Tag: DIY

How To Make A Simple Bauble Necklace

post by Andrea

I come across beads and baubles that I love on a constant basis, and in fact need to stop buying beads at will — only when the need arises. This past weekend, in an effort to try and organize my growing collection of beads, I came across these beauties and was finally struck with some inspiration. I had originally planned to string the black beads together in a tight, almost choker-like necklace, but then thought it might be too limiting to nighttime wear. But when just a few are added to a simple hematite colored chain, it’s the perfect look for day or night. I wore my new chain with a white tank and pair of boyfriend jeans for a simple, yet dressed up feel. Here’s the how-to so you can make your own simple bauble necklace.

You’ll need a piece of chain (my piece was 22″ in length, snipped in half to make 2 11″ pieces), baubles of your liking, 2 jump rings, a lobster claw closure, 2 wire guards (or 2 additional jump rings if you can’t find wire guards), 2 crimp beads, soft flex or mono-filament wire, scissors and needle nosed pliers.

You’re going to start by attaching your wire guard (or jump ring) to one end of your chain, and then string your wire through the guard, making a loop, and sticking both pieces of wire through your crimp bead. You then pry your crimp bead shut with a pair of needle nosed pliers. You now have securely attached your wire to your chain so you can start stringing. *A note about wire guards vs. jump rings. My local jewelry supplier suggested these wire guards because on occasion my wire would slip through my jump ring if the ends were not clamped shut tight enough, very frustrating if I had strung tons of beads. These wire guards work brilliantly and take the place of a standard jump ring (which I used in making this statement necklace). The wire guards are not always easily found though, so feel free to use jump rings instead, but always make sure you close the jump rings tightly.

Now that your wire is firmly attached to your chain, start stringing your beads. These were rather large beads, so I only needed to string 5 black ones and the 1 sparkly one. I didn’t want it to be too busy or fussy. Once done stringing, add another wire guard and crimp bead to secure the other end to your chain.

You’re now ready to attach your closure. On one end attach a jump ring to your lobster claw closure, and then to the chain. On the other end, just attach one jump ring for your closure to attach to. A tip about working with jump rings. I have found that if I gently pry them apart with 2 pairs of pliers, attach to my chain, and then clamp them shut, they close up much better than if I just try to pry them apart and closed with 1 pair. After you’ve attached your closure, you’re done! Total time from start to finish is about 30 minutes or less, depending on your comfort level with working with the tools. Total length of my necklace is 28″, with the chain being 22″ and the beaded center being 6″. Feel free to adjust to whatever length you need though.

July 31, 2012
How To Make a Statement Necklace

post by Andrea

I’m quite enamored with just about everything craft related, but I get especially excited when I get to create a piece of jewelry or another type of accessory. I was so happy when Nicole was open to the idea of me sharing a jewelry-based DIY with you all, and I hope you enjoy it. And while the idea of making your own jewelry may sound a bit intimidating, I assure that if you’re even somewhat remotely ‘crafty’, you can create something for yourself with just a few basic items you can find at just about any craft store.

To get started with this particular statement necklace, take a trip to your local Michael’s (or other craft store), which is where I picked up everything you see below, including the beads, and pick up the following items:

Jade colored beads in multiple sizes (I used 3 different sizes), mono-filament jewelry wire (it looks just like fishing line), a package of jewelry chain, an all purpose pack of ‘jewelry findings’, which includes jump rings, crimping beads, lobster claw closures, and pin wires. You can buy all of these items in separate packages but if you’re a beginner or aren’t doing a lot of jewelry making, this all purpose pack is great. You also want to have a pair of scissors on hand, as well as a pair of needle nose pliers and wire cutters, which they sell on the cheap at a craft store, or you could always use a pair from your tool chest. Total supplies, if you include buying the tools, should run you less than $30. *Note that over the weekend I made this necklace again for a friend and this time I used a jewelry wire called Soft Flex in ultra fine. It was actually great to work with and because this necklace gets a little heavy, it is really sturdy and should hold up better over time. It is quite a bit more than mono-filament, but may be worth it in the end.

