Jewelry making has been a great hobby for several of my Girl Scouts. We’ve done the Jeweler badge as Juniors and have worked our way through the retired Jewelry interest project as Cadettes.
We are blessed to have a local public library with great programs through the summer reading program and year-round. Today we tapped into a geode jewelry workshop that I thought would be great for Girl Scout troops to recreate in a troop setting, particularly if you’re working on the Jeweler badge.
The project took approximately one hour to complete. You can see some examples of the jewelry, including how the bases look attached to the back, below.
What You’ll Need to Make Geode Jewelry:
- Geodes
- Hammer
- Newsprint to lay under and over the geodes to protect small pieces from flying
- Safety glasses (you can buy them inexpensively in bulk)
- Jewelry glue
- Jewelry findings (such as earring backs and posts, ring bases, necklace cord, blank pendants)
- Small plates to store pieces while you’re working
- Baggies for girls to take home completed projects
How to Make Geode Jewelry
The first step to making geode jewelry is the most therapeutic part. It’s crushing the geodes!
To crush the geodes, it’s best to go outdoors on a firm surface like concrete. Layer newspaper under and over the geodes to protect small pieces from flying everywhere and to limit damage underneath.
Basically, you’re going to beat out all your frustrations to open the unassuming geode to see the treasure inside.
Keep hammering until the rock cracks, and then you can continue hammering the pieces to shape them into smaller, more usable pieces for jewelry.
Once the geodes are crushed into a small enough size for jewelry embellishments, you’ll use jewelry glue and findings to complete your pieces.
Geode Earrings
Use your jewelry glue to adhere small segments of geode onto the back of the earring.
Note that the jewelry glue can take up to an hour to set up and up to 24 hours to fully dry. (That’s important to note for girls who are excited about wearing their new earrings! My daughter happily wore hers the next morning, without the glue being fully dry, and the geode fell off the earring, to her disappointment.)
Geode Rings
Use your jewelry glue to adhere small segments of geode onto the base of the ring.
Note that the jewelry glue can take up to an hour to set up and up to 24 hours to fully dry. (That’s important to note for girls who are excited about wearing their new rings! My daughter happily wore hers the next morning, without the glue being fully dry, and the geode fell off the earring, to her disappointment.)
Geode Pendants for Necklaces
Use your jewelry glue to adhere small segments of geode onto the pendant base. Thread the jewelry cord with endings through the pendant, and the necklace will be ready to wear once the glue is dry!
Note that the jewelry glue can take up to an hour to set up and up to 24 hours to fully dry. (That’s important to note for girls who are excited about wearing their new necklaces! My daughter happily wore hers the next morning, without the glue being fully dry, and the geode fell off the earring, to her disappointment.)
Looking for other jewelry projects for your Girl Scout troop? Check out past projects here.
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