Your Next Necklace, Ac-CORD-ing To Me

You may have caught a post here last month featuring a neon rope and brass necklace. This spring, I'm loving that casual yet interesting approach to accessories but when I started my search for a casual rope necklace, I discovered a world full of $400+ necklaces made out of cord. Seriously?? For that much, I'll get something real (and tiny) from Tiffany... 

Enter the need for a DIY project. It was refreshing to see a good-looking piece made by hand for less than $30 on Honestly WTF. I set out last weekend to tackle the project and document my results for you...

What you'll need:

3 mm cord 

(I bought mine at Lowe's but it is also available at REI.)

12-15 brass compression sleeves- 3/8" 

(Guess what- that's a plumbing piece...not hardware...who knew?)

.8-1 mm chinese knotting cord

(These suckers are called all kinds of weird things but I found some at Hobby Lobby or you can buy online.)

12 mm x 16 mm brass cord end caps

(Could only find online.)

2-3 jump rings

1 lobster clasp

gel super glue

scissors

needle nose pliers 

First, cut your cord to 32" length. I wanted to make three concentric (lack of a better word?) necklaces so I cut mine at 32", 30" and 28". I used about six lengths for one necklace.

Slide compression sleeves down the cord. Space as desired.

Tightly wrap knotting cord starting underneath a compression sleeve and upward. Super glue it on the ends and cleverly disguise bead with the compression sleeve. The knotting cord helps secure the rope to prevent puckering and such when you wear it. 

After you've done all of your desired wrapping, trim the fuzzy ends of the cord. Place a bead of super glue inside an end cap and place it on the ends of the rope. Let it set for a few seconds. You may have to add extra glue if pieces start popping out of the cap. 

Place jump rings through the holes on the end caps and secure with pliers. Add lobster clasp through one jump ring and VOILA!

Three fun rope necklaces NOT for $400! Are they the absolute neatest, most perfect pieces ever? Certainly not. But practice makes perfect and they'll look better the more you make them. For ten percent of the retail cost of others, I think I'm okay with a little imperfection.

What about you? Do you like this look? Would you try this DIY?