Since I’m the resident DIY writer around here, it should be no surprise that I  l-o-v-e to make gifts for the holiday season. It’s nice to know that whatever I gift will be 100% unique and, as clichéd as it may sound, each gift is imbued with a little bit of personalized love.

During the Black Friday weekend, I snagged these two lovely rhinestone necklaces from H&M with no idea on how I wanted to transform them into something new. Shall I make a pair of statement earrings? Shall I make fancy-schmancy brooches? What about shoulder epaulettes? The possibilities were endless!

After some tinkering around, I came up with this über-simple DIY that shows you how to transform any two pendant necklaces into a knock-out belt. It makes for an awesome gift for a friend or family member, and, of course, you can also have it be a “gift” to yourself.  Scroll down to get right to the tutorial:

Table of Contents

Materials

• 2 pendant necklaces, preferably ones that have a long chain
• Small lobster clasp closure (or other type of clasp, depending on the aesthetic you prefer)
• Jewelry pliers, both round-nose and flat-nose
• A small safety pin or a long ribbon (This will vary depending on chain length, see step 5 to learn more.)

Step One

Necklaces from Charlotte Russe: 1, 2, 3

The above diagram will help you to determine the orientation of your necklace. How you want your necklace (i.e. keep necklace chain in current position/switch chain position) determines which steps to take.

Step Two

I wanted to switch the placement of the necklace chain, so I first disassembled the necklace from its chain. To do this, simply locate the jump ring that attaches the necklace to the chain, and pry it open with jewelry pliers. (Here’s a gif that shows you how!)