Remember those sweet candy necklaces and bracelets you enjoyed as a kid?
Well, we’ve brought them back, better than ever. Our quick and easy DIY version uses all-natural chewing gum for the “beads.” With Glee Gum, you can feel good knowing that your candy jewelry has been made without plastics or chemicals. That’s more than can be said for most jewelry out there, candy or otherwise!
Surprisingly, we wore these necklaces all day and experienced no melting, color transfer, or similar issues. We were pleasantly surprised with their resilience! Of course, we recommend that you use your best judgement depending on what else you’re wearing.
To begin, assemble your ingredients.
Pick out the gum colors and flavors of your choice. Here, we used our Bulk – or should we say, party-sized – tubes of Classic Glee Gum, but naturally you can use gum from boxes or pouches, too.
Tools you’ll need:
– embroidery floss
– a needle with an eye big enough to thread embroidery floss*
– scissors
– a thick pad of paper, notebook, or cardboard
*We used a quilting needle (similar to this one) that we happened to have on hand. You can use a shorter needle as well, but may a longer one makes the process easier.
Consider how big you’d like your bracelet or necklace to be. Cut the thread so that the strand is at least a few inches longer than that, to give you some wiggle room. Then thread the needle and tie a knot at one end, leaving extra thread after the knot. Place a piece of gum down on the pad or notebook, and pierce the candy coating from one side. Flip the needle over, so that the eye of the needle is against the pad. Push the piece of gum down the length of the needle. If the candy coating cracks a little, don’t worry; that happens. It may take a few tries to get it right!
Once you’ve filled your necklace or bracelet with as many gum “beads” as you’d like, make a final knot and tie both ends together with the loose threads. Snip off any excess thread as needed. Le voilà!
Variations: you can mix up the colors and style all different ways, and color coordinate your design with any outfit. For a mod look, try threading just a few pieces and keeping the length long. This makes for a cute, chunky necklace. Bracelet and anklet versions work great, too!
Another way to change it up: double thread the needle. Thread a couple pieces of gum, and then tie a knot afterwards.
Leave about an inch or so of space, tie another knot, and thread a couple more pieces of gum.
Have fun and shine on! And, be sure to tag us in any pics you post so that we can admire your beautiful creations. We can’t wait to see you sparkle!
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