Lucky Penny Charm Bracelet DIY (Video!)

The "Crafty Christmas" handmade gifts sale is running full-blast at Felicitous right now, and it is going great! I spent so much time the last few months crafting like crazy to prepare for it, and things are selling quickly.

Along with the annual favorites (T-shirt Journals and Geeky Earrings), I also made these super simple "Lucky Penny" charm bracelets--I used pennies from 1980-2005 since Felicitous is mainly a college hangout for the University of South Florida. 

I was not confident that these would be a hit, but to my surprise they are one of the most popular items from the sale so far.

---

Making a Lucky Penny Charm Bracelet is super simple, and it makes the perfect Christmas gift or stocking stuffer for almost anyone you know who wears bracelets: give your mom a bracelet with a penny for each of her children's birth years, your lovey a penny from the year you met/wed, or just give anyone a bracelet with the year they were born. The hardest part is sorting through your change jar/couch cushions/car to find the right penny.

Because this is such a simple project, I dressed up the how-to presentation a bit by making a little instructional video. I hope it makes this quick project more fun for you.

Tools and Materials

TOOLS:
two pairs of jewelry pliers
drill
small drill bit (big enough for a jump ring to go through and have a bit of wiggle room)

MATERIALS:
copper-colored chain
copper-colored jewelry clasp
cooper-colored jump ring
penny of significance
scrap wood

I was able to find packs of copper-colored chain, clasps, and jump rings at JoAnn's in a weird box full of miscellaneous findings marked "Sea Chest $1.99/each." They don't even turn your skin green (unless you have some sort of allergy--then you will probably turn lots of colors).

Drill Baby Drill

Set your lucky penny on a scrap of wood. If you are a safety-minded person, use a clamp to hold the penny in place. If you are unsafe like I am, just hold onto it really well with your fingers. Drill a hole through the penny to the left of Lincoln's head.

Make the Bracelet

Snip a bit of chain to bracelet size. Use your pliers to attach the clasp pieces to each end of the chain. If the links in your chain are not soldered, you can open the link on the end of each chain, thread the clasps on, and close the links. If your chain links are soldered use jump rings. 

Clasp the bracelet and hold up by the clasp to find the center chain link of the bracelet.

Add the Lucky Penny

Thread a jump ring through your lucky penny and through the center link of your bracelet, then close the jump ring with your jewelry pliers.

All Done!