I once made some earrings from recycled washers from a decommissioned instrument. These cannot be reused and it seemed such a shame to throw them away. So if you are eco minded or just love the industrial look, then hardware jewelry is for you.


Many artisans have already gone down that route. As you can see from Chic Steals' tutorial, all it requires is a good eye for possibilities. In her case, she used brass compression nuts and straight couplings from the plumbing section for her bold necklace above. In her excellent blog post, she wrote about the runway designs which inspired her and the funny conversation she had with a male customer at the checkout.

WASHERS
There are different types of metals used - zinc, stainless steel, copper, brass are some common ones.  Also remember to keep the smooth side of washers against your skin, not the rough one.

1.Stringing/weaving
Blue Cricket design's tutorial weaves a whole bunch of washers together with an easy ribbon tie. It's hard to believe it is hardware store material, isn't it?

2.Stamping
Washers are just perfect for stamping! Brittney Walker's tutorial has all the instructions you need.

3.Wire Wrapping
JesseJov's video tutorial shows wirewrapping beads around a large washer to make a really neat pendant.



4. Paper decoration
Not keen on wire wrapping? Cathie and Steve have a really easy washer tutorial video which shows you how to decorate this donut with scrapbook paper and diamond glaze. Smaller washers will make super earrings!





Not everything at a hardware store is industrial looking. Bigmouth over at Craftster found flower rosette washers used in mounting wall mirrors to be perfect for her Girly Hardware Flower Brooch.



The washers and loops tutorial by Cynthia over at Shiny Little Things is not strictly a hardware store project as the washers are special ceramic glazed beads. But one could easily imagine using real washers together with the loops of Softflex wire.






METAL COILS
 Impybat's tutorial on Cut Out and Keep will have you going to the electrical section of the hardware store!The focal in her necklace is a metal coil




COPPER PIPES
Geltdesigns' tutorial makes use of copper pipe for the main necklace portion. Charms could then be added.
Belinda Spiwak's approach is totally different. Her eclectic copper pipe based bracelet tutorial is fun and funky!

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