Great Jewelry Projects for Middle School Youth: Collage Art Jewelry

f you are looking for a great jewelry project for middle school youth, you might want to consider trying collage art jewelry. I've been teaching the Bling Bling jewelry design courses for middle school youth with the Providence After School Alliance for a few years now, and in the course of my teaching, I've come to realize that there's just not a lot of material out there for teaching jewelry design to kids. So I'm going to share my experiences with you.

One of my favorite projects to do with my students is collage art jewelry. This project is easy for the students to master, offers a lot of flexibility to suit all taste levels, and fun! The supplies are relatively inexpensive as well, and the project encourages recycling, since most of our materials are second-hand. It's also easy to turn this project into a take home kit for students to use at home, since the materials are readily accessible.

Collage Art Supplies

Bamboo placemat, featuring beads that are approximately ½ inch by 2 inches. These can sometimes be found in kitchen stores or T.J. Maxx, infrequently in thrift stores, and online from ebay sellers like LinensRUs. Placemats are about 10 x 15 inches and each one has just over 130 beads, enough for plenty of projects.

Wooden poker chips and other flat wooden pieces. I always look for these at yard sales, flea markets, and thrift stores. You want objects that are small enough to be used as jewelry, no thicker than about 1/8 - ¼ of an inch.

Scrabble tiles. Ideally, you'd have a full set of tiles per student, available to purchase directly from Hasbro, but you can also make sure that each student has his or her first initial to work with. This can be tricky if you have a lot of students whose names start with the same letter, as each set only has a certain number of letters (such as 1 J per set).

Mod Podge, or other white craft glue. (I like the Mod Podge designed specifically for paper crafting.)

Nylon paintbrushes. You can use any type of paintbrush, but I find little hairs when I use anything except cheap Nylon brushes. These come in packages of 12 - 24 in the kid's section of the craft store.

Jewelry findings. We usually turn our collage art creations into necklaces, bracelets, earrings, or pins, so buy whatever findings you'll need for your project. You also might want to consider ring blanks, especially if you are using wooden poker chips.

E6000 glue, for attaching pinbacks. You can use hot glue, but we've discovered through trial and error that these will eventually break. So will ones glued with E6000, anything glued together will eventually break, but E6000 lasts significantly longer. E6000 does have fumes, though, so you may wish to glue the pieces on your own, away from the classroom.

Diamond Glaze. Available from Judikins, Diamond Glaze is my top choice for finishing the tops of your collage art creations. You can paint a thin layer of glue to protect your images, but Diamond Glaze creates a thick, shiny layer that transforms the ordinary into extraordinary. DG is expensive (we use the big bottles at $25 a pop), but it's worth it. I use the same product in my professional jewelry work.

[Note: DG can be difficult for students to use well (due to air bubbles) so I often glaze the pieces at home myself, but if you have a longer class period than I do and a place to store your work without having to transport it, Diamond Glaze can be mastered by your middle school students.]

Old magazines, scraps of paper, and scrapbooking paper. Paper should be thin. Thicker papers, like cardstock, do not work well for this project.

Scissors

Collage Art Jewelry: The Process

Creating collage art is fun, easy, and soothing. We usually have music playing during our creation time, because it allows the students to really get into their work without too many distractions from their peers. I supply the students with stacks of magazines, piles of scrapbooking papers, old dictionaries, books, and other items that they are encouraged to cut up to create artwork. Each student should have a pair of scissors, a paintbrush, and a plastic bottle cap of glue. I like to have the students working together on a large table so they can share ideas as they work.

Because I've discovered that the inclination is to simply cut out a picture and glue it onto the bead, I encourage the students to work in layers: background, foreground, and text. I always demonstrate my creation process in the beginning of the class, and walk around the classroom offering assistance and suggestions as I see fit. Students are shown how to cut paper to fit the bead (by flipping the paper to the back of the bead and trimming the edges).

Some kids will continue to make beads with only one "layer" but others soon grasp the potential of the process and create really amazing collages. I usually find that in our hour-long sessions, students make anywhere from ½ dozen to 1 dozen beads. I've found that the best way to get the students to think in layers is to initially limit the number of beads, since this encourages them to spend more time on each bead.

When I have students whose native language is something other than English (almost always Spanish), I design my own word collage sheets and bring in Spanish dictionaries, when possible, for their use. I also love collage sheets from Art Chix Studios, but I don't use those during the first collage session, because I want them to find their own images first.

After the beads are finished, they are placed on trays and transported to be glazed. Allow the beads to dry overnight before glazing. Put a thick layer of glaze around the edge of the bead, being sure to cover the paper onto the wood, but without leaking over the sides. You can use a small bottle with a special tip for this, but I always just do this carefully with a paintbrush. Once you've created the outline, fill in the rest with a thick layer of DG.

You'll be able to see the image faintly beneath, but don't worry, the glaze dries clear. If you see air bubbles, remove them with a pin. I've discovered that the best way to avoid air bubbles is to avoid shaking the bottle too much and to be sure that the container you use for the glue (I recycle plastic bottle caps for this purpose) never gets too low on glue. Allow the glaze to dry overnight. Add a second coat.

Once properly glazed, your beads become pretty much indestructible. I've spilled a glass of water on one of my prized beads, and after letting it dry out for a few days, it was fine. If you've drilled holes in any pieces, use a pin to poke through the DG to create your jump ring channel. You can drill after glazing, but I always drill before creating the work, so that I can plan my design around the hole.

Use wire to create pendants and earrings from your beads. Add a jump ring to a drilled hole and hang a bead from a necklace. Glue a pinback or ring setting on the back of the bead to create a pin or ring. Use your beads to create bead people. Have fun and experiment! I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have after middle school after school jewelry programs! Enjoy!