DIY Nautical Anchor Necklace and Earring Set Tutorial

Just in time for summer's end (sorry guys, but these would make great Christmas presents!), I have a DIY Nautical Anchor Necklace and Earring Set tutorial. It's really easy, and can be customized to whatever length and spacing you like.

I purchased silver anchor charms on Etsy that were a good size (about an inch or less), and I made sure they had a hole at the top for a jump ring and another hole somewhere on the bottom for another jump ring. You could definitely purchase ones with only a top hole, however, and just have them dangle off instead of being connected on both sides with chain. As you'll see close-up later, I did this with the bottom-most anchors of each chain, to make them pendants.

I had silver chain from another project sitting around, so I used it for these pieces as well. The chain I used has small links and is pretty delicate, but if you want something bolder, go for it!

I like long necklaces, so I made my outermost one about 33 inches, and the inner necklace about 27.5 inches.

I used pieces of twine to choose the lengths, then laid out each piece of twine in a straight line on a flat surface to plan my necklace. I found the center point of each and marked it for the hanging anchors, and then measured 5 inch lengths on either side and marked those. I laid out my anchors and jump rings next to these markings, so that the bottom jump ring would fall at the 5" mark. This would leave 5" of chain from the bottom of the anchor to the pendant. I found this method - using rounded lengths of chain - to be easier when it came time to measure and cut the chain. Then I wouldn't have to subtract half of the anchor and jump ring length, or measure strange lengths.

Based on laying out my anchors and jump rings, I then measured 5" lengths from the top jump rings to figure out where the next anchor would go. For the outer necklace, I ended up with two anchors (4 total) on either side of the pendant, and one anchor (2 total) for the inner necklace.

I used fewer on the inner, even though I ended up having about 7.5 inches of chain on each side going up to the clasp (instead of 5") because I didn't want anchors rubbing against my collarbone area. However, you could make the inner necklace have two anchors on either side if you wanted. Use whatever spacing you like as well!

I then cut my lengths of chain, and attached them between the anchors using pliers and the jump rings.

Here's a close-up of one of the hanging anchor pendants.

Here's what the bottom parts of each chain look like. At the top part of necklace, for the clasp, I attached both the inner and outer necklace chains to one jump ring on each side and then attached these rings to the clasp. Make sure your chains don't get twisted as you do this!

Since I had leftover charms and still more chain, I made matching earrings. The longer chain length is about 1.75", and the shorter piece is about 1". Again, you can customize this part depending on your personal taste and style!

Even though I used anchors here, you could use a variety of charms (or even mix and match). Crosses, ship's captain's wheels, little bows, Celtic knots. You could change the metal color as well, especially to rose gold or a nice warm bronze for fall.

How would you customize this?