Disco Ball Nails

Sparkles!

I love them. I decided they'd be even better on nails than this Alice and Olivia dress.

The technique is really easy, all that's needed is some thick-cut glitter and clear nail polish.

Let's begin.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are clear coat, white nailpolish, and thicker cut glitter (not the fine stuff).

Step 2: Paint your nails with a coat of white. Let dry, then place a coat of clear on the nail. Dip immediately into the glitter. 

Step 3: When clear coat is still sort of wet, push glitter down on to nail. Flick off any of the fuzzy glitter and push down so only one layer of the glitter is on the nails. See the difference in the bottom row of pics? (first two before cleaning, last two after). On the top pic, my pinkie and ring finger haven't been cleaned, while the middle and first finger have. Make sure you take off any glitter that's sticking out so it's a nice flat, clean layer. Repeat with other nails.

Coat every nail with top coat to hold glitter on.

Nails sparkle like disco balls! Feel free to use multicolored glitter for a fun effect!

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!

Easy Sequin Bracelet

Very colorful, very sparkly, very easy. 

Yes, and a very easy technique.

This quick tutorial will have you whipping up bracelets for you, your friends, your other friends, maybe even one for your dog (don't judge).

Anyway, the tutorial awaits!

Step 1: Gather materials. All you need are some large sequins, two crimps, one clasp and jump ring, and fishing line. Or, you can use clear nylon beading cord.

Step 2: Cut a piece of fishing line that's a little longer than 2X the length you want your bracelet to be. Bend in half and thread on the jump ring, then the crimp through both sides of the cord. Crimp shut. 

Take a sequin; put one end of the thread through one side, then the other end through the other side. Bring the two end pieces up, pinch, and thread the sequin down all the way to the jump ring end. The fishing line is indeed a little slippery, just to warn you!

Step 3: For the next sequin, repeat the above step; but, to make your bracelet lay nicely, we have to make sure the cupped part of the sequin will face in the opposite direction of the last one we threaded. This way, the sequins will lay on top of each other nicely, instead of bunching up (yes, I know a blue sequin is at the end near the jump ring unlike a yellow in the last step. I decided to change the color I wanted to start with- just disregard!).

So, repeat the above step, but make sure you flip the sequin before threading with fishing line so that when you thread it all the way down, it faces the opposite direction of the one before it.

You can see how they lay on top of each other in the second pic.

Repeat steps 2 and 3 until your bracelet is the desired length. Finish off with the other crimp and clasp.

If you did it right, it should lay nicely without bunching up!
Sparkly!

Karen London- "Luxe"-inspired shiny earrings!

From Karen London

I like to get ready for the holidays early; well, my wardrobe at least! And of course, jewelry is the most important part. I found these designer earrings by Karen London on endless.com, an online store filled with designer jewels and more. I loved the chic look of the earrings, and the simplicity and monochromatic color. I found a way to make my own, altered version, using very simple "ingredients". I also made them in a gold instead of silver color scheme, and tapered the length of each dangle. The sequins are super sparkly and eye-catching, and are perfect for upcoming gatherings. Best part, you can choose any color or color combination for your earrings!

My version; I used gold.

My version, on.

Also, I didn't want to use a ton of jump rings for these earrings. The original earrings are connected by two jump rings per sequin. I found a way to make a "garland" of sorts to connect all the sequins instead! Save your jump rings for another project! :)

FYI- please excuse the teal paint on my hands in the pics! I was in the midst of another project when taking them!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are glue, sequins (with no holes, I bought these at Michaels), scissors, embroidery floss, two crimp beads, two earwires, and a toothpick. And, as always, pliers.

I made mine in a gold color scheme. The also end up being about 4" long, just like the original designer ones. Feel free to experiment with colors and lengths to make a customized pair for yourself!

Step 2: Make the sequin garland. Take the embroidery floss apart to it's individual strands. Run 'em through a hair straightener to make them nice and straight. Pick out your sequin colors. You will need 18 sequins for the first drop (pair them up so you have nine sets). I used all gold. Dab a spot of glue in the middle of a sequin with your toothpick. Take the string about 2" down from the end, and place right in the center of the sequin. Take your other sequin, and sandwich the string, placing it on top of the below sequin and squish together to adhere.

Step 3: Time to add your second sequin pair. Leave about a half centimeter of string in between each pair of sequins. Again, add a spot of glue to the center of your next sequin. Lay the string in the center, and sandwich. Squish the other sequin on top, making sure you place it exactly on top so there are no edges sticking out anywhere. Continue this process. Make sure the space in between sequins is as exact as can be (.5 cm), to keep the earrings looking clean and professional. It may seem slow at first, but it will go faster as you get used to the process! Continue with your nine sequin pairs. When your pairs are all up, set this garland strand aside. Repeat process to make second dangle (both shown in last pic).

Step 4: Make the second (and third) dangles. For the second dangles, you need 12 sequins all together, so six pairs. Repeat above process to make two six-pair-sequin-long dangles (shown in second pic). Finally, for the last dangle, you need 10 sequins, in 5 pairs. Repeat process to make two five-pair-long dangles. For the earrings, split all your garland into one 9-sequin-long, one 6-sequin-long, and one 5-sequin-long per pair (shown in last pic).

When the sequins are all dry, cut the end of the string right after the last sequin to finish the dangle. Refer to the picture if you need it!

Step 5: Finish the earrings. Take one group of your dangles and add a crimp bead to the top strings. Thread through the loop in your ear wire, and pass back through the crimp. Crimp shut with pliers. Cut strings right after crimp to clean.

Now, time to rock at a holiday party!

Sparkly sequins!

My earrings in different colors. Gold, multi, silver.

Wearing the trio!

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