Paris Necklace Tutorial

Today I will be sharing with you this beautiful Paris necklace that I made. It had been a little while since I had made jewelry and it felt good to do so again... especially since this is a gift! (Shhh...)

I was lucky enough to be sent this box jammed packed with Mod Podge supplies from the folks over at Plaid. Look at all those goodies!

For this project I used the new Podgeable Shapes (available at Michael's) to make the charms for the necklace. (About half the shapes have holes to be used as charms.) It couldn't have been easier.

Other new products from Plaid include these great papers. Many of the designs are the exact sizes of the shapes, which makes it even easier. If you look closely you can see where I have set 4 of the charms on the papers to determine what I like best.

If you want your charm to show a design that isn't the size of the charm, you can use these handy stencils to trace the shape on the paper. (This photos shows a few punched out so you can see how they work. )I used the stencils on all the charms except the blue rectangle charm because it was the only one that was the exact size.

To attach the paper to the shapes you simple coat the paper with a layer of Mod Podge and stick it to the shape. Make sure it is centered and that there are no bubbles (no photos of this because it was hard to hold the camera and apply the Mod Podge at the same time but it's very simple).

Next I had to figure out my design.

I played with several different chains, but this was an easy choice. The hard part came in choosing the embellishments. I quickly narrowed it down to pearls, but what color??? I liked the white because they stood out...

But I liked the bronze because they helped the charms stand out.  In the end I chose the bronze pearls and assembled the necklace. Use jump rings to attach the charms, and head pins to attach the pearls. (If you need help with these steps check out my "Jewelry Basics" tutorials.)

And voila! My beautiful Paris statement necklace is complete. When I attached the charms there was a lot of space in between each one, so I went with two pearls in each space.

Here's a close up of some of the charms so you can see the the detail in the papers.

You can uses these shapes to customize any piece of jewelry with any paper. Ooh! Or how about photos? That would make a cute gift for a grandma- photos of the grandkids? The possibilities are endless!

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This post was brought to you as a paid promotion by Plaid and the Blue Print Social. All opinions are my own.

If you want to see more projects using Mod Podge goodies, check out the links below.

DIY Hex Nut Bracelet- My Solution for a Clasp

I am sure you have seen the DIY hex nut bracelets all over Blogland. I think they are really cute so when Amber wanted to have another crafting afternoon and make some I was excited!

The original tutorial, as far as I can tell, come from this blog. It's been repeated all over the Internet, but I think we ought to give credit where credit is due. Amber showed me this picture of a hex nut bracelet made from gold hardware and strips of leather-like material worn with a gold watch. I fell in love and had to copy. If you head over to Pinterest to see the original, you'll see that I didn't do too bad.

What I couldn't figure out was how to make it wrap around my wrist, stay on, and not have a huge knot on the back. After a few minutes of experimenting, this is what I came up with.

I started by tying a large jump ring into the first knot. After completing the braiding, I kept the strips at the end of the bracelet really long and looped them through the original jump ring.

(This is another view of the same thing.) I put the bracelet on my wrist and pulled it tight to know how much extra tail I would have. I wrapped the tail around the wrist and measured how much of the tail I would need to save for it to go back around and hook into the jump ring.

On the end of the tail, I tied another knot with a jump ring in it, and attached a lobster clasp to the jump ring.

Now, I can slip on the bracelet, wrap it around my wrist again, then attach the clasp to the first jump ring and it won't fall off!

I love it! Amber also made some with silver hex nuts and red strips. So cute! I want to make one with silver and turquoise.

I hope those directions made sense. Let me know if you have questions! (aubreelarsen@gmail.com)

I'll be linking up to some of these parties!

Jewelry Basics: Eye Pin Necklace

I haven't posted a Jewelry Basics tutorial in a long while because I didn't get much feed back on the last one... lame excuse I know, but here is the next tutorial. This time we are going to make a simple necklace using eye pins. (Click here to see my tips on tools and materials and to learn what eye pins are.)

Materials:
Beads
Eye pins
Round nose pliers
Bent or regular pliers
Chain
Clasp
Jump rings

The first thing to do is to arrange the beads the way you want them. I chose to do my beads in a sort of asymmetrical way... I am hoping that it looks Anthro inspired. (Don't mind that there are already pins in some of the beads...)

