customizing your jewelry...

I was recently asked to help design some necklaces for a bridal party. The wedding colors are a classic black & white, with a fun bright green used as an accent color. The bride and I went shopping to look for some inspiration and stumbled upon these beautiful necklaces at Macy's.

Although, the necklace was great as-is, we wanted to customize it a little to help bring in some black. The bridesmaids dresses are a flirty little strapless number... a black dress that hits right above the knees.

So, we thought, why not literally "tie-in" the black color by adding a simple satin ribbon? It's subtle, but the black is there, none-the-less. I took off the gold chain, leaving just one link on each end. Then I used a simple gold-plated enclosure to secure the ribbon. (I used a dot of hot glue, just to make sure the ribbon wasn't going anywhere.)

I attached the ribbon clasps to the two gold chain links I left on the necklace... and TAH-DAH! We now have a beautiful customized necklace that coordinates perfectly with the bride's wedding colors!

Now we just need to repeat 5 more times...