Elegant Pearl Necklace

Wire Crochet Bracelet: Brianna

Hey, friends!  Remember Brianna, the second place winner from this year's One Crafty Contest?  She knows how to make a super-cool kind of jewelry I had never tried, so today she's here to share it with all of us...enjoy!

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Hello! I'm Brianna, and I blog over at CraftandRepeat.

Boho Beaded Bracelet

I don't know about you, friends, but my summer wardrobe consists of a variety of different colors.  I've got some coral, some yellow, lots of turquoise, some pink, various shades of blue, and even some black and white.  So, I decided to make myself a bracelet that would match just about anything so that I can grab it and go, knowing it will look great no matter what I'm wearing for the day.  In the end, it actually ended up being two bracelets that I can either wear individually or stacked.  Here's how I made them, and you can too!

Treasures of the Ocean Jewelry Set

Hey, friends!  You know how much I love the beach, and as much as I thoroughly enjoyed our recent vacation, I'm kind of bummed that it's already over for this year.  So, when I saw these gorgeous green shell beads that remind me of the ocean, I thought I'd make myself a jewelry set that will make me think of my favorite place all summer long, even when I'm not there.

Scrabble Tile Necklaces and More!

Each month, I look forward to getting together with some of my in-person crafty friends and making a project together!  I started organizing our "Crafty Ladies" group at the beginning of this year, and we've made some really fun things, like our Decorative Wooden Blocks, Fabric Covered Flowerpots, and Wooden Eggs.  This month, due to Mother's Day and Memorial Day and vacations, only four of us were able to get together, but we had a great time making Scrabble Tile Necklaces plus some beaded jewelry.

Scrabble Tile Necklaces are one of the easiest jewelry projects to create!  Here's what you need:

Amethyst Memory Wire Bracelet

Friends, if you've been paying attention to sports news recently, you'll know that the NFL draft just happened.  My Baltimore Ravens had a few important picks, and we're on the way to building another championship team this year!  Of course, I'll need to be ready to wear my purple when preseason starts in a few months, so when Wholeport.com sent me these amethyst beads to play with, I didn't waste any time making a pretty memory wire bracelet with them!

Half Beaded Bracelet

Hi there, friends!  Today I wanted to share one of my most recent jewelry projects with you!  If you follow my buddy Meredith at Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home, you may have seen this already because I guest posted on her blog while she was at SNAP! {lucky girl!}  But, for those of you who might have missed it, here it is:

Dangle Shell Earrings

You all know that one of my favorite colors this season is coral!  But, a close second is royal blue.  It's so deep and gorgeous, and will transition really well into summer too with its nautical feel.  I have a few favorite blue pieces in my spring and summer wardrobe, but I didn't have a pair of earrings that I loved to go with them.  So, what's an artsy mama to do?  Make some, of course!

Here's how I did it, and you can too!  Wholeport.com provided me with the beads; here's everything I used:

Colorblocked Earrings

Hey, friends!  As I was doing some clean-up work on the blog recently, I came across an old guest post I did for someone else's blog back when One Artsy Mama was very new, and it occurred to me that many of you probably never saw this project.  I absolutely love these earrings, and color blocking is still a huge fashion trend for this Spring {I was ahead of my time!}, so I thought I'd re-share them with you today!  My apologies in advance for the crummy photos...it was before I had my new camera equipment and before I knew much about editing too...

They're really simple, so even if you've never ever made jewelry before, you can do it!  Ready?  Here they are!

I decided to make them a combination of magenta, orange, and yellow so that they'll really stand out with a black/neutral outfit or match anything that has one of those colors in it.  You can make them with any color beads you like.  Here's how to do it:

Multicolored Statement Necklace

Hey, friends!  If you've been hanging around for awhile, it probably comes as no surprise that my obsession for this Spring is coral!  So, naturally I've been working on making some fun jewelry pieces to wear with my coral outfits {most notably the infamous PYP midi skirt}.

I've made several coral memory wire bracelets and a necklace already, but this time, I wanted to go with something multicolored so I could wear it with pretty much any outfit I put together.  Here's what I came up with!

MULTICOLORED STATEMENT NECKLACE

Materials:

- assorted beads

{mine are 14mm Kallaite beads from Wholeport.com}

- stringing wire

- two crimp beads

- two large jump rings {mine are ovals}

- chain {whatever length you desire}

- needle nose and flat nose pliers, wire cutters

STEP 1: Arrange your beads in the order you want them.  I played around with several different patterns before finding the one I liked best.

