Cheap Handmade Wedding Jewelry

You can find cheap wedding jewelry already made at discount stores like Wal-Mart or Target for your bridesmaids and flower girl to wear for your wedding. Just go to their jewelry departments and take a look at what they have.

You don't need to spend a fortune at a jewelry store. A simple silver or gold-colored chain or a pendant with matching earrings will work just fine. A simple pearl pendant and pearl earrings look elegant for any wedding.

If you are crafty, you can design and make simple necklaces and earrings for your bridesmaids and your flower girl.

I suggest going to Michael's, Hobby Lobby, or Garden Ridge. Look at all of the craft materials they have. Also, visit the craft department at Wal-Mart. They have a lot of jewelry-making items now, including earring wires, beads, and tools. At all of these places, you will find beads of various sizes, shapes, colors, and materials.

Gold or silver chains can be found cheaply at Wal-Mart and sometimes at jewelry boutiques in the mall when they are on sale, like Claire's.

For the bridesmaids, try to match the colors of their dresses with the beads you use. You can use stretch cord and beads or pearls for necklaces.

Important tip--Make sure that you cut the cord a few inches longer than you will need. It mus be able to fit over the head and there should be plenty of cord for tying knots. The excess can always be trimmed off, but if your cord is too short, more cannot be added. It is a common beginner mistake to underestimate the length of cord needed.

Here is another important tip. After the beads have been strung and you have tied the two ends of the cord together, add a drop of craft glue so the knot holds.

Make the flower girl's necklace simple, such as a pendant with one large bead that matches her dress and maybe one or two smaller beads on either side of the larger one.

Cheap wedding jewelry is fun to make or pick out for your wedding. Each bridesmaid can wear something a little different or they can wearing matching jewelry. It is really up to what you, the bride, wants for them.

You can create your own handmade wedding jewelry for your wedding. Necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even hairpieces are not difficult to make on your own.

The Christmas earrings below were made by me using hypo-allergenic earring wires and miniature Christmas ornaments. Earrings just like these were worn by bridesmaids in two different weddings in the month of December. The cost of each pair was about 50 cents to make.

Jewelry for your bridesmaids and your flower girl can also be handmade by you, if you have the time.

There are several types of earrings that are easy to make. Just stop by a craft store like Hobby Lobby, Garden Ridge, or Michael's and shop for a few basic pieces. Wal-Mart now has an excellent craft department with beads and jewelry-making supplies. Check it out.

Of course, you can use miniature items instead of beads. I have made pretty Christmas earrings using mini ornaments on earring wires. I have sold these at craft fairs and they sell like hotcakes.

At Easter, you could use little Easter ornaments or mini silk or porcelain flowers, anything that is not too heavy. Tiny bows made from real ribbon look pretty, too.

I have made beaded necklaces and bracelets to sell at craft fairs as well.

The stores have pretty plastic beads and nicer, more expensive ones to use, like real stones and crystals.

You can also make beads out of polymer clay. Polymer clay can also be fashioned into flowers and other objects for use on jewelry. I love to work with polymer clay. Sculpey is my favorite to use when I play with clay.

To make the handmade wedding jewelry I make, you will need some small needle nose jewelry pliers, 22 gauge wire, earring wires, beads of your choice, craft glue, wire cutters, stretchy bracelet string, and anything else that catches your fancy at the craft store.

If you are making a hairpiece, you may want to buy metal barrettes with no decorations at the craft shop as well. I used to decorate these all the time for my daughter when she was a little girl. She had all sorts of pretty, one-of-a-kind barrettes for her hair. You can also pick up a hair comb or two if you would like to use a decorative comb instead of a barrette.

Jenny Flower Designs makes hand made unique clay flower jewelry; necklaces, earrings, corsages, hair combs, hair pieces, decorative flower arrangements, and bouquets. They make perfect gifts for weddings, holidays, anniversaries, special occasions or everyday wear. We can also custom design each piece in many colors and sizes. Fresh flowers will last a week, but our designs last forever. Our flower creations will give your loved one a lifetime of enjoyment and memories. They sent me the photo above of the clay flowers when I had my wedding website and I wanted to share that with you. I am going to try and make some similar clay flowers since I love to work with polymer clay.

