Ideal Bite

Umbrella Joint Necklace
20-35 minutes

What You Need:

• Old umbrella (here, we use a pop-up, but bigger ones work too)
• Diagonal cutters (you or a handy friend'll most likely have one - it looks like this)
• 2 pairs of small flat-nose pliers
• 6 jump rings
• 1 clasp


Directions:

1. Open the umbrella and flip it over so you can see the structure. There are eight metal sections, each made up of a thick crossbar with a smaller, thinner crossbar (that's the one you want for your necklace) extending from the center and attaching to a metal ring on the plastic collar that you use to push the umbrella open. Use the diagonal cutters to snip the wire ring in several places and slide the ends of thinner crossbars off the ring. To detach the other end, snap the thicker (and softer) crossbar on either side of the joint attaching the piece you are trying to extract, taking care not to disturb the joint. Once you have detached this joint from the rest of the structure, it should be easier to remove the piece from the joint without breaking the hole. (See step-by-step photos.)

2. Use the diagonal cutters to nip off the ends of the actual joint and reveal a clean hole. Do this with five pieces.

3. Open a jump ring with two pairs of pliers, using one to hold it in place and the other to open the ring like this. Now slip the hole of the umbrella piece you cut in steps 1 and 2 onto the jump ring. Use the pliers to close the jump ring. Repeat with each umbrella piece to make a chain.

4. Using the pliers, add the clasp to the end jump rings to finish the necklace.

To recycle the nylon, find a local recycler here. To recycle the unused metal, check here.