Handmade Necklaces

A wise woman (Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous) once said, ‘You can never have enough hats, gloves and shoes.’

The same could be said for rings, earrings and necklaces.

It’s the latter that has been my recent obsession--I can sit down with a head full of ideas and my boxes of recycled and gifted beads and end up with something nice and new to wear around my neck!

Here are a few of my recent creations:

 Hunters Necklace

I made the base of this necklace with a combination of cord and chain (including an old chain bracelet).

The whole inspiration comes from the vintage stag button, which was given to me. Whilst I don’t condone hunting for sport, the theme became ‘hunting in the times of old’, meaning when hunting for food was practically a necessity.

 Heritage Necklace

This is another necklace inspired by something given to me! In this instance the inspiration came from the old coins, which came into my possession with the holes already in them. The oldest (and largest) coin is from 1881!

 Black Beads & Button Necklace

The button is the inspiration for this necklace. I wanted a simpler necklace that would allow the button to become a feature, rather than one charm amidst many.

To avoid making the necklace too plain, I included small orangey beads (from a broken necklace) on the strand of smaller black beads.

 Beads & Bow Necklace

I made this one using ribbon from a chocolate box, a gifted button, and a selection of beads. The inspiration was the colour of the larger beads, which came off a broken necklace.

*A tutorial for how to make this necklace is now up!

 ‘Cameo Collage’ Necklace Knockoff

This necklace was made following a tutorial on Flamingo Toes (one of my favourite crafty places to visit!) It’s a knockoff of a necklace by Anthropologie, which is itself gorgeous, but far beyond my price range.

For this necklace I used a heap of charms that had been accumulating in my supplies! These charms came from my Nanny, an uncle, my mum, stuff from my childhood, old necklaces, random charms bought in Glastonbury and even a couple of cheap card-making charms! I’d been saving them up for something special and when I saw the tutorial on Flamingo Toes, I knew I’d found that something!

Check out the Cameo Collage necklace knockoff tutorial on Flamingo Toes here.

Tutorial: Tassel Necklace

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Tassels are on necklaces everywhere at the moment, particularly on necklaces that will set you back anything between a few pounds and a few thousand pounds!

Normally found on curtain ties, cushions and lampshades, tassels can become a quirky fashion statement (though I advise against running out to buy a pair of curtain tie-backs!)

This tasselled necklace is chic and modern--and can be made for just a few pounds.

Follow this tutorial to find out how to make your own tasselled necklace.

Time needed: 45-60 minutes

You’ll need:

1 skein embroidery floss

16" chain

6 beads (for chain)

1 bell cap (for tassel)

1 bead (for tassel)

Jewellery wire

1 split ring

1 jump ring

6 eye pins

1 clasp

Scrap of card

Pliers (round nose, flat nose, side cutters)

Scissors

1. Cut a rectangle of card and fold in half.  Cut a slot across the card approximately 1 cm from the top. 

2. Starting from the bottom, wind the embroidery floss loosely around the card until you have approximately 3-4 inches left (cut off at the bottom of the card).

3. Wrap the left over piece of floss around the top part of the tassel, through the slot you cut out in step 1, and tie a secure knot at the back.

4. Slide your scissors between the two sides of card at the bottom and carefully cut through the embroidery floss. Slide your tassel off the card.

5. Cut around 4 inches of jewellery wire. Slide partway through the loop at the top of the tassel so approx. 1 inch sticks out on one side of the tassel. Using the pliers, bend the two sides of wire up around the head of the tassel and wrap the shorter end around the longer end.

6. Thread the bell cap onto the wire, over the top of the tassel. Add whichever bead you want on top of the tassel and bend the remaining wire into a loop with the round-nose pliers, cutting off any excess with side-cutters.

7. Attach the tassel to the centre of your chain using a jump ring.

8.  Thread a bead onto an eye pin. Bend the straight piece of wire over round-nose pliers to make a loop and cut away any leftover wire. Repeat for the other five beads.

9. Fix the beads to the chain at equally-spaced intervals of 1.5". To do this, open a chain link using round-nose pliers and thread on the factory-made loop of the eye pin. Close the link using flat-nose pliers. Now open the other loop on the eye pin and attach to the other end of chain, joining it up. Close the loop with round-nose pliers.

10. To finish, attach a clasp and split ring to the ends of the necklace.

Linking up at:

Monstars

Making these ‘Monstar’ monsters has been a hobby of mine for a few years. Now I’ve made a whole heap of them!

It began with Percy (above, far right). I made him to kill some time and use up a few fabric scraps (and also some of the soft toy eyes I bought in a closing down sale).

After Percy came others; I experimented a little to make monsters with different shaped heads, ears, and three legs!

These are so simple and fast to make that I moved on from making them just for myself, and made a bunch for friends, too!

Whilst some went to parts of the UK, others went further afield:

Jasmonster went to live in Finland. He wears a rose-and-feather headpiece and has a toy dinosaur all of his own.

This monster, inspired by the song ‘MOnsTar eAT CanDy & cHocOLaTo’ by Japanese band the fool, went to live with a fan of said band in Tokyo. His chocolate and candy are movable.

MiMo went to live in Canada. His zippered mouth can be unzipped and his clock counts up to 13. MiMo is inspired by MiMi, vocalist of Japanese band THE VELVET.

(Picture has been swiped shamelessly from the blog of MiMo’s owner.)

This vinyl-and-polkadot monster sports a cute red bow and lives in the UK--but watch out for those sharp teeth!

