Copper jewellery made from nespresso capsules

This geometric patterned copper jewellery made from nespresso capsules is the perfect handmade gift for Christmas. This technique can be used to make necklaces, earrings, brooches, Christmas tree decorations and more, by using the coloured aluminium coffee capsules that you would otherwise throw away!

The technique I used to make this jewellery is pretty simple, and involves sandwiching the nespresso capsules between two layers of felt. The great thing about it is that you can create almost any shape or design, and you can’t even tell from the end result that it is made from coffee capsules! You can use any coloured felt and nespresso capsules for your own project, but for my projects I used capsules in different shades of copper.

What you need:Nespresso capsules – emptied and cleaned
Felt – I used two different thicknesses of felt. One thin one on the top layer, and a thicker one behind to keep the pieces solid.
Scissors
Knife and cutting mat
Gel glue
Spray glue
Cardboard and pen to make template
Equipment for jewellery making – chains, jump rings, brooch backs, earring fittings, round nosed pliers, etc.

The first thing you need to do is decide on your design, and draw the pattern onto your card. Your final design will be made up of smallish sections (no bigger than the biggest piece of metal you can cut from a nespresso capsule) with solid lines between of about 5mm wide.

Once you have finished drawing your design, cut around it, and use this piece of card as a template to cut the same shape from both pieces of felt.

Then cut out all of the interior details of the pattern carefully with your craft knife. Use can then use this to draw the rest of your design onto both pieces of felt.

Draw only on the back of the front, thinner, piece of felt, as the front will be visible on the final piece of jewellery. Again, use your crafft knife to, carefully, cut the out all the parts of your design, but only on the top, thinner layer of felt.

Draw the inside of your pattern onto the felt

Cut up your nespresso capsules with scissors. Cut off the round part at the top, and the rim at the bottom, leaving you with flat sheets of the coloured aluminium.

Cut these sheets of aluminium to size to fill in all the details of your design. They want to be just slightly bigger than the shapes drawn on your design, so that once the top layer of felt is glued on, you won’t see the joins. Glue all of these pieces of aluminium to the back, thicker, layer of felt.

Glue pieces of nespresso capsule to the second piece of felt

Once all of your aluminium pieces are glueed down, glue the first, thinner, layer of felt to the front of the piece, using spray glue. Take care, when placing the glued felt over the design, to align it well with the lower layer.

Glue on the top layer of felt with spray glue

Finally, sew or glue on your jewellery fittings to complete your jewellery pieces. For the necklace, I sewed the rings on the end of a chain to the back of the felt. For the brooches, I simply glued on a brooch fitting.

And that’s it! Try different patterns out, as simple or as complex as you like. Use bright colours for more eyecatching jewellery, or shades of copper and gold for a classy, christmas feel.