STEP 2: String beads onto your stringing wire.  Or use child labor...lol. 

STEP 3: Add a crimp bead and jump ring to each end.

To do this, thread wire through crimp bead, then through the jump ring, then back down through the crimp bead. Use a crimping tool to secure the crimp bead, or squeeze it tightly with pliers.  Cut excess stringing wire.

STEP 4: Attach chain to jump rings on both sides.

If you're making a long necklace like mine, you don't need a clasp because you can just slip it over your head.  If you prefer a shorter necklace, cut the chain in the back and add a clasp and jump ring.

Now it's ready to wear!  I love the variety of colors because it will go with pretty much anything in my closet!   Especially my coral pieces...;)

What do you think?  Is there a place in your jewelry wardrobe for a multicolored statement necklace like this?

Hugs & Glitter,

Seed Bead Pendant

For some reason, I've been in a major jewelry-making mode lately.  Maybe it's because with spring just around the corner, I'm excited to put away my sweaters and put together fun outfits for a new season!  In any case, here's one of the most recent pieces I've made...with some help from my sidekick, Little Crafter.  It's perfect for crafters of all levels, because it requires no jewelry tools, beading, or wire wrapping skills.  Take a look...

Materials:

- assorted seed beads

- blank pendant {these come in all shapes; rectangle, circle, square, oval, heart...}

- ball chain

- Mod Podge Dimensional Magic

Step 1: Choose your seed beads.  I'm going to estimate that for a pendant the size and shape of mine, you need between 100-115 beads.  Yours may need more or less, based on the pendant you choose and the size of your seed beads.

This was actually a great stash-busting project for me, as I had these sitting around.  My mother-in-law got this for me at a yard sale last summer...an entire 9x13 baking pan FULL of assorted colors, shapes, sizes, and styles of beads.  I've never been willing to make the time to sort them all out, so they just sit there unused most of the time.

 You can use any color combination you like.  You can also stick with all one color, or shades of the same color.  I wanted something bright and fun that would match just about anything, so as I sorted, I pulled out pinks, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, purples, and whites.  I'm thinking of making a black and purple Ravens one next!  And yes, sorting through all those beads was every bit as tedious as you'd imagine it to be...uggggh.

Step 2: Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the inside of pendant.  Add beads.

You can see that my little helper got to do this part.  I had to do the boring sorting, and he gets to do the fun part!  As usual...

This is how it will look.  You may want to take your finger and brush off the extras at this point.  Anything that sticks up above the sides of the pendant should probably come off.

Step 3: Apply a coat of Mod Podge Dimensional Magic over beads.

You want to cover them completely so it will from a resin-like coating.  If bubbles form, pop them immediately with a pin or your finger.  Let it sit in a level spot and dry overnight.

Step 4: Add a chain and wear it with your favorite outfit!

I chose to use a ball chain, but you can put it on any kind of chain or cord and at any length you like!

Super-simple, right?  It's quick, it's easy, and it's pretty inexpensive too, especially if you already have some seed beads in your stash like I did!  What do you think?  Is it chic for Spring?  All I know is that it's Little Crafter approved!  {Oh, and the hygienist at our dental office likes it too!}

Hugs & Glitter,

Coral Memory Wire Bracelet

Spring is {hopefully} just around the corner, friends, and all of my reliable fashion sources seem to agree on one thing: the hot color for this season is going to be CORAL!  {Hence, I bought the infamous coral skirt you've probably seen on Facebook}.  

One of the easiest ways to add a new color into your wardrobe is to start with some fun jewelry.  There's plenty of coral jewelry in the stores right now since it's going to be such a popular color...in fact, I just saw a bunch today in Target...but I already had these gorgeous coral shell beads in my stash, so I decided to make myself a bracelet.  Here it is:

Materials:

- 20 coral shell disc beads

- memory wire

- crimp tubes

- needlenose pliers and wire cutters

- crimp tool {optional, but super-helpful!}

A quick note about the coral beads I used; mine are from Consumer Crafts and they still have them available.  They cost less than $2 for a 12" strand which is more than enough to make this bracelet and a pair of matching earrings.  This is not a sponsored post {although I wish it were!}, I ordered and paid for them on my own and just wanted to share the deal with you.

STEP 1: Cut desired length of memory wire.  I cut off about 4 coils.  You can always trim the excess later.  Use pliers to bend one end into a loop.