Another UK resident, this piratey guy loves to wear an eye patch, even though he has two eyes.

With a ton of fabric scraps, embellishments and plastic eyes still waiting to be used, these are far from being the last Monstars.

Music: David Mead

When I started this blog, I didn't intend on writing about music--lord knows I talk enough on the subject as it is!

But when it comes to things I enjoy, my resolve has never been too strong, and when I saw that David Mead was offering a free download, 'Live At Eddie's Attic 2/4/09' my resolve completely crumbled!

I saw David Mead back in 2004 as a support act on Bic Runga's UK tour (the tickets were a birthday present from a friend) and was really impressed. Enough so that I bought a CD!

The lyrics are intelligent and poetic; each song paints its own vivid picture through its harmony and David's smooth, melodic voice. 

A fantastic and severely underrated pop act, David Mead is well worth a listen.

Links:
Official Site: www.davidmead.com / www.mineandyours.com
Official Blog: http://stillwaitingforthephonetoring.blogspot.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/mineandyours

His web site also has links to iTunes, or if you're old-fashioned like me, there are plenty of CDs on Amazon!

Valentine's Recap

With Valentine’s Day mere hours away, here’s a recap of this year’s Valentine-related posts on Unfortunately Oh!

These ‘hanging hearts’ are a cheap, quick way to finish off Valentine’s décor. All seven of these could easily be made inside a day with time to spare.

Tutorials:

Fabric heart with charm

Scented hanging heart

Beaded heart

Recycled soft drinks can heart

‘Heartcatcher’

Engraved wooden heart

Messy wire hanging heart

This button badge heart picture is a remake of a fantastic picture selling online at £175. The original 'Button Badge Heart Picture' by Brigitte Herod costs far more than I can afford, so I made my own--and explained the process in this handy how-to.

Another heart for hanging on display was this heart-shaped wreath, made using wire, a florist’s decoration, and some ruffled trim. Again, this was posted on Unfortunately Oh!: Ruffled Heart Wreath Tutorial

To all the jewellery lovers out there, this Key To Your Heart necklace tutorial is for you!

And of course, where would we all be without a little shopping?  In ‘Valentine’s Décor’ I looked at what’s on offer at three stylish online shops. Pictured above: Heart bowl and nibble dish set, £33 (includes a bowl, 3 dip dishes & spoons plus a tray) and Gingham heart tea cosy, £30 (various colours).

Whether you're attached or single, I hope you all have a fabulous valentine's day! 

Tutorial: Messy Metal Wire Hanging Heart

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Here’s the last one of these hanging heart tutorials! This heart steps away from the cliché reds, pinks, and softness associated with Valentine’s day in favour of a more industrial inspired style.

Time needed: approx 1 hour

You’ll need:

Various gauges of wire

Pliers (heavy duty and jewellery pliers)

Bead stringing wire

Crimps

Beads

Cord or ribbon for hanging

1. As with the heart dream-catcher tutorial, make a circle with your thickest gauge wire (an old coat hanger is good) and form a loop by bending one end of the wire and wrapping the other end around the loop.

2. Reshape into a heart and wrap 2-3 other lengths of wire around that shape.

3. Wrap 2-3 lengths of finer wire (I used jewellery wire) around the heart, being sure to wrap it several times around each end of the wire left sticking out in step 2.  Also wrap a length of wire around the hook you created in step 1.

4. Use a crimp to attach the end of a length of bead-stringing wire to the top centre of the heart, closing the crimp with flat nosed pliers.

Thread on another crimp, then your bead(s) and two more crimps. Don’t close the crimps yet.

Fix the end of the wire to the bottom point of the heart with the lowermost crimp on the wire and cut off any excess wire.

Position the beads on the wire and close the crimps to set in place.

5. Add a piece of cord or ribbon to hang. 

I hope you guys have enjoyed and been inspired by these heart tutorials! I've had fun making them and experimenting with different materials!

Tutorial: Engraved Wooden Hanging Heart

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Today’s heart how-to is the second to last, and uses thin plywood to create this lightly engraved wooden hanging heart.

I used birch plywood for this little project; it’s thin enough to cut with scissors. Plywood can be bought from good model shops.

Time needed: approx 1 hour

You’ll need:

Thin plywood

Ribbon

Heart template

Pencil

Eraser

Scissors

Hole punch

Fine sandpaper

Clear varnish (I used spray varnish)

1. Draw a heart on the plywood using the heart template and cut out with scissors.

2. Use sandpaper to smooth around the edges.

3. Make a mark on the heart with pencil where you want to thread the ribbon through. Take the bottom off your hole punch.

4. Turn the hole punch upside down and slide in the heart until the mark you made in step 3 is visible through the punching hole at the bottom of the hole punch. Once aligned, punch out a hole on the heart.

5. Use a pencil to draw the pattern you want to engrave on the heart, but take care not to press too hard. It doesn’t matter if you make a mistake as it can be erased.

6. Engrave the pattern into the wood with the point of one blade of the scissors. This might take some time! If you’re using birch plywood as I did, scraping away the top layer of wood will reveal a reddish shade underneath.

7. Once you’re happy with your engraving, spray the heart with clear varnish. Once dry, add ribbon or twine of your choice to hang.

 

Painting: If you wish to paint your heart, use some acrylic, poster paint or wood stain to decorate it before varnishing.

Come back tomorrow for the final instalment of these hanging heart tutorials!