Pressed Penny Charm Bracelet

Pressed penny machines are everywhere.  We see them at the zoo, aquarium, science center, children’s museum, and even sometimes the grocery store in little touristy towns.  My kids have collected them for years.  I came across my daughter collection about 6 months ago and as I looked through them memories flooded back to me.  The day we went to the Trees of Mystery on our CA trip last Spring… the day we went to the Space Needle… the day she first saw the octopus move at the Pt Defiance Zoo… those memories were there in pressed copper glory.  I just had to find something to make with these things that would be as beautiful as those memories.

I made this pressed penny charm bracelet along with my friend Jessica (who makes beautiful jewelry) on our mamas weekend away.  I punched a hole in each penny with a metal awl and then we put tiny rings through and connected them to a copper bracelet.   

What we used:

• 10 pressed pennies
• 1 copper chain bracelet with clasp
• 10 copper jewelry rings
• metal awl
• hammer
• large piece of flat wood
• jewelry file
• two pair jewelry plyers

How to do it:

1. First I punched the holes in the top of the pennies with the metal awl on the piece of wood.  I had to make sure the hole was big enough for the rings we chose, but once I had the size down it went really quickly.
2. Then I used the hammer and file to make sure there were no sharp edges on the back side of the penny.
3. Then Jessica and I laid out the bracelet in the order we wanted the pennies to go and set them up to go evenly across the chain.
4. Very carefully, bending the rings sideways (how-to and reasons behind that tip) we slid the rings on to the pennies and then onto the chain and closed the rings up.
5. Jessica shortened the chain for Cyan’s wrist and we were done! 

It did take me buying an awl and Jessica’s jewelry tools, but it was a super simple project in the end!  And now all of those amazing memories can be showcased right on her wrist!