STEP 2: Thread a crimp tube onto your wire until it's about 1" from your end loop.  Use crimp tool to secure it, or simply squeeze it tightly with flat pliers.

STEP 3: Slide a bead onto the wire and let it rest against your crimp tube.  Thread another crimp tube on and secure it on the other side of the bead using your tool or pliers.

STEP 4: Repeat step 3, continuing the pattern "crimp tube, bead, crimp tube" and leaving about 3/4" space between beads until your bracelet is the desired length.  Cut excess wire and form a loop on the other end.

Now your bracelet is ready to wear!

You can give it as many beads and loops as you like to suit your own personal style.  Another option is that you can simply string all the beads side by side, leaving out the crimp tubes, which gives you a different look...see my Memory Wire Shell Bracelet tutorial for more photos and step by step instructions on that variation.

Anyway, I'm loving how this turned out, and I'm excited about the coral trend!

I think it goes really well with my not-exactly-coral-more-like-road-cone-orange skirt, don't you?  {oh, and if you're wondering, the cool turquoise watch is a Target special.}

What about you; do you plan to work coral into your wardrobe this Spring?  I'd love to see photos of your best outfits!

Hugs and Glitter,

Beaded Windchime

Can you believe Valentine's Day is over and we're looking ahead to March and spring?  Hooray!  Spring can't come soon enough for this Artsy Mama {or my Little Crafter, who cannot wait to play outside again}!

We decided to make a little something to hang outside in the hopes that nice weather is just around the corner!

TERRACOTTA POT WINDCHIME

Materials:

- terracotta pot

- acrylic paint {LC's was a birthday gift from our friends at Craftprojectideas.com}

- assorted beads

- some kind of cord: ours was elastic, but you can use anything your beads will fit on

- hot glue

STEP 1: Paint your pot and let it dry.  Little Crafter opted to use his new favorite method, which involved putting four shades of blue paint on a paper plate, mixing it with his hands, and rubbing it onto the pot.

He thinks you should try it too.

STEP 2: While the pot dries, string your beads.  You can make as many strings as you like; we opted for three.  Elastic, thread, yarn, fishing line, jute, or any kind of cording will work for this as long as the holes in your beads are large enough.  I tied a knot at the bottom of each string, then let LC do the beading all by himself.

Leave some extra cord at the top so you have room to glue it in the pot.  I tied a knot at the top of each string to make sure the beads stayed on.

STEP 3: Glue beaded cords to the inside of the pot.  This isn't going to look pretty, but it's inside. Shhh! Use plenty of glue so that the weight of the beads doesn't make it fall apart.

Here's how it should look once the beaded strings are glued in place.  All that's left is to make a hanger!

STEP 4: Attach a loop to the top of the pot to hang it.  We used a shoelace.  I threaded it up through the hole in the bottom of the pot, then back down and knotted it inside.

Then, hang it and enjoy!

Are you starting your Spring projects yet?

Happy Crafting!

Memory Wire Shell Bead Bracelet

Friends, I have a new obsession.  Memory wire.  I love this stuff!  Jewelry making is so easy when you have it on hand!  Here's my latest creation:

SHELL BEAD MEMORY WIRE BRACELET

Materials:

- memory wire

- beads 

- small heart charm and jump ring {optional}

- wire cutters

- needlenose pliers

My beads are 11mm shell discs that I ordered from ConsumerCrafts.com a few months ago.  They don't have the magenta listed at the moment, but they do have purple, brown, and coral. {By the way, this isn't a sponsored post, I just wanted to let you know where my pretties came from in case you really wanted to duplicate the bracelet.}

STEP 1: I threaded all of the beads I had {27, I think} onto my memory wire first.  I wasn't sure how much room they'd take up and I didn't want to waste my wire by cutting it first and not using it all.

STEP 2: Once all the beads were on, I cut the wire, leaving about an inch on each end.

STEP 3: Using needlenose pliers, I bent one end of the wire 90 degrees, then rolled it in on itself.  You could form a simple loop, or you can continue rolling to create a little coil/spiral for decorative effect like I did.

STEP 4: I placed my heart charm on a jump ring and slid it onto the other end of the bracelet, then coiled that wire as well to finish it off.

 Now it's time for the incredibly awkward, "I'm trying to take a natural looking photo of my own arm" pictures.  Enjoy.

So there you have it, friends!  Quick, easy, and inexpensive...my big 3, you know!  With just a bit of memory wire and the beads of your choice, you can make your own...so what are you waiting for?!

Hugs & Glitter,