Arts & Crafts 101 - Making Your Jewelry Unique

When you're making hand crafted jewelry to sell, it's a good idea to make your items unique, but how do you do it? I'll give you some tips on how to make your jewelry one of a kind.

One of the things I've learned from years of making and selling jewelry is that if you want to make money, you need to have a product that isn't the same old thing that everyone else is making. Unfortunately, it can be tough to make your items stand out. However, if you can find a way to do it, you have a good chance at making more money than your competitors.

So why do you want to be unique? Well, if you think about it, jewelry is a part of fashion. Fashionable people like to have things that no one else has. If you can go one step further and not just have something unique, but have each item be one of a kind, you'll really have a leg up on other crafters that might be doing the same old thing because they think it's a safe bet to make money.

Figuring out how to make your jewelry unique is where things start to get tricky. There are only so many ways to make a bracelet or a pair of earrings, right? Wrong! The only limit to what you can make is your own imagination. If you take a look at what's already out there, and let your imagination run wild, you can probably come up with at least one or more ways to make your items different.

Ok, I know, you want to know some tricks to making your stuff unique so you don't have to strain your brain. Alright, here we go! One of the first things you can do to make your jewelry unique is to try to use materials that not everyone else is using. If everyone else is using steel, try using silver. If everyone is using glass beads, try using metal. You can even go so far as to use really unusual materials like bones, electrical wire, computer parts, or anything else you can get your hands on that is small enough to suit your needs.

Another way to make items unique is to use materials in a way that isn't common. Some people make crocheted jewelry, but have you tried crocheting with wire or fishing line? How about using bolts or other small hardware as part of the design? Maybe you can try doing macrame with wire, or making beads out of paper.

Style is one of the biggest ways to be unique. Add some unique twist to every item you make. If everyone else's wire jewelry is punk, try making something elegant out of wire. Try working Swarovski crystal into something that's not evening wear. Make a choker using Chinese knot work and some great beads. Whatever you do, try to create a style that isn't the same as everyone else's. You may even be able to come up with a signature style that people will immediately recognize as yours.

One thing I suggest that will really help you with making your jewelry unique is to learn as many different techniques as you can. Learn how to work with wire, chainmail, beads, string, crochet, looms, clay, the whole works. As you learn more techniques, you'll be able to bring them together in new and interesting ways. Each new technique will add to the variety that you can create, and to your ability to mix and match techniques and materials. Play around, have fun, and best of luck selling your wonderfully unique items.