Pretty Easy Halloween Earrings

These are just about as easy as the bracelet I posted on Thursday and as luck would have it, they match. I completed both of them in under an hour - well under an hour actually.

Materials:

• Earring findings
• 2 different beads - I went with 8mm black and 10mm tiger's eye green
• Spacer beads
• 1 inch head pins (there are 2 major pins in jewelry making, head pins and eye pins. Head pins have - well, heads. Eye pins have loops, or eyes.)
• Round nose pliers
• Chain nose pliers

Step 1 - Thread the beads onto the headpins

Step 2 - Using the chain nose pliers bend the top of the pin at a 90° angle.

Step 3A - Take the round nose pliers and place them at the end of the pin with your pliers grasped in your hand, palm up. 

Step 3B - Holding the beads with one hand, twist the round nose pliers around so that your palm is now facing down and you've created and eye on the top of the pin.

Step 4 - Open the eye of the earring finding and place the eye of the beaded section onto the earring finding.

There you go - earrings to match the bracelet. 

Of course you're not limited to halloween themes - you could do anything you want... including your favorite sports team.

GO 'CUSE!!!

Spider Vase

Another holiday season another version of the vase, the very simple vase that I picked up 6 of on clearance at AC Moore for $2.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Here is what I started with:

Materials:

• $2 Ceramic Vase
• Black vinyl
• Paper Doll Dress Up Cart

Step 1 - Cut several spider webs at a variety of sizes.

Step 2: Weed out the portions of the design that you won't need.

Until you've revealed the spider web.

Repeat with the others.

Step 3 - Apply to the clean vase.

Then add the others...

Final little detail, my little spider friend.

The finished piece:

 

Friday Fail - Phone Photos

This is what happens when you let your kids play with your camera - they lose it and you end up having to use your phone to take tutorial pictures for your blog.

No matter how you try to adjust them in iPhoto or photoshop, they just don't do your project justice.

Ughhhhhh

Super Simple Halloween Bracelet

If you've been avoiding making jewelry, but want to, this is the perfect project to start with. Especially the bracelet - you don't even need any special tools for it - $10 or less in supplies and you'll have what you need for more than 1 bracelet. As soon as I saw these tiger's eye green beads, I knew they'd been fun for halloween-time. I'll post the tutorial for the earrings next week...

Materials:

• Stretch Magic - this is the elastic material that you'll string the beads onto
• Super glue or "bead glue" - seriously, all bead glue is, is super glue. (But if I bought super glue, my husband would have eventually put it in the junk drawer and I wouldn't have it when I needed it. "Bead glue - he'll leave alone.)
• Beads
• Tape measure
• Scissors 
• Scotch tape
• Pictured above is a beading tray - they are under $5, but you don't really need it. Just lay down a towel to keep your beads from rolling away.

Step 1 - Measure your wrist. Your finished bracelet will be this measurement plus half an inch.

Step 2 - Cut the Stretch Magic to the size you want, plus 4 inches:

Step 3 - Secure one end of the elastic with scotch tape, this will keep the beads you string from winding up on the floor. 

Step 4 - Plan out your beads, I didn't like my first attempt, their was too much of a difference in the size of the beads. I ended up using a 8mm black bead to go with the 10mm green. 

10mm green with 6mm black - didn't like it.

10mm green beads with 8mm black - that's better.

Step 5 - Begin stringing your beads onto the elastic, keeping an eye on your finished size.

Step 6 - When you've reached the size that determined you'd need, secure the end with tape and try it out on your wrist just to be sure. The size of your bead can impact the size you need for the finished bracelet, the bigger the bead, the larger the bracelet will have to be.

Step 7 - tie a square knot with the 2 ends of the elastic.

Step 8 - Take 1 end of the elastic and thread it back through one of the beads so that your two ends of elastic come out of the opposite sides of same bead - but keep the knot visible, don't pull it through - yet.

Step 9 - Add a drop of glue to the knot and then pull the end of the elastic through, into the bead and allow it to set for 3-5 minutes.

Step 10 - Trim the ends of the elastic and you're done.