How to make an adjustable ring from vintage junk jewelry parts

As a vintage jewelry reseller, I often come across broken jewelry when I buy in bulk. Usually, I create junk lots to sell or simply donate craft bags to my local thrift store, but I sometimes harvest pieces for my personal projects. When it comes to DIY endeavors, my latest hyperfixation is making adjustable rings from junk jewelry after being inspired by vintage resellers on Whatnot putting their creations up for sale. 

It’s not very hard to make adjustable rings. There aren’t outstanding barriers to entry when it comes to required skill or money. You can basically make them if you have small pieces with smooth surfaces, and the materials themselves don’t cost very much. I also love adjustable rings because I can wear them on different fingers and play around with new trends. Plus, as someone with an incorrigible habit of losing jewelry, it’s no big deal if I misplace an adjustable ring made from junk jewelry. 

Anyway, I wanted to spread the love by sharing how I make adjustable rings. Besides junk jewelry, you won’t need much more than epoxy glue and ring blanks! 

What you need to make adjustable rings

Putting together an adjustable ring isn’t so hard, but your materials can make or break your crafting experience. I think the bulk of my blog will focus on just that: the materials. 

Adjustable ring blanks

You can find adjustable ring blanks on Etsy, Michael’s, and other online craft sites such as Fire Mountain Gems and Beads. Personally, I use these gold and silver stainless steel ones from Amazon, but there are definitely cheaper options out there. These blanks feature a smooth setting surface to work with, and the sides can take quite a bit of bending.

J-B Weld ClearWeld Epoxy Glue

I’m simply not welding metal, so epoxy glue is my go-to adhesive. J-B Weld ClearWeld Epoxy Glue is, hands down, my favorite glue for ring making, and you can find it at most hardware and craft stores, if not online. I initially used Gorilla’s epoxy glue, but I found that the glue sometimes didn’t cure correctly and left behind a goopy mess. It also stinks to high heaven. J-B Weld’s formula, on the flip side, cures relatively quickly—in about an hour or so—and doesn’t have a super strong odor. 

I do own B-7000/E-6000 glues, but I’m skeptical about using them because those formulas tend to have a flexible finish, and I’m looking for a strong hold when I’m making rings.

Pliers

You don’t need fancy pliers to make adjustable rings. I have a basic jewelry tool set with round nose pliers, chain nose pliers, and wire cutters. I find this trio sufficient for breaking apart jewelry to retrieve junk parts. If you have a small sharp piece from a clip-on hinge or earring post, sandpaper comes in handy for smoothing down surfaces. That said, I do find that these pieces pop off pretty easily on their own without much prying or sanding!

Junk jewelry

Button covers

I only learned about button covers this year. Basically, people use them to hide their boring clear buttons for a little extra pizzazz—they look best at the top button on your collar. To use them for your rings, all you have to do is pry off the back with pliers. I love button covers because they’re usually inexpensive and readily available when they’re available at a thrift store—no one, at least in my local area, is really collecting them. You can also buy inexpensive lots online on eBay. 

Clip-on earrings

You’d be surprised at how many singleton clip-on earring lots are out there! I’m a huge fan of the ‘50s to ‘80s cluster earring look and sometimes find beautiful pieces that aren’t in good enough condition to sell or wear. With clip ons, try your best to sand down the hinge so that it doesn’t leave a sharp edge against your finger. I made this ring from a broken Paparazzi clip-on earring. 

Broken posted earrings

Post earrings can work better for ring making because all you have to do is snip off the post and sand it down. Sometimes, the post comes right off without any special effort. The caveat is that you want to use an earring big enough to cover your ring blank—just keep in mind that modern post earrings are small.

Pendants

Pendants are easy to use for ring making because they’re typically already smooth, but they might require extra work to look nice as a ring setting. Of course, you want to find a pendant that makes sense as a ring setting—a lot of pendants are either miniscule or extra chunky. Additionally, you might want to remove the jump ring or sand away the chain holder for a more seamless finish. I imagine that you could also get creative with how you want to fill in the jump ring hole. I just leave it alone.  

Small bracelet panels

My mom hoards junk jewelry for jewelry making and lamp making, and one thing she thinks to save that I don’t is bracelet panels. I love making rings out of chunky acrylic rhinestone bracelet panels because they offer a fun cocktail ring kind of look—these are from her craft jewelry collection. Panel backs are also typically smooth, so you have an easy surface to adhere to the blank.

How to make an adjustable ring from vintage jewelry

The actual assembly of an adjustable ring is simple. You can have a little Ford assembly line of junk jewelry adjustable rings going in a jiffy! 

Step 1: Gather and prep your materials.

In this step, you’ll want to pick out your ring setting, whether it’s a clip-on earring or button cover. You want to prepare it so that the back surface is smooth. This might mean prying off a hinge or cover with a pair of pliers and then sanding down any rough edges. 

If you don’t know where your junk jewelry came from, you might also want to give it a bath with gentle soap and water or wipe it down with a Sani-Wipe. Just don’t go overboard—costume jewelry is fragile, and cleaning it too rigorously might cause rhinestones to fall out and colors to fade. Make sure all your materials are dry before you start gluing things. 

Step 2: Prepare your Epoxy glue.

As I’ve mentioned above, my go-to choice for gluing junk jewelry onto ring blanks is epoxy glue. Most epoxy glue comes with two tubes or a double syringe. Squeeze out equal amounts of the resin and hardener, then stir them together with a stick of some sort—my go to is a wooden cuticle pusher, but you could also use popsicle sticks. Some glues even come with a little spatula for mixing. I like to mix for about one minute.

Obviously, use a scrap piece of paper to mix your glue. Here, I used the back of a label. Don’t apply epoxy glue directly onto a table surface, my friends.  

Step 3: Apply the glue to your ring blank.

I find it easiest to just add a dollop of glue onto the ring blank rather than the setting piece. Apply your piece of junk jewelry by pressing it down for a few seconds. I go with at least 30 seconds for extra security. The formula that I use takes about 5 minutes to set and 1 hour to fully cure. I still give my rings about a day (or 24 hours) to sit before I start wearing them. If I have other rings that I want to make, I go back in with the mixed-together glue if it hasn’t hardened yet. 

And that’s all there is to it! I hope y’all were inspired to start making fun rings of your own. I’m a crafty person but not really one who is capable of finesse. If I can do this, you can, too!