Lego Jewelry - Ever tried it?

[x3-S-u-n-s-h-i-n-e]

A few months ago, maybe even years, I was looking through a magazine when I came accross images of a Marc Jacob's show. In it, he used lego accessories and crafted some rather bold pieces (Headband - Belt - Pin) In short, he did some things that while are inventive on the runway, I would never be able to pull off walking down the streets. Now what I'm actually wanting to do is to form some sort of necklace from legos. I typically work in wire styles, hooking beads together with little loops and such. In order to do that, I'd have to first attain legos and secondly form holes in them. I've been thinking of using the smallest legos in only the primary colors, something I would wear with a flowing white top and not look too tacky.
The questions here:
How would I go about putting neat holes in the legos without any sort of power tools?
Have you ever created anything of this sort from legos?
Any general aesthetic or practicality tips?

Any help or ideas are appreciated.  

[Ambrocio]

Without power tools? That sounds really hard and time consuming....

The only thing I can think of is getting a sharp exacto blade, setting it on a point that you want your hole and rotating the lego...

(okay... I just tried it on a plastic bottle cap of a bottle of water... Basically what I had said but try to hold the exacto blade perpendicular to the surface of the lego to limit the blade creating an angle as much as possible... (It'll be impossible this way for the hole to be a perfect little cylinder given the shape of the blade but yeah...). It'll take a while... I think the plastic of a lego is much tougher than a bottle cap but just let the blade do the work (I made two holes... the first one, the tip of my blade broke off when I was taking it out to check on my progress) and it should go somewhere. You may want to have a practice lego and see if it is possible to use a power tool (in which case, I would suggest a dremel and drill bit).

(As for aesthetic, you don't have to but you can look into Mondrian's work... the rectangle or square lego shape and primary colors is making me think of him when imagining how this could look)  

[x3-S-u-n-s-h-i-n-e]

Thank you, thank you. I would use power tools if I could - but I own none, and I'm fairly certain my Mom doesn't either. So I'd have to borrow a neighbor's or a friend's Dad's or something like that... Or have them do it for me.

Mondrian.. Mondrian, I could do that. Granted, I don't intend to dress up in full suit and tie to work like he customarily did.  

[Chisa]

If you could heat some wire enough to melt the plastic that could work... but I'm not sure how you could do that safely sweatdrop An electric screwdriver with a drill bit really would be ideal for this kind of thing.

I've seen a bit of lego jewellery around, I actually have a (fake) lego ring. It has a cool kitsch feel to it, I think.  

[Ambrocio]

If you come across any more issues or anything with the project, post them up and then maybe everyone can try to offer you a solution. I'll be more than happy to try to help. Other than that, Have Fun!  

[x3-S-u-n-s-h-i-n-e]

A lego ring? That'd be a whole new problem to solve... I'd so try that, but I wear my high school ring most of the time and can't stand my fingers being cluttered. O.O

Thanks Ambrocio, I'll be sure to post them. ;3 At the moment, I'm still mad at Wal-Mart for only selling massive lego "build your own..*cartoon character here*!" sets rather than just plain legos.  

[ember3]

:S I would say use a satering gun. (im sorry, i dont know how to spell it. You use it to make wood burning things and sometimes melt metals and plastics)
But does that count as a power tool? its not very big...

Anyways, i would also check out Etsy for some inspiration.

And the whole lego thing is awesome. T3T  

[5T4R5]

My dad had a hand drill that was crank operated. I actually preferred using it :3 Of course, if you had one of those lying around, you'd have used it by now. I know what you mean about the crappy lego sets! Your best bet would be a rummage sale or a thrift store, because a lot of the ones they sell now are big and cheesy anyway. I'm sure someone sells assortments on ebay as well. Best of luck!  

[Tusia]

the belt is awesome O_o  

[Menaceman]

Have you considered using a heated pin or needle to make your holes? That's the first thing that came to my mind.  

[E.Beth]

If you wanted to do a ring I think you could use a little glue, the really good kind, a small piece of wood or metal and then a ring. Glue the wood inside the lego block so it doesn't show but allows it to attach to the ring.

As for ideas for lego jewelry try earnings. If you want to make them without power tools you could glue a piece of wire in between two legos and bend it to make a drop earring. Or you could make a small one into stud type earrings. If you do one as a necklace you could mix different size ones and turn it into one of those statement necklace things. Might be able to make that with very strong thread stuff and good glue.

I think if you do go the heated pin route you should use a thicker pin than whatever you intend to put through the hole, then you don't have to fuss as much while making the hole. Just make sure to have something under the lego in case it melts more than you expected and use hot pads or something heat proof to hold the wire.