Charlotte, that’s a lovely idea! I’m sure your daughter would love that.

Start by gathering up whatever focal element(s) you would like to use for your project. I had already dried my flowers. Then I picked the colour swatch that I thought would enhance them best. Maybe you could use your daughter’s favourite colour.

Colour swatches usually have a hole at the top, which is great, but I also punched a hole at the bottom so that I could hang something from there. I recommend this as a way to add weight to the piece, as well as interest. The swatches are very light. It also helps keep the swatch from warping.

I dabbed 10k gold-coloured paint on the back of the swatch with my finger, since the back was white, to add an interesting finish there. You can also use the back to write something to your daughter, or date it and sign it. Additionally, you can glue a metal piece to the centre of the back, for instance a piece of filigree metal, to add stability to the swatch and keep it from warping.

Lay your focal elements out on the swatch, then find any other elements you might need to complete the picture. You want to lay everything out before you start gluing anything.

I glued the dried flowers and butterfly wings (my focal elements) on using a white glue called Bead Enhance that I got on clearance at Michaels, and which I use for gluing my crystals on lace. You could use other glues, but I wouldn’t recommend a hot glue gun for this delicate work.

I used a clear sealer to protect the dried flowers and butterfly wings – you can use a sealer that you brush on (can be bought at Michaels or other craft stores), or you can use clear nail polish, if you choose to use fragile natural elements. I covered the dried flowers, the butterfly wings and the whole swatch, but not the other embellishments that I added afterwards. Use just enough to get the coverage you need, though. If you get the swatch too wet with sealer or paint, it can start to warp, if you haven’t added a backing. If it does, gently bend it back when it’s dry. Keep in mind too that sealer will change the colour of dried flowers, if you use them. You might want to try brushing on a bit of sealer to one before you glue them on, to make sure you’re happy with how it will look You could also use small silk/everlasting flowers.

When the sealer was dry I glued on the other embellishments – metal butterfly, fabric flower, crystals, etc. Those don’t need to be sealed. I dabbed a tiny bit of gold paint onto the front of the yellow swatch as well in a couple of places.

I decided to glue a chain around the edges of the swatch, to complete it and make it look like a picture.

Once this is dry, you can add your bails or jump rings and decide what you will hang your pendant off of (chain, bead strand, cord, ribbon, etc.) and what you will hang from the bottom. You may want to decide this before gluing your pendant as well.

Hope this helps! Have fun creating for this special time!

You do have to make sure you do the piece in such a way that the swatch doesn’t warp. Mine started to because I used a fair amount of glaze, and used gold paint on the back of the swatch. I had to gently bend it back into shape and hang something with a good amount of weight from the bottom of it. You could also use a metal backing on the back to hold the shape, I just didn’t have anything appropriate.

One nice thing about these is, even if you don’t use your colour swatches to go shopping with, if you pick ones for yourself that really are your favourite colours, and truly look good on you, you have pieces of jewellery that really complement you. In my case, the yellow one especially! And you can always sell the other ones, lol!

And second, turning your color swatches into jewelry is a brilliant way to use them. Thank you for sharing! 🙂