on September 4, 2016A beautiful necklace made from paper clips and recycled paper
This beautiful necklace made from paper clips and recycled paper is is created by folding small pieces of paper and clipping them to a chain of paper clips.
No glue is required to hold the necklace together, the paper clips hold everything together. You can make your necklace out of recycled books, magazines, newspapers or even recycled plastic packaging. This same folding technique can also be used to weave units of paper together that can then be used to make baskets, bags, or other accessories.
What you need
- An old book
- Ruler
- Stanley knife
- Paper clips
To begin, you need to cut lots of rectangles that measure 3.5cm by 6.5cm. This is the size I calculated for my paper clips, but depending on the size of yours, you might want to adjust it slightly. I used around 40 paper clips for a nice long necklace.
Folding the paper for your paper clip necklace
Before attaching the paper to a paper clip, you need to fold it up, following these steps:
1. Fold and unfold the rectangle in half to find the central line.
2. Fold each edge into the central line.
3. Fold in half to make a long thin strip.
4. Fold and unfold in the other direction to find the central line.
5. Fold each edge to this central line.
6. Fold in half along this central line.
You have now folded your paper and are ready to clip it to a paper clip.
Putting your paper clip necklace together
The necklace is made by attaching lots of pieces of paper to a chain of paper clips. As you make the necklace, you need to add each paper clip to the chain individually, before attaching the paper.
First take a piece of paper, folded using the above steps, and a single paper clip.
You can see in the picture above that each folded rectangle has two loops, joined at one end like a V shape. Insert the two metal loops of your paper clip into these two loops of paper. Push it down onto the middle of the paper clip.
Attach another paper clip to the first, and add a second piece of folded paper in the same way.
Tip: Which way up to attach the pieces
The folded pieces of paper have a right side and a wrong side.
It doesn’t really matter into which side you clip the paper clip in terms of the final result, but from one side it is much easier than from the other.
Continue in the same way until you have a chain of the correct size for your necklace.
To finish your necklace, you need to attach the last paper clip to both ends of your chain, making a loop.
Now you need to attach the last piece of paper, but you don’t have access to the paper clip from the end, so you have to slide the paper on from the side.
First, take a piece of folded paper, but unfold the last 3 steps so you are left with the long band of paper in step 3. Attach one end of this paper band to your paper clip.
Wrap the paper band around the paper clip and tuck the other end into the other loop of your paper clip. Make sure it is well tucked in to the paper clip, and well secured.
And that’s it! Depending on the paper or material used, you could add a coat of spray varnish to protect your necklace, or leave it as it is.
To have a go at making this necklace yourself, come along to the Paris en Rose workshop on the 15th September 2016. During this two hour workshop, I will demonstrate in person this folding technique and you can go home with your very own necklace made from paper clips and recycled paper!
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