How to Make DIY Charm Necklaces

DIY charm necklaces are a great gift idea for friends and family. They are easy to make and meaningful because you can personalize them. This DIY is also inexpensive! In this post you’ll learn how to make these simple and cute DIY charm necklaces.

This post contains affiliate links, meaning I may earn a small commission if you were to purchase any of the items linked at no additional cost to you. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

If you have multiple women to purchase gifts for, this is a great gift idea. This DIY gift can cost as little as $3 – $5 per necklace!

How to Make DIY Charm Necklaces

Here are all the supplies and steps you will need to make these charm necklaces.

Supplies Needed To Make Charm Necklaces

• Gold chain necklaces
• Charms
• Split rings (optional)
• Jewelry Pliers (optional)

Split rings are optional here, you can be particular with your purchases and skip that step altogether. The pliers will also only be needed if you have to attach split rings to your charms.

Selecting Necklace Chains

Buying your chains in a bulk pack will be the most cost efficient. I selected these gold chains from Amazon. They are stainless steel, so they should be more resistant to discoloration.

You’ll want to look for dainty chains so you can easily add the charms.

I had high hopes for the quality of these necklaces. However, I am truthfully a little disappointed. The chains do feel fairly cheap and a couple of the clasps that came in the set do not work, making two necklaces unusable.

Here is a guide for necklace lengths for your reference. I purchased 18″ chains which will fall in the middle of your chest.

Selecting Charms

Selecting the charms is the most difficult part of creating charm necklaces. I decided I wanted to place three charms on the chain. This just seemed like a good amount of charms to me.

What is important for this gift is to make it personalized. This DIY gift idea isn’t meant to be an easy way to replicate a necklace you can buy, even though you can totally do that!

The easiest way to select the charms is to pick them all out at a craft store, and make sure they all have split rings. If I were to do this all again I would go to JoAnn’s Fabrics and pick out all the charms there. They have a good selection and they frequently have their jewelry supplies on sale.

Initial Charms

Jewelry with your initial on it, or even your full name, has been very popular the last couple of years.

I did a lot of searching for alphabet charms and struggled with finding a font I liked. I can be a borderline font snob. If it looks too close to Comic Sans I don’t want any part of it.

These are the letter charms I purchased, they are from Amazon. However, if these would have been in stock at my local JoAnn store I would have purchased them there.

These charms did not come with split rings so I had to add them.

Jewel Charms

These necklaces needed a little color and sparkle. I selected this set of charms from JoAnn’s.

Miscellaneous Charms

For the third charms you can do whatever you want! I initially planned to either add birth stones as the third charm or one charm that would be liked by everyone. I was thinking something like a medallion, a lock or a key charm.

Then, I found this set of charms on Amazon and I thought there were so many options for my friends and family! What I like about these charms is that they are adding another layer of thoughtfulness. Each necklace will be different and you can select each charm for the recipient.

For example, I know my mom loves deer so I am going to put the cute little deer charm on her necklace. If you have a Harry Potter fan, there is a Deathly Hallows symbol in this set as well!

The only downside to this set is that you will need to attach split rings to these charms to get them onto the chain.

How to Attach a Split Ring

Attaching split rings is really simple! All you have to do is open up the ring with some pliers and then put the ring on the charm. Then you can squeeze the ring shut with the pliers.

The image below is an example of a split ring. The key charm did not come with the ring, but it is needed it to be put on the necklace.

Wrapping Your Charm Necklaces

Since you made these and they didn’t come in a pretty little box, you might want to consider how these will be presented.

Consider getting some little bags and/or small gift boxes to improve the presentation of your gift. These are the ones I bought.

Another thing to consider is adding a personalized note! Something like, “I made this necklace just for you! I selected this seashell charm because it reminds me of the time we went on vacation and walked along the beach.” I’m making this up, but hopefully you get what I’m saying. People love notes and understanding the thoughtfulness behind the gift.

Other DIY Gift Inspiration

I hope this post has inspired you. If you’re looking for more inspiration, check out these other DIY blog posts:

• DIY Pearl Hoop Earrings
• Personalized Makeup Bags

Thanks for reading!

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