Series 3 - Dealing with Donuts DIY Jewelry Tutorials

Gemstone donuts are beautiful and always catch you eye at bead shows. But, when you get home, you don’t know what to do with them, so they get stashed in a box or drawer for “later”. This project incorporates one of these smaller donuts into a simple, but dramatic piece of jewelry. Fused silver has a very attractive organic, one-of-a-kind look, making it the perfect element for a unique piece of jewelry. If you have not tried fusion before, this is a small project perfect to try your hand at without risking a lot of material. The tutorial is an instant downloading PDF file, it has 8 pages, 18 photos, a life size template of all the components and plenty of tips! For intermediate skill students.

This necklace is a simple and striking way to display a large gemstone donut. Using only “cold connections” like rivets, staple and crimps we will make a unique sterling silver two-piece riveted bail, with a hand stamped design. The silver bail can be customized by using different stamps or texture hammers on the metal. Changing the shape of the cutouts along the edge for other shapes as triangles or ovals, can also make each pendant unique.

This project is about using a large gemstone donut as the focal piece of a cuff bracelet. Reticulation on silver is a process that results in a heavily textured metal sheet. This method produces one-of-a-kind pieces, that are very dramatic and organic looking. The tutorial is an instant downloading PDF file, it has 10 pages, 27 photos, a life size template of all the components and plenty of tips! Includes two mini tutorials. For intermediate skill students.

Here are four striking bails using the same design principle to accommodate your large gemstone donuts. The design is simple with only one soldered joint, making it a good project for beginner solders. The bails can be used for rectangular, square or round donuts. Three of the bails are soldered pieces and one a no-solder project. The bails can be made in sterling silver, copper, brass or bronze. You can customize the design further, by using your own stamps or texture hammers on the metal. The tubes at the back of the bails are big enough to accommodate most chains, large gauge neck wires, multi-strand cable necklaces or smaller bead necklaces. They can also be used in conjunction with silk cords, ribbons, beaded Kumihimo cords or larger bead strands. Go look for those forgotten large gemstone donuts in your bead boxes and make some awesome pendants today!

Rings are perfect to display small gemstone donuts. This project is a simple take on an adjustable wrap-around shank. It can be made in copper, brass or silver, with any colored stone donut. The small domed cup on the center can be changed to a square, triangle or oval. The texture on the cup and shank can be stamped, rolled milled or hammered. This means that your ring will always be a unique piece of art jewelry.