The Almost DIY: Honeycomb Necklace

I like the hexagonal shape of hex nuts and thought I could form interesting shapes with them to create a pendant. And I did…but it also didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to. [Sigh.]

SUPPLIES

• Hex nuts (I used ¼ inch size)
• Super glue
• Pliers
• Scissors
• Ribbon (I used 3/8 inch size)
• Ribbon clamp ends
• Jump rings
• Clasp

DIRECTIONS

— 1 —

Arrange the hex nuts in the desired design.

— 2 —

Glue the hex nuts together. It may be easiest to glue a couple of them together, wait for it to harden a bit and then glue a couple more together. Once all of the hex nuts are glued together, let the glue dry (I let mine dry over night).

Try to remove any excess glue, whether while gluing or after the glue has dried.

— 3 —

Cut a length of ribbon. (Mine was a total of 18 inches long, but see how long you want the length of the necklace to be and double it.)

— 4 —

Thread the ribbon through a hex nut, and even the ends. If necessary, cut the ribbon to the desired length.

— 5 —

Attach the ribbon clamp to the ribbon ends. (I added some glue to the inside of the ribbon clamp so the ribbon would stay in place better before I closed the clamp with pliers.)

— 6 —

Repeat Steps 3-5 for the second ribbon end.

— 7 —

Attach clasp to the ribbon ends. Honeycomb Necklace complete.

Note: Depending on what you have on hand, use chain or cord to string the honeycomb pendant instead of ribbon.

After I created this necklace I wanted to see how sturdy the finished pendant was, and found out that if I tried to break the glued hex nuts apart, they broke (which was unfortunate). The pendant held okay together unless pressure was applied, so this is an almost DIY project because it almost works. In theory this pendant could work, assuming the glue you use is stronger than the one I used or perhaps if you used a lighter material than metal for the hex nuts.

Warning: I bought several sizes of hex nuts, and although they were the same brand, the box I bought had a warning on it that the bags did not. The warning states: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. It doesn’t specify the chemicals used, but if this warning concerns you then just be aware when you’re buying metal hex nuts, or try finding a replacement for the metal hex nuts (e.g. plastic or ceramic ones), or don’t do this project.