Begin by cutting a length of your jewelry wire (roughly 18 inches), and string 1 of the crimp beads and a jump ring through the tail end of one side. Loop the wire over the jump ring and through the crimp bead again, creating a loop that is held together by the crimp bead. Gently but firmly squeeze the crimp bead shut with your needle nose pliers. There’s an actual bead crimper that they sell, but I’ve never had a problem closing my crimp beads shut with my pliers. You’re now ready to begin stringing your beads. Once you’ve completed one strand, close it off using the same method that you began with, using a crimp bead and jump ring. Your other 2 strand will now attach to this single jump ring. Trim the extra jewelry wire. Note that each strand will be approximately 14-15 inches long when finished. You don’t want all 3 strands to be exactly the same length so that they lay better on your neck.

Since I’m not an actual jewelry designer and do this for fun, I always try to keep my designs relatively simple. I always love the look of mixed metals and gems, but I leave the real pattern mixing to the professionals, and stick to similar materials and tonal, or complementary, colors when creating something new. With this necklace, the only variations I made was to use a slightly different pattern with all three strands. One strand uses just the 2 smaller sized beads and has tiny gold seed beads spaced between each one. The other 2 strands contains a mixture of all 3 sizes, but in a slightly varying pattern.

Once the body of your necklace is finished, it’s time to attach your chain. I think adding the chain creates a more finished look, and it also makes the necklace adjustable. Snip off 2 pieces of chain with your wire cutters. My chain is approximately 2.5″ long on each side. Attach each piece of chain to the jump ring on either side. A tip when opening and closing your jump rings; if you have 2 sets of small pliers on hand, gently pry each end apart, as shown, and then squeeze shut. This helps to maintain the shape of the ring, but it’s not necessary. Grab 2 more jump rings and attach it to the end of one chain, and attach it to the lobster claw and chain on the other end. Now you have your closure. If you’d like to really lend a finished look to your necklace, you could grab a sapre bead and attach it to one of the pin heads and then run it through a loop of chain and twist it shut, nipping off the end with your wire cutters, but this is not necessary.

You’ve now finished your necklace and are ready to try it on! Total time to complete this necklace is 45 minutes or less, depending on your comfort level with working with the tools and beads.

I tried the necklace on with a white tee, a chambray shirt, and this red dress, and it looked great with all three options, but I really love the way it pops against the red. Jewelry making is one of the most rewarding hobbies I have, and I hope this inspires you to give it a try. Please let me know if you have any questions.

May 23, 2012
How To Make A Succulent Sea Terrarium

by Andrea

My daughter turned seven last week and requested a mermaid themed pool party. While color schemes, garland and paper pom poms are an important part of a birthday bash, in our home the craft station is usually a large focus as well. My kids love arts and crafts time, and so I wanted to come up with something that would be a hybrid of things that we all loved, with some attention to design. My goal was not to create more clutter for the kids to bring home, but to help them all create something sweet and simple that they would hopefully be able to display at home for awhile. Thus, the succulent sea terrarium craft was born. The kids terrariums came out so pretty that I had to create a few “grown up” versions for myself.

I chose succulents as the focal point in the terrariums because even though they are really dry, desert dwellers, their shape and color also remind me of algae and seaweed you would find in the ocean. I selected tall, spiny looking succulents for the arrangements, with a few grass-like ground covers as well, to represent algae. The glass globes were picked up at a local craft store and although they are technically meant to be votive holders, their shape remind me of old glass fishing balls. In addition you will need some coarse sand and cactus soil.

I wanted the terrariums to have a sandy soil to mimic the bottom of the ocean, however since succulents need some kind of organic rich soil, they most likely would not survive in pure sand. So I created a sandy bottom with a little crater for some cactus soil to rest in. We, well mainly my husband, has been growing succulents for over 10 years now. He likes to claim that he loved succulents before they were cool. All this to say that we’ve had a lot of experience growing, and sometimes failing at growing succulents. We started out using regular potting soil, but have found that the more arid cactus soil works much better, allowing good drainage and circulation for the succulents. So once you’ve laid out your sandy bottom and base of cactus soil, you’re ready to start planting.

The nice thing about working with succulents is their shallow root system and how little soil they really require to survive. If some of your plants are a bit too large for your vessel, you can simply trim off a bit of the root or some of the leaves and stick them right in the soil. I’ve read that dipping your succulents in a rooting hormone before planting helps encourage growth, but I’ve never used it and have always had great luck. It’s always an option though in case you’re a little nervous. Once you’ve got your planting done, gently add in a bit more sand to cover up the cactus soil. It doesn’t have to be perfect, in fact I think it looks quite nice having a bit of the soil peeking through the sand.

