5-minute necklace refashion

I don't know why, but I've really been wanting an infinity necklace. However, I didn't want it to be horizontal, and I wanted the infinity sign to be silver, BIG and bold. The biggest I found on Etsy was about 1.25", and I went ahead and ordered it. I thin it's gorgeous, but it really wasn't as big as I wanted.

When I was shopping for my writers' conference in April, I happened to check the jewelry rack, and there was a big, bold, silver infinity! Of course, it wasn't quite what I wanted, so I had to redo it a bit. Because two shoe refashions the busiest week of my year weren't enough!

The original chunky chain wasn't what I was looking for, and it was oriented horizontally. Both of those things were easy to solve! I used two pairs of pliers to twist open the jump rings connecting the pendant to the chain. (NEVER pull a jump ring open! It loses its spring.)

That freed the necklace from its chain, but there were still little loops soldered onto the ends of the infinity sign that connected it to the necklace. I used the wire nipper part of the pliers to cut those loops right off! (The picture above was taken after I'd done this).

After I cut them off, of course, I realized that ∞ sideways is really an 8 . . . . Oy.

This left a little bit of an edge and a burr, but I think a metal file should smooth them out pretty well. I kept one of the jump rings since it fit on the body of the infinity sign. Then I just had to find a chain. I tried it on with a few silver chains I had around and took pictures to help me decide. I picked this one:

And here it is the night of!

One last #storymakers14fashion post, because of the awesome. @JordanMcCollum #Storymakers14 #kilts pic.twitter.com/zoScKgoCPr
— Gina Denny (@ginad129) April 27, 2014

Accessories

I decided that with the lace on my dress, pearls would be a good compliment for my wedding jewelry. This decision was much easier than expected. I wanted round shaped pearls that were off-white and I wanted dangly earrings. Oh my goodness, folks, this was not easy to find. We looked EVERYWHERE. Department stores, pawn shops, Khol's. I looked through everyone's jewelry boxes. Ok, not everyone's but my sisters sent me pictures of their pearl jewelry and I looked through my mom and grandma's jewelry. Finally, I found a nice necklace and bracelet set from my grandma. She told me she never wore them so I could have them. Double score! Now came the adventure of finding matching earrings. Again, we looked everywhere. I had seen some in a department store early on in the hunt but they were no longer there when we looked again. Dang. Finally, they may have had silver hooks (all my accents were gold) but I found earrings I liked. Seriously, huge relief.

When deciding on what accessories you want, remember this is your wedding and you are the bride! (well, you can be a groom reading this too but I don't think you'll be looking for the same things as I was!) If you're wanting to go with something classic like pearls, don't settle on costume jewelry from the kid's department. Look everywhere. Don't feel like you need to spend a ton on jewelry but make sure what you're buying will look as classic as you want it. If you want to go for diamonds, again, don't settle for costume jewelry. It looks fake. I promise. When I was deciding between gold or silver, I took into account my wedding colors and the metal of my engagement ring. I had champagne color accents in the wedding colors and a yellow gold engagement ring, so for me, the choice was golds. If you want a classic look, don't go towards bold colored jewelry. I would stick with anything white, cream or ivory. My dress was stark white so I wanted an off-white pearl. If you want a touch of color, I would suggest pale colors. Even paler than pastels. You don't want to distract from you and your dress! But ultimately, it's your day. Feel beautiful no matter what!

PS I also got my bridesmaids pearl bracelets from Khol's. That one wasn't as hard of a decision!

Peter Pan Collar Bead Necklace

I've noticed the Peter Pan Collar trend lately and thought a necklace would be a great way to make my own embellished version. I scoured the internet to find a good pattern for the collar, because I knew I couldn't draw one free hand. The best one I found (because it has a scale on it) was made by my sparkle: Removable Peter Pan Collar DIY

Materials Needed for this project:
Stiffened felt
Beads
E600 Glue (don't use the cheap-o stuff!)
Ribbon

I was itching to start that night, so I dug in my craft stash and found some green stiffened felt I used on my shoe clips and elf hat. I had just enough for this collar. I really recommend using stiffened felt. Regular felt is just too weak and wouldn't hold its shape at all. I cut out the pattern and overlapped the two pieces at the center, since I wanted the necklace to be connected in the middle. Then I dug in my beads and found a ton of green beads, all purchased at different times. I laid out the beads in different ways and found something I liked. I decided to go for it that night, and used what I had on hand: super glue.

