My daughter loves jewelry of all kinds, and when you combine that with her immense love of dolls, you get crazy levels of excitement. I headed out to see what I could find to make matching necklaces for her and her doll and in the process came home with a bag full of stuff that I started crafting with. Read on to see four different ways to make matching necklaces for your girl and her doll.
A simple beaded necklace.
This one is simple because you only need two different sized beads {both the exact same color}, some elastic, string, or wire to string it on, and clasps for both necklaces. Whenever our dolls come with a necklace or we buy them as part of outfits or accessories, I always make a matching one for my girl using the same color beads.
This became our tradition, and now we make lots of beaded necklaces for our dolls each year. We picked up these letter beads because my daughter loves to make the dolls their own personalized jewelry and this is a good way to go since it’s so easy to make a new one if she wants to change her doll’s name.
Charm on a chain.
I found these adorable silhouette pieces in two different sizes merely by accident. Michaels had some necklace and earring charm sets on sale and I picked one up without even realizing that it would make the perfect doll and me necklaces until I got home.
Now that I’ve learned the tip of necklace/earring sets, I love to hunt at craft stores for matching jewelry pieces and then put them on matching chains or ropes. If you buy the large package of chain, it’s super easy to use pliers to add clasps and that way you can make them whatever size you would like.
Natural stone and leather.
My kiddos are obsessed with the American Girl Josefina doll {which ironically we don’t own, so I’m doing a little DIY version here and always looking for accessories I can use for Josefina}. I wanted to make a fun leather and stone matching set for my daughter’s upcoming birthday and knew I wanted a turquoise theme. I picked up a pre-done leather bracelet and necklace set at Hobby Lobby and then got natural stone charms from their jewelry section, but it’s fairly simple to add clasps to leather strands and make them yourself.
I just loved that the sizes worked out perfect for a necklace and bracelet. If you were really feeling like hunting, I bet you could find some amazing necklace and bracelet sets on clearance at just about any department store and they would also work well for dollie and me jewelry.
The only thing I really needed to do to make these necklaces was to uncrimp the large jump ring and put it on the leather and then re-crimp it. We’re talking a 3 minute DIY that looks gorgeous and didn’t cost a ton.
Friendship bracelets and necklaces made of string.
My daughter makes friendship bracelets faster than I can say “what is all this string doing on the floor?”, so her first foray into doll necklaces was braiding them herself and then creating matching ones for her to wear. This is just about the cheapest and easiest way to make doll jewelry, and I love that the kids can do it all by themselves.
We buy embroidery floss for our bracelets and necklaces, and my daughter alternates between braiding and crocheting her styles. But you can learn tons of new ways to make string bracelets in the Mermaid Tail Creativity for Kids jewelry maker {and bonus, it comes with a handy holder to make friendship bracelets even easier as well as charms for you and your doll!}
I hope you’re inspired to make your own dollie and me jewelry for your girl and doll – there are so many ways to do it and it doesn’t have to cost a ton!
While we’re talking fun with your doll – if you are near American Girl stores this summer, you should check out all the fun they have scheduled. Check their retail store list here to find the closest one. Our store is hosting the American Girl Seattle Book Club and Movie Night at American Girl all summer long and we are so incredibly excited to attend!
A fun & easy craft, love it!