To begin assembling your necklace put whatever beads you want in one link on one eye pin (obviously I used 2 beads in the photo below, but just one beads on some of them.)

Using the round nose pliers, follow the steps I gave you in the last jewelry basics tutorial to make a loop on the end of the pin. Before closing it off, slip it onto the next eye pin.



Continue with the same process of linking together your eye pins until your necklace reaches the desired length.

Follow the directions from the last tutorial to attach your jump ring and chain (sorry I didn't show it again, I just thought that since I had taught it once, it would be okay for you to go back and look at the old instructions...).

All finished! It really is as simple as that. Now you can really start to get creative and combine the head pin technique with this eye pin technique to create some more great jewelry.

If you are interested in purchasing this necklace, it is for sale in my Etsy shop for $15 and free shipping along with my other one-of-a-kind necklaces I made for this series. (Shameless plug alert!)

Top 10 Favorite Projects of 2011

#10 Valentine's Day Book Page Garland

Here

#9 Book Page Flowers

Here

#8 Anthro Inspired Necklace

Here

#7 "Create" Book Page Garland

Here

#6 Gray and Yellow Photos

Here

#5 Gray Wedding Jewelry

Here

#4 First Skirt

Here

#3 Anthro Inspired Bracelet

Here

#2 Toilet Paper Art

Here

#1 Quorra from Tron: Legacy Costume

Here

Jewelry Basics: Dangle Necklace

A few weeks ago I began a series called "Jewelry Basics" and I told you all about what tools and findings are needed to make jewelry. It's time to put those supplies to good use. I will be doing several necklace tutorials demonstrating techniques. Each necklace is a sort of Anthropologie/ModCloth inspired piece, but you can use the techniques to make any style you want.


This tutorial shows you a basic dangle technique you can use to make a myriad of pieces.

Materials need:
Basic chain
Decorative chain if desired
Clasp
Jump rings
Head pins
Beads
Round nose pliers
Regular pliers
Wire cutters

Begin by cutting a desired length of chain. I chose to use several inches of basic chain to hang the bead dangles on, and the rest the fancier chain making the total length of my necklace 19.5 inches.

To make the dangles, put one bead on the head pin.

Using round nose pliers bend the wire sideways...

...then use your other hand to turn the wire to opposite direction, making a hook. This takes a little bit of practice.

Attach the bead to the chain, and use wire cutters to clip the extra wire. Use round or regular pliers to close the hook.

Repeat until you have the desired amount of dangles. Hang them all directions on the chain.

If you are going to attach the basic chain to something else follow this next step: attach a jump ring to the end of the chain by using pliers to pull it apart. Slip the chain or clasp on (see below) and close the ring.

Use the same technique to attach a clasp.

And you are done! This technique can be used to make bracelets too. (My fireworks bracelet is one example).

I would love to see what you make using this technique. Email me and I would love to feature you! (aubreelarsen@gmail.com)

If you are interested in purchasing this one-of-a-kind piece, you can find it in my Etsy Shop. There will only be this one, so hurry!

I will be linking up to these parties.

Ribbon and Drop Pearl Necklace Knock-Off

A couple of weeks ago I was browsing the Pinterest app and found an outfit that featured the Lanvin Ribbon and Drop Pearl Necklace. The stunning color caught my eye so I looked it up and figured I would give making it a try. (Of course it could be made in any color.) Above is my version, below, the original.

Materials:

Chain in desired length
Clasp
Head pins
Pearl beads
Fabric- synthetic that can melt such as a poly satin or organza. You could also use ribbon for a more uniform look and then skip the melting step.

Begin by cutting the chain to your desired length. (Mine is about 19 in)

Put a pearl on a headpin.

Use round-nose pliers to curve the top of the pin.

Attach it to the necklace and trim off extra wire. I find it easiest to start in the center of the chain and work outwards.

Continue these steps until you have the number of desired pearls. After the center pearl, I attached mine in pairs.

Next, cut strips of fabric about 1.5 inches wide (unless you want yours wider or skinnier).

Round the edges.

Melt the edges with a candle to prevent fraying (although the original has some fraying.)

It should look like this.

Now tie the fabric around the necklace. Again, I started with the middle...

...and worked my way up the sides.

Attach the clasp and all done!

I can't wait to wear it!

Let me know if you make one. Have fun!

(I'll be linking up to these parties.)