February Workshop with Goodwill Akron: Upcycled Jewelry

This past weekend, I hosted my second DIY workshop (of 2015) at the Kent/Ravenna Goodwill.  

We had an amazing turnout!  The ladies had a lot of fun and learned something, too!

The attendees at the Jewelry Workshop

Some of our found objects and supplies.

Adding a smaller chain to a larger one.

Deciding what to do next.

More beads and fixings!

Some of the finished products!

Another finished product!

This workshop was different than the others I've lead because we were able to conduct the workshop in a community room at the store.  I much prefer this setup to the free-form workshop in the store.  I felt it was much easier to work with everyone as a group and then, one on one as questions arose.  I hadn't really prepared a lesson plan, per se, for this workshop, but will definitely be integrating that into future workshops.  Because I didn't know everyone's skill level in advance, I didn't want to stifle any creativity, hence why I didn't chose one piece of jewelry to make.  In the end, a lot of the ladies chose to string beads on a piece of wire and connect to the chains we had provided (found).  We also were able to make a few bracelets utilizing this tutorial as a guide.  Check out Goodwill Akron on Twitter to see all of the final products!

If you missed the workshop, fret not, the instructions for the necklace I shared in this post are live on the Goodwill's blog.  I also think I'm going to do a quick "Jewelry-Making Basics" post later this week, utilizing some of the skills the ladies picked up on Saturday.  Stay tuned!