Making Souvenir Jewelry with Smashed Pennies

Recently I was in Knoxville for work but was able to do some sight seeing and picked up a few smashed pennies to remember my adventures. I am sure most of you have a pile of smashed pennies from all of the different places you have gone. They are a great idea when you are on your adventures but then what do you do with them when you get home?

I will show you how to make a necklace and bracelet out of smashed pennies so that you can always remember your fun adventures. By turning these pennies into jewelry you can remember the adventures you had while working your day job. It may help you to work harder to get to your next vacation!

Supplies for Smashed Pennies Jewelry:

• Smashed Pennies
• Patina Paint
• Soft Bristle Brush
• Hole Punch
• Beadalon finding packs
• Chain
• Vintaj Reliefing Block

How to make Smashed Pennies Jewelry:

Before you start this project you will want to wash off the pennies. There could be oils on them from your hands or others touching them. You can use simple Dawn dish soap to remove the oils. By removing the oils you are giving the paint a better surface to stick to and last longer.

Pennies are copper and with the impression of images on them they make the perfect canvas for adding paint. I used patina paint but because they are copper you could use liver of sulfur to patina the pennies. Using the patina paints give the image definition. I used a soft bristle brush to apply the paint and then after it dried I used a Vintaj reliefing block to remove the paint from the raised areas.

Many times when I do a project using patina paint I get the question about sealing it. Honestly I usually get so excited about the project that I forget to seal it. You can use an acrylic varnish or whatever you want. Vintaj has a great sealer that comes in matte or gloss finish.

As I worked the bracelet I bent the penny slightly so that it would form to my wrist better. I decided to use a vintage watch band for my bracelet. This made the construction of the piece super easy and functional. For the necklace I added some chain fringe on the bottom for interest. To punch the holes in the penny I used my twist punch. You can get a great punch from Urban Beader.

After my pendant was finished I added it to a long chain necklace. I really like having my long chain necklaces with a lobster clasp that can be worn in the front so that I can switch out different pendants. It allows me to change my jewelry any time I want.

I hope that you can make some beautiful jewelry with your smashed pennies. If you make anything please share them with all of us on my Facebook page. Be sure to join me most week days, unless I am traveling, at 2:30pm EST for a Facebook Live project.