Re-Vamp your Friendship Bracelets!

No, this tutorial does not have you making any type of designer DIY! 

It's a simple tutorial to make cool the-dye friendship braided bracelets. I came up with this idea when trying to get a more dainty tie-dye effect, instead of just using those thick strands of embroidery floss. This tutorial is simple, but just a bit tedious. The results are very pretty though! And you can add any kind of charms you want, which is the best part!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are scissors, small charms, and embroidery floss.  Use as many colors as you want. Each color combination will have different results!

Step 2: Cut your embroidery floss. I used about 1 foot of the floss, but my wrists are small. It's better to cut more than less. I used about 11 strands of my floss. Now, separate the floss into it's individual threads (tedious!!) and lay out on your table, careful not to tangle them.

Step 3: Group all of your individual threads into 3 big groups, making sure you get a variant amount of colors in each group. Knot at the top, and braid. You should get a nice tie-dye effect!

Knot at the end, when it's long enough to tie on your wrist. 

Make them in a variety of colors! Also, vary the amount of strands you use (more, less) to make thinner and thicker bracelets.

To add charms, simply place charms on a jumping and add in the middle of your braid. 

You are finished! Add as many or as little as you want!

I made a set out of my three friendship bracelets, with coordinating charms. Here are the photos!

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

Gorjana Earring DIY- "Love Story Hoops in Chocolate"

Gorjana's Love Story Hoops with chocolate pearls

From jewelry design company Gorjana, famous for their simple yet chic metal designs, comes these classic hoop earrings made with pearls and faceted silver beads. Gorjana jewelry has been featured in tons of fashion magazines including People and InStyle, to name a few. 

These earrings are perfect to wear to both work and parties, as their simplicity lends itself to many outfits and styles. My tutorial below shows you exactly how to replicate these. What's good about these earrings is that you can change the colors of both the pearls and the faceted beads, as well as make them with either gold or silver wire/findings to suit your taste.

  

My version!

  Plus, the Gorjana earrings are $80. I made mine for less than $4, using wire scraps and glass beads. 

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, silver (or gold) craft wire, two silver (or gold) ear wires, 4mm glass pearls and 3mm faceted glass beads. If you don't have chocolate-colored pearls and silver faceted beads, like I didn't, I will show you how to transform them with a little nail polish and toothpicks!

To make your chocolate pearls, simply stick the pearl on the end of a toothpick and dip into a tube of shimmery brown nail polish (I used Sally Hansen Beautiful in Bronze) and stick the other end of the toothpick in some thumb tack to hold it upright and still. Repeat with other pearls and let dry about an hour (you want the nail polish to fully dry so it isn't  gummy, so no rushing!). For the faceted beads, stick onto the end of toothpicks as well, but paint these with a coat of silver nailpolish, no dipping. If you dip, it will smooth out the facets in the beads too much. Let these dry as well. Gently twist off toothpicks to release.

I used 4 pearls and 5 faceted beads per earring. The Gorjana earrings have 5 pearls and 6 faceted beads, but I wanted my hoops to be a little smaller (their hoops are 2" wide). You can choose what you want to do! 

Also, if you want to use different color pearls and faceted beads, go ahead! These earrings are totally versatile!

Step 2: Make the beaded link. You want to cut about 2.5" or so of your craft wire. Make a small loop at the end with your pliers, and string on your beads: faceted, pearl, faceted and so on, ending with a faceted. Cut excess wire if needed and loop the side closed. Repeat for second link.

Step 3: Make your large loops. Loop the remaining craft wire around a bottle of paint or some other round object and then cut to create two large loops. Mine were a little less than 1.5" wide. Take the ends of the large loops and make a small loop with your pliers on either side (last pic.). Now twist these small 90 degrees so that they are streamlined and don't stick into the center of the small loop.

Step 4: Finish. Take your beaded link and attach to one of your large loops (first pic.) on either side. Repeat with other link and large loop. You probably will need to gently bend all the wires a bit so that they create one large circle. To finish, add your ear wires to the top of the earrings.

This is what they should look like!

How they look when worn.

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

Easy Ettika Bow Bracelet

the spec sheet!

This tutorial is super fast and super easy!

Ettika is a jewelry company popular among celebs and fashionistas alike, and their works have appeared in a ton of fashion magazines as well. This bow bracelet is totally