If you've decided to take up a hobby and have settled on jewellery-making, here are some pointers to help you get started.
Purchase a glue gun and a 100% solution of isopropyl alcohol
Before you attempt to make any jewellery, you should go to the craft shop and purchase a glue gun and a bottle of isopropyl alcohol 100. This is because a hot glue gun is a great accessory that will help you to utilise adhesives to create more interesting jewellery items. Because this device allows you to control the exact quantity of glue that you apply to a surface, it is very easy to use it on small areas of tiny pieces of jewellery (when, for example, you want to stick a crystal to a metal ring) without getting glue on the other areas of this jewellery. Furthermore, hot glues tend to be quick-drying, which will mean you can start wearing your newly crafted jewellery soon after you make it.
As mentioned above, you'll also need some isopropyl alcohol. This substance will be particularly useful when you first take up this hobby as, during the first few weeks of trying to create jewellery pieces, you will inevitably make quite a few mistakes. You may, for instance, accidentally glue your fingers together, or stick a stone onto the wrong part of a piece of jewellery. If you do this, you can simply splash a few diluted drops of the isopropyl alcohol onto your fingers or the jewellery and the alcohol should dissolve the glue and free your fingers or remove the incorrectly positioned stone. It is best to buy a 100% solution of this liquid, as you can then dilute it yourself and create weak or strong solutions of it, depending on what you need to use it for.
Offset the cost of this hobby by buying supplies that can be used to make presents
When you go to the craft supply shop to purchase your jewellery-making supplies, you might want to opt for pendants, beads, charms and other items that you think your friends and family would like. This is because buying all of the things you need to take up a hobby like this can be expensive. However, if you make pieces of jewellery with materials that you know would be appreciated by specific family members or friends and give these jewellery pieces as gifts to these individuals on their birthdays and at Christmas, you can offset some of the initial expenses you incur by taking up this activity, as you won't have to buy separate gifts for all of these people on special occasions.
