Creating an Altered and Riveted Pendant from Tin

If you don't try something new how will you ever know if you like it or not? This was basically my driving question for The 100 Day Project this year. I chose #altering100 as my personal project in an attempt to push myself outside my comfort zone, play with a variety of materials and tools, and experiment with techniques. While not all of my attempts were successful or inventive, I do feel that I learned more about what I do well and what I enjoy doing when it comes to my creative process. 

Though I knew it some already, I quickly learned that I really enjoy working with old cookie tins. As such, I took quite a few days during the project to test out techniques with them.

Toward the end of the project, I began recording some of my processes to share later. In this first video, I was working on days 78, 79, and 80 of the 100 days. However, I clipped the video so that it only includes Day 78. I'll likely share the other two in a video(s) some other time. This video covers finishing the tin once it's cut, adding texture, aging, sealing, riveting, and much more. See for yourself: Creating an Altered and Riveted Pendant from a Tin.

I apologize for the length of the video, but I wanted to be as thorough as possible in explaining what I do with the tin and why. I must admit that I don't always use these exact procedures on each piece. It all depends on the look I'm trying to achieve and how the cut of the tin turns out. 

Here's a look at the completed pendant. It's made from two same-size circles of tin. One was white with flowers, the other simply brass. A smaller circle was punched in the center of the floral one while the brass one was run through an embossing folder to get the flower image on it. The edges of both tins were sanded as well as the front and back of the brass one. 

The brass circle was aged with patina and sealed. Corresponding holes were punched in both tins, and they were riveted together to complete the pendant.  Of course, you will find much more detail about these steps in the video. 

Here's a look at the backside - which is just as pretty as the front.

Before I added the pendant to a necklace, I did clean up the open hole by re-punching it. Creating a necklace with it was as simple as picking out coordinating beads, chain, and findings. (Somehow one of my jump rings didn't wind up in the picture.) 

The beaded chain was created by adding each of the beads to an eye pin, creating a simple loop on each of them, and connecting the loops to one another. Oh, and you can see the cleaned-up hole of the pendant above.

To assemble the necklace, the larger jump rings were attached to the pendant and then to the beaded chain.  The simple loops at the ends of the beaded chain were opened and connected to the brass chain. And, the clasp was fastened to that chain via jump rings to finish the necklace. 

I decided to make the necklace fairly simple because that pendant is the real star of the show, don't you think?

If you have any questions about any part of this process (creating the pendant or even creating the necklace), please don't hesitate to ask. I'm always happy to spread the creativity.

I've shared this at the following link parties: Fall into Fall at DIY by Design, Recipe & DIY Linky at The Sway, and Too Cute Tuesday and Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Handmade Hangout, Friday Frenzy, From Dream to Reality, Saturday Sparks, and Sweet Inspiration.