Wearing vintage wedding jewelry is one of the latest trends in bridal fashion this season (December 2008.)

One of the best sources of vintage wedding jewelry is your family, namely your mother, your grandmothers, aunts, great aunts, and cousins, anyone who might have jewelry from 25 years ago or more. The older, the better right now in the world of bridal fashion.

Diamond earrings and/or a matching necklace are perfect. So are pearl earrings with or without a necklace. Check, first of all, with your mom to see if maybe she has a special piece of wedding jewelry that she wore on her wedding day and that maybe she would like you to wear.

If not, check with both of your grandmothers, if you are blessed to still have them living when you get married. They may just be thrilled that you would want to borrow a piece or two of their jewelry. And it does not have to be "real."

The three pins pictured below were all given to me by my paternal grandmother about 30 years ago. They were hers for many years prior to that. The silver brooch has matching earrings but they are clip-ons and I have pierced ears. Not sure how she could stand it--clip-ons always hurt my ears so I could never stand to wear them for very long!

There is nothing wrong with wearing costume jewelry as long as it looks pretty and goes with the style of your dress and veil or headpiece. I did not wear "real" pearls on my wedding day. I wore faux pearls that I had for a few years. They were pretty and looked fine. They were my favorite earrings at the time.

If no one in your family has some older jewelry for you to borrow, check on E-Bay. People sell things lying around the house all of the time. When people inherit things from their parents and grandparents that they do not want, they sell them on E-Bay.

Check local estate sales as they sometimes have estate sales as well. Sometimes, you can get lucky at a garage sale, but if the pieces have any value, most people will try to sell them for more than what they can get at a garage sale.

Antique shops and pawn shops are also good places to find treasure. I have been in several antique shops that carry beautiful pieces that would be just right for a bride to wear on her wedding day.

When we lived near Brownwood, Texas, we visited several smaller towns nearby and found some great, little antique shops with exquisite pieces that were not very expensive. Of course, they are normally one-of-a-kind so you have to buy them when you see them or they are snapped up by tourists right away.

You can also check the local classifieds in your newspaper to see if anyone is selling vintage wedding jewelry in your area.

One other place to check, if you are on good terms with her, is with your future mother-in-law, not to mention your fiance's grandmothers. Maybe your fiance's mom only had sons so she has no one to pass her beautiful family heirlooms down to.

Now, if you can tell right off the bat that your fiance's family does not particularly care for you, you probably should not ask.

I have been making some affordable wedding jewelry, mostly wedding earrings for you to purchase if you do not want to try making earrings on your own.

Costume jewelry is actually very easy to make and you can have the colors you want. Just choose the beads you like and you are an earring designer!

About seven years ago, my children and I started making beaded bracelets and earrings. We sold them at craft shows and to people we ran into at various events around town. They were quite popular, especially our Christmas earrings so I thought, why not design some earrings pretty enough to wear to a wedding?

I wore simple pearl earrings at my wedding and they were not even real pearls. Just one small pearl on each ear. They were lovely and no one cared whether they were real pearls or genuine simulated pearls from Wal-Mart! I like simple jewelry, but everyone has different tastes. I feel that jewelry should compliment you, not overpower you.

Below are some photos of wedding earrings that I have made so you can get some ideas.

If you are allergic, you can make hypoallergenic ear wires in silver or gold colors. No, none of my earrings are made of real silver, real gold, real pearls, or real stones. They are made with two inch head or eye pins so they are about two inches long, and not heavy in your ears. They are very comfortable and are perfect for preteens, teens, young women, and older women, also. You can cut the wire down if you want shorter earrings.

I have fun creating jewelry, especially earrings. You can buy beads and wire at Wal-Mart, Michael's, Garden Ridge, and Hobby Lobby. I am sure there are many other stores across the country where you can buy jewelry supplies as well. These are the stores close to my house. There are also some great bead supply websites online. I have bought supplies from a few of them and have had good experiences with them.

Get creative and try your hand at making some affordable wedding jewelry, not just for you, but for your whole wedding party!