If you wish you can add a little mermaid or two, and some pretty rocks or shells to complete your seascape. The miniature mermaids are actually cocktail drink markers I found online and spray painted them white to be a bit more sophisticated.

The final result is pretty little terrarium that combines my daughter’s love of all things mermaid related, my husband’s love of succulents, and my love of good design. To care for your succulents, simply add just a touch of water every other day for 2-3 weeks to get them started. After that, a light watering once a week should do the trick. In small vessels like this I’ve had my succulents last for at least 9 months, but of course play it by ear and know that you may have to refresh your plantings every once in a while. Succulents are easy to care for, but they’re not completely maintenance free. If they do in fact grow you will have to transplant them.

And in case you’re interested, for the kid’s terrariums we used quart size mason jars for the vessels, and I left the mermaids their original color. We set the table up outside and let them each create their own fantasy mermaid world, and they loved packing their jars with as many shells, stones, and brightly colored mermaids as they could fit.

April 25, 2012
Rainbow Birthday Party Invitations (Free Printable)
We had a rainbow party last year for Eleanor’s birthday, and I made really cute invitations for it. At the time, I didn’t offer a free printable version because I couldn’t think of a way to incorporate the custom rainbow colored text into an invite that would work for everybody. After adapting my train party invitations, I realized I could do something similar, and lo, a free download for you today.
These are for personal, non-commercial use only.

I’ve only provided cards for ages 1-10, but if you’re handy with a graphics program, you should be able to create any number you please. Rainbow 75th birthday party, anyone?
April 23, 2012
How to Make a DIY Terrarium

I had been meaning to make a terrarium for a while now, but I finally got to it last week. I put together a post about the process for west elm, using their tall glass jar.

The full instructions and list of materials needed can be found at west elm’s blog, Front & Main. I also talked about how to care for your terrarium, and what I would have done differently.

You could simplify the process by choosing a smaller container and just placing moss inside (like this one) with a few interesting rocks or objects. Of course, you could make it more complex too, by choosing an extra wide vessel and combining more plants of different sizes and textures.

I’d love to try a succulent terrarium next time, switching out the rich potting soil for a sandier blend, and using an open-air container. I think it would be fun to gather some HO scale model items to make a little scene, too. I do have a special fondness for miniatures, after all.

April 17, 2012
An Easter Table With a Neon Twist

Today’s post is by a new contributor to Making it Lovely, Andrea Howe. I met and roomed with her at Camp Mighty last year, and I know you’re going to adore her as much as I do.

Yesterday, we saw my take on an Easter table. Andrea has been celebrating neon for the past week over on her style blog, For the Love of…, and today she’s sharing some crafty ideas for bringing a little neon to the table for the holiday.

I’ve loved neon for as long as I can remember, and am thrilled to see it make a resurgence, in a very updated and modern way. While neon may be most used in the style world, I wanted to add a touch of it to the home, and so created an Easter table setting infused with subtle touches of neon. I like neon best in small doses and when displayed back to neutrals, so set against the rich wood of a farmhouse dining table the bright colors pop, yet the overall feel isn’t overpowering.

I began by focusing on using things I already owned as key parts of the table setting. These include pieces from my milk glass collection that belonged to my Grandmother, a couple of plain white Easter bunnies, simple white napkins and placemats, and my never-ending supply of mason jars.

I began by spray painting mason jars first in a coat of primer, then with a couple of coats of neon and plain white spray paint. I wrapped some neon and white twine around each jar, held in place with a spot of hot glue. I also added a coat of spray paint to some adorable little ceramic bunnies I had found at Michael’s. The ceramic absorbed the spray paint beautifully.

I took fabric paint and plain white napkins, and simply added polka dots in a random pattern using a round sponge brush available at any craft store. The trick to working with neon is to just focus on 2-3 colors at a time. Anymore and it starts to look a bit dated.

The last thing I did was add a few eggs, first brushed with neon paint. Once dry, the eggs were coated with standard craft glue, then dusted with Martha Stewart neon glitter. Placed in a hobnop candy dish, for me it’s the perfect blend of vintage modern.

By using a mix of pieces I already own and love, and creating some easy and inexpensive DIY’s, I’m thrilled with the results of my modern neon table setting for Easter.

April 4, 2012