Jewelry-Making Articles

Graduation Day: Personalized Designs for Grads

Exclusively for Fire Mountain Gems and Beads®

Celebrate graduation with jewelry and embellished graduation caps! Whether you're graduating, gifting to a graduate or looking to create a graduation-themed line of jewelry, custom designs are the perfect way to mark this momentous milestone.

School colors easily incorporate into earrings, bracelets, anklets and necklaces using bright glass beads, gemstones and crystals. Use charms to add the graduation year, school emblems, words of affirmation or images of their new profession, like apples for teachers or the medical symbol for doctors. Some additional ideas include adding the latitude and longitude of the school and hand-stamping metal charms with names, degrees and special words of congratulations.

Universally inspirational motifs such as wings and arrows make a great jewelry gift for grads as they spread their wings and fly in new directions. Alphabet beads and charms offer a simple way to add initials, names, Greek letters and personalized messages to graduation jewelry. Create graduation caps and other one-of-a-kind embellishments using polymer clay. Include a mini diploma or note in bottles and pendants so the grad can wear their achievement.

Don't forget about embellishing graduation caps! The mortarboard is an open canvas to spell out personalized messages for the ceremony. The possibilities are limitless. Try Crystal Passions® flat backs in standard or Hot-Fix™ for a flashy design sure to look spectacular. Apply designs directly to the cap or to a scrap of fabric or leather and then attach using glue or a hot-fix heater depending on the rhinestone type. If sparkles are not their thing, a special printed message surrounded by flowers, feathers, meaningful charms and other findings lets them express themselves however they see fit.