Here's the first time the craft gets Wayward. Don't use super glue, it's too weak. I've had to re-glue some of the beads multiple times. I finally purchased some E600 and it works perfectly! Don't go through the hassle that I did.

The other Wayward part, I didn't put anything under the felt while the necklace dried. The super glue seeped through the felt and onto my dining room table, permanently altering it (nice way of saying messing it up in that area). So, put a lot of paper/plastic under your working area and protect your furniture!

So my last step was to attach two ribbons to the necklace, on the underside. If you wanted, you could cut out another piece of stiffened felt and cover the back side, as it's a little coarse. I didn't (since I ran out of felt) and I am not bothered by it.

How bout a close up? 

I showed my friend and she was so impressed we went out and bought the supplies and she started making her own, which was SO much cooler than mine!

Here's how mine looked on:

Pretty cute for St. Patrick's Day too! 

Ocean Inspired Chandelier Earrings

I just got back from Hawaii and I think these earrings fit in perfectly there:

I'm really loving them! I wanted to share how to make them, but I knew the wrap looped headpin was a technique to stand alone. Thus the first post. There's another technique I'll be showing today, but it is kinda similar to the wrap looped headpin so you'll catch on quickly!

Tools:

round nose pliers

regular pliers

wire cutters

Supplies:

Set of fish hook earrings

Headpins (32)
Eyepins (2)

Jump rings (16)

3 different beads. I used a green teardrop bead (2), a smaller silver circular (16), and a larger green circular bead (16)

The first step is also the new technique. It's not very....pretty. But it doesn't matter because it works and it's hidden! If you are looking for something prettier, try Rebecca from My Girlish Whim's tutorial on How to Wire Wrap a Pendant 

Repeat on your other tear drop bead. 

Wrap all the rest of your beads (total should be 32) using the Wrap Looped Headpin Tutorial. The rest is just threading and closing.

Open jump ring and thread the beads on. Close jump ring. 

Open a new jump ring, and thread it through the first. Add the beads and then close the jump ring

Don't forget to close the jump ring!

There you have it: 

What do you think? I say give in a try!

Jewelry Organizing Board Take Two!

So last year, my mom made a jewelry organizer. Ever since she shared it, I wanted to make one too. So I did!

I used more of the same fabric from this project. 

As I've mentioned, I have saved this corkboard for forever for this dang project!

I didn't want the flowers to be seen through the fabric, so I used paper to cover them.

Cover with fabric. I secured the back with hot glue! It's stayed for a long time (6 + months!)

Can you spot two projects?

The flower brooch and the funky chunky ribbon necklace

Now go make your own already!

Wrap Looped Headpin Tutorial

First off: Thank you for my birthday wishes! I had a lovely birthday filled with Skyping with family, partying with friends and relaxing with my husband. It was a great day!

Wrapping headpins is one of the techniques I use in almost all my jewelry making. It's not too hard to figure out, but takes some practice to look nice. Mine still look a little wonky sometimes. Here is my step by step tutorial on how to do them yourself. You need: round nose pliers, regular pliers and wire cutters. 

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A headpin is a jewelry finding made of metal and is bendable. The end has a flat surface, which prevents beads from falling off.

Wrap looped headpin beads are perfect for earrings, bracelets and necklaces. They are more secure than a regular looped headpin and have a nice finished look.

I'll be sharing some other pieces I made using this technique later this month!

