How to Make a Viking Brooch

Viking brooches were not only beautiful to look at but were also functional, fastening the straps of their overdress, preventing it from falling down! Also, in between the two brooches at the shoulder were one or two strings of beads for extra ornamentation. In this post, I will be showing you how to make a striking Viking Brooch for next to nothing.

As reference I will be using the following photo to give me ideas for my own brooches:

I decided to make a slightly more ornate brooch than the one above, because we needed it to be noticeable on the home-made Viking dress-up we would be making.

How to Make a Viking Brooch: A Step by Step Guide

What You’ll Need

• thick card (from an Amazon package is fine)
• Thick string (I used garden twinning)
• Fabric glue
• Paint brushes
• Foil (I used kitchen foil but you can buy different types of art foils which are a little thicker and stronger)
• Acrylic Paint in metallic colours (I really recommend these as the very best)
• Jewels
• Large Nappy Pin

Make the Base of the Brooch

These instructions make four brooches, so, enough for two costumes.

First, cut four pieces of card to the shape and size of the brooch you wish to make. You’ll want to veer on the larger size. I chose ovals:

Next, make a Viking design with the string. You can draw the design first. Stick the string down onto the card using the fabric glue. Any strong glue will do if you don’t have any fabric glue. You will need two matching designs for each brooch set.

Allow to dry. Meanwhile cut out enough foil to more than cover the design, as shown below:

Smooth down the surfaces of the brooches so that the string design is prominent.

You now have the basis of your brooches.

Decorating the Brooch

Obviously, you can decorate these exactly as you would like. Firstly, I painted along the string to highlight the design. It’s worth buying the more expensive brand of metallic paint, as the cheaper ones don’t work as well:

I then stuck the self-adhesive gems onto the brooches, making sure that the matching designs were the same. Next, I taped a nappy pin to the back of the brooch:

Lastly, I attached a wooden beaded necklace to each brooch and added a clay pendent we had made:

Further Learning

Viking Clothing and Brooches

Home-made Viking dress up for our Children’s Viking Presentation