Making the Disciple's Cross necklace is fun and challenging. The spiritual feeling of making something with your own two hands, that represents something so important, gives you peace when you have finished all of your crosses and are at the UPS store to ship them back for payment. This is something that you could do in your sleep with a lot of practice and, with this practice, would come the speed that will lead you to your desired income. Assembly time will vary from person to person and truly depends on your determination to succeed. The crosses are absolutely beautiful once you reach the finished product.
Once you have your Starter Kit, it is very important to watch the video that comes with it and pay close attention to the very small details. This article will help you with some of those details.
The Disciple's Cross Starter Kit costs $69.95 and includes exactly enough supplies to make 25 completed crosses. The cost of the Starter Kit will be reimbursed after you submit 8 units of 50 crosses for a grand total of 400 crosses. My start up kit was missing three of the short wires at the time of arrival. But, considering I broke enough nails to make 5 crosses, I was simply out of material to complete all 25 crosses that come in the start up kit. However, you do not have to send in all 25 - you only need to submit 10 crosses for your test unit for approval for payment. Once you complete the test unit, and are approved for production, you will start submitting batches of 50 crosses at a time. They will not accept partial units, it must be 50 at a time submitted to make one unit.
It is advisable, that you purchase the following along with your Starter Kit:
* one extra 100 nail pack
* 10-inch curved jaw locking pliers
* Long-necked pliers
* Extra box of item tags
Curved Jaw Locking Pliers and Long Necked Pliers: I went out to the hardware to buy the 10-inch vice pliers and long-nose needle pliers he suggested. I wasted money on these items because my vice pliers crushed the top of the loops because they were not the 10-inch curved wide mouth pliers he states in the video. Just one of the important details of the instructions I missed. Ordering these tool directly from him simplifies the actual assembly of the crosses and keeps you from breaking your nails and crushing your loops.
Nails: Once you bend a nail, it's over. If it's not bent right, you can't straighten and re-bend the nails, they break too easily. You only get one chance to bend the nail properly at 90-degrees angles. This is why I suggest that you purchase the extra 100 nail pack.
Note: In the information on the website, it states that you can buy your own supplies, but be informed that you can only use the buy-back program if you order supplies from his company. And they will only buy back solid color crosses. This is listed in the FAQ part of the site.
Initial Investment Money and Time: If you are looking for a dependable weekly income as I am, be prepared to make an investment up front for your materials, and realize that it will take a few weeks to become an established producer with them. A big part of this is due to the time it takes for shipping. You will have to wait about a week or two before you will get a response/payment for the approved crosses you submit. Then, when you re-order, you will have to wait to receive the materials for your next batch. Although they offer 2nd day air shipping, be aware that 2nd day air starts at the time they get your order ready to ship which could take 5 to 7 days, then the 2nd day air shipping comes in to play.
$500 Per Week: The way to make the advertised income, is to order 200 to 400 crosses up front each time to cover the turn around time of the shipping and waiting on approval and payment. Be prepared to run an assembly line production format to keep your check coming in and a batch going out for payment week to week.
Tip: Left Handed Instructor During the video, you will notice that the instructor is left handed. So, right handed people have to turn everything around to accomplish the exact finished product. Be prepared for your fingers and hands to become unbearably sore! But, if you order all of your tools from the company, this should help in that area.
Realities of Assembly Time: The site states the cross can be made in 5 minutes. Another slightly misinformed statement. Bending the nails and wrapping the wires to assemble the cross itself could take only 5 minutes, once you have a lot of practice or you are very good with your hands to begin with. There is a dipping process of each cross in acrylic. The first dip takes 20 minutes to dry. The second takes 2 hours to dry before you can continue to make the rest of the cross.
Making the Cross: You will need to have a work area that is well-ventilated for the acrylic dip’s strong smell and vapors, and a place to hang the crosses after they are dipped to dry. I hung mine, 10 at a time, on a coat hanger and hung it on my chandelier in the kitchen with newspaper to catch any drips. But I'm sure you can find a better way to hang your crosses to dry with a little imagination. The chandelier worked fine for the startup kit, but I too will have to find a better way for the dipping process for the assembly line of 50 crosses per unit that you have to submit at one time.
Once your crosses are cured and dried, you are ready to finish assembling them for packaging.. You have to string the necklace and tie slip knots for adjustable lengths. This can be very frustrating to learn at first. You then insert a tiny plastic string that you can hardly see, much less handle with your fingers, to tie a knot and attach the tag and string to the necklace at a certain place, so that when you fold the necklace to lay it on the tag a certain way, the finished product has to have both slip knots at the bottom with the front of the necklace at the top laying right beside the Disciple's Cross writing, and then you insert this into the ziplock bag. This takes practice as well. Again, because of the left handed instructor
It is very important to pay close attention to the little details because if you twist your necklace with a right hand twist, it will not fit into the bag and lay correctly on the tag like it is suppose to and will be laying backward with the back of the necklace showing.
Hang in there! Your starter kit will be frustrating but, by the time you do as many of the 25 as you can without breaking the nails, or chipping the coating off the other wires with your pliers, getting the wire close enough and tight and (remember the two dips of acrylic will help in this step by closing up tiny gaps within the wiring), mastering the slip knots for the adjustable necklace, folding the finished necklace properly and placing it on the tag just right. Once you are able to get all of this into the ziplock bag and get it zipped without everything moving around on you, you will have the finished product and feel a great sense of pride knowing that you did it.
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