ROMWE Sweetheart Earrings

I loved these earrings when I saw them. However, I am not a "heart" person; I would wear these if they were, say, lightning bolts or skulls. Not hearts. 

I loved the combination of the shiny plastic with the metal studs.

So, using the same technique that I used in my Strawberry Pendant Necklace tutorial, I created look-alike of these ROMWE Sweetheart Earrings.

As with most of the tutorials, you can make these in any colors you want, and use gold or silver findings. I did mixed metal for the studs and silver fishhooks.

The small metal studs can be found at Michaels or a craft store in the scrapbooking or t-shirt transfer section. I have seen them in both; mine were the t-shirt transfers you are supposed to iron on.

If for some reason you cannot find them, you can substitute Swarovski glass flatback gems for sparkle. It would be cool to mix the studs and the gems as well!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, polymer clay clear gloss glaze, clay, nail studs (find them here), and earwires. You will also need a paintbrush.

Step 2: Roll the clay out in your pasta machine on the thickest setting (or with a rolling pin until a couple of millimeters thick). With cardstock, cut out the shape of a heart, making it as big or as small as you want. Now, trace this onto your clay and cut out with your blade.
If you want to get fancy, order yourself some polymer clay mini cutters and use these to create super uniform charms! They act just like cookie cutters. I should get myself some, it would make clay work so much easier!

Step 3: Poke a hole right at the top. Repeat last step and this one to make another cutout.

Step 4: Place your studs or gems all around the outline. Press down to embed the studs right in.

Step 5: Go and bake. I use a toaster oven at 125 degrees for about 15 min. Let cool.

Paint a nice thick glaze of lacquer on the top. Let dry, then paint sides and back. Let dry.

Attach earwires.

Finished!

These would be great for little girls. If you have small clay cutters in different shapes, feel free to use them too!

Mine measured about 2cm wide by 1.5cm long. I won't be wearing them, but my mom will!

All photos and instructions copyright Allison Cooling for Quiet Lion Creations.

If you share/use/post this tutorial, please link back to me. It is much appreciated!

Gemstone Bottle Tops

Here is a way to add style to your home!

These bottle toppers kind of remind me of something you'd find at Anthropologie or Pier 1, no? They'd probably be wayyy more expensive than these that you can make yourself, just saying'.....

This is just a super-easy and super-quick tutorial you can whip up in less than an hour. 

It was inspired by the urge to use up some of my more unsparkly glass gemstones, that I couldn't use in my jewelry. Plus, I had a small old bottle laying around that was found in the garage. Why not make art out of it?

Use this technique to spruce up other bottles you have laying around. They can hold anything you want! Beads, buttons, gems- whatever!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are glass gemstones (they need to be glass so we can bake with them. If you have flatback plastic ones, you can glue these on after baking), clay, an old glass bottle, glitter, clear lacquer and a paintbrush.

Step 2: Take a large marble of clay, and pinch one end to make a knob. Measure this knob so it fits nicely on the bottle top; not to loose, not to tight. Once you've go the right size, take your clay and roll it in the glitter, making sure you press the glitter down onto the clay to adhere.

Step 3: Press in your gemstones around the top, not on the knob part. When you've got all your stones in, press it on the bottle again to make sure the knob didn't change sizes. Bake at about 125 degrees for 20 minutes or so. You may need to adjust depending on what oven you are using. I use a toaster oven. Once dry, seal with lacquer. I also added one coat of glitter nailpolish for extra sparkle! I didn't paint this on top of the gems though, they might get glassy instead of faceted.

These would look great in bottle sets, maybe with jewel-toned glitter tops. They would also look great for a tablescape at a party, maybe each one holding different color beads or shells!