How to DIY the Perfect Summer Necklace

A little tutorial for my fellow mermaids.

A few summers ago, I had a necklace stuck in my head. It was from the designer Sophie Buhai’s fine jewelry collection: an 18K gold nautilus shell pendant strung on a thick piece of black silk rope cord. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, no matter how hard I tried. And I did try, because it cost $8,400 — very much outside my budget for whimsical jewelry purchases — but every time I got dressed I would think to myself, you know what would make this outfit 10x better? That necklace!!!!!

My DIY masterpiece

So I decided to try making it. By the time I finished, I’d spent a grand total of $45, and the final result looked pretty close to the real deal. Keep reading to see how I did it.

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Step 1: Find your shell brooch

1. Vintage Trifari gold sea shell brooch, $19.99 / 2. Vintage R.J. Graziano brooch lot (this comes with a coordinating nautilus, so it’s a two-for-one brooch special!), $64.72 / 3. Vintage gold Carolee shell brooch, $35 / 4. Another vintage Trifari gold sea shell brooch, $39.99 / 5. Vintage shell brooch with interior pearl, $35

To find my brooch a few years ago, I searched for variations of “gold shell brooch,” “gold nautilus brooch,” and “gold snail brooch” before identifying one that suited my criteria on eBay. I used these same keywords to curate the above assortment. You can’t go wrong with a nautilus, but I’m also obsessed with the clamshell that opens up to reveal a pearl. Any shell-adjacent, mermaid-esque pin will do.

Step 2: Procure some black rope cord and cut it to your desired length

If you do a cursory search for black rope cord, most of the options you’re going to see are in the 3 - 4mm range. I wanted something more substantial. I ended up finding this Etsy shop that sells 3/8” cord, which is around 9.5mm. Bingo! I cut mine to a 16-inch length.

Step 3: Glue on a column magnet to make the clasp

I bought this one from Amazon. Fair warning: it’s made of brass and has tarnished quite a bit since I wear the necklace so often, but that doesn’t really bother me since it’s always behind my neck. I used a hot glue gun to attach it to my cord.

Step 4: Pin your brooch to the cord, et voila…

The perfect summer necklace! Although personally, I wear mine year-round.

xo Harling

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Graphic design by Paige Enslow Stewart.