Patriotically Playing with Wire

So who knew patriotically was a word? Not me! Anyways, I recently went to Tuesday Morning (aka the store that has a lot of stuff I don't need). I was looking around and saw some 18 gauge wire. I've been wanting to use wire in my beading and jewelry making and the price was right, $1.99! For the past two days I've been playing around with it and came up with a little patriotic craft.

Supplies & Tools:

Wire cutters
Round Nose Pliers (very important!)
Bent Nose Pliers (less important but still good to have)
Wire (I used 18 gauge, very bendable!)

Directions:

First figure out your design. I went with a swirly USA. For a reference, I wrote it out. Then cut a piece of wire for the first letter, and overestimate what you think you want to use.

Next, start swirling! Hold the end of your wire with your Round Nose Pliers and twist the wire around. 

Using your pliers, hands or a combination of both, bend the wire into your shape. I like to use my sketch as a reference. 

When you come to the end of the letter, leave enough tail to swirl but not too much (eh, just guess!)

I trimmed this a little. 

Here is the finished product:

It only took me about 15 minutes from start to finish, and that included taking pictures! 

Ways to use wire letters:

On papercrafts

Glue to napkin ring

Hair barrettes, like this one

Glued onto sturdy key chain

Home decor, like with a faux firework display

Fridge Magnets

Jewelry**

**One thing to remember: the wire is still VERY bendable, so however you use these letters, make sure you know that little fingers can ruin your shapes. 

What would you design?

Shopping

I work at a school where we are deep into our live or die end of year testing. I think in test questions. You should, too.

Solve for X

25% off coupon  total purchase at Michaels + knowledge that you are getting paid for some overtime = x

A. X = going up and down every aisle just seeing what money can buy
B. X= joy, joy, joy
C. X=a basket (hand, not cart) full of supplies you didn't know you needed
D. all of the above.

Obviously the answer is D!

Even though I wasn't planning on beading, I found myself drawn to the beads.  This is what I bought:

This is what I made:

I also bought this which was on clearance for less than $2! I can't wait to see where I can use it.

I tried it out on some wrought iron sconces that I needed to be a little more bronzish. This is how they turned out:

It felt really good to create!

Vintage Button Bracelet

The reason I decided to dabble again in jewelry making was a vintage button bracelet. I saw this example and wanted to try for myself as Christmas present for my mother-in-law. But where was I going to find vintage buttons? I started showing my friends pictures of this bracelet and letting them know I was on the hunt for vintage buttons. My friend stumbled upon the motherload of buttons and I got started. The bracelet wasn't done in time for Christmas, but I got it done by the time for my mother-in-law's birthday.

I started with a plain bracelet, pre made and purchased at Joann.

 Then I laid out the buttons the way I liked. Using jump rings I attached the buttons

 After the first round, I added a bunch more buttons to make it look fuller.

My mother in law loved it! What do you think?

I Like Big Beads Necklace

Do you ever make something without knowing what the heck you are doing? That's what I did with this necklace. So I had to make another one as a tutorial.

Supplies:

One strand of medium to large sized beads
Less than a strand of tiny "spacer" type beads
Cord
Chain
Two clam shell crimp beads


Tools:
Needle Nose Pliers
Flat Nosed Pliers
Scissors
Needle

Directions:

Plan your your necklace beforehand, trying different possiblities before deciding.

 

Thread the beads onto the cord, alternating with the small and the large beads.

Make a square knot with the cord on one end. Here's a trick to moving the knot as close as possible to the beads. Tie the knot, but leave it open. Insert a large needle (or other skinny type item) and use it to pull the knot close to the beads. This way you'll always get the knot right where you want it. 

 

Next thread one of your clam shell crimp beads on the cord. Tie a surgical knot, using the needle trick if needed. Finally close the "shell" part of the crimp bead with pliers.  Repeat on the other side.

 

Next take your chain and thread it onto the open part of the crimp bead. Close the crimp bead. Repeat on the other side and you are done!

Ta da! 

Do you like big beads? Do you feel that you cannot lie? I could go on, but I'll stop =)