Anthropology Inspired Charm Necklace

My pal Kelly called me up to tell me about a hobby she picked up when she accidentally entered a store near her house-jewelry.  I've accidentally picked up a lot of hobbies this way, but I had been wanting to try my hand at jewelry making for awhile, so this was good timing.  It's an unexplored piece of my world.   The great thing about necklaces is that they fit, no matter what you had for dinner the day before. 

She took a couple classes, and we made plans to get together.  She taught me some really cool techniques I'll blog about soon.  After my tutorial, I showed her this necklace from Anthropology I was in love with...

*Image from Anthropology website

I did not love the price (almost 300 dollars), or that weird tooth looking thingie in the middle.  I saw this tutorial at Flamingo Toes for making your own....oh my!  I went to Hobby Lobby, and Michaels, collected some beads and charms, and got to work.  The hardest part of the whole project was finding the charms I wanted. 

I laid out the beads in the order I wanted them to go. 

I bought these little circle thingies, and attached them to each charm (like little key rings), and then attached those little ring thingies to the necklace using needle nose pliers. 

I bought a long chain, and I pulled off part of it for the second row, and attached charms every three circles on the chain. 

I attached the smaller swoop to the necklace using more of those circle/wannabe keychain ring things. 

Hobby Lobby sells charms half off just about every other week, they were only about a dollar each.  I bought a few more at Michaels, like the middle piece, and some of the number pieces. 

It wasn't cheap to get all the beads, though I got most of them on sale, but it certainly was nowhere near that $300 necklace that stole my heart.  I attached findings to the end of the necklace using more of my circle things.  I might be a little obsessed with jewelry making now....11 more steps to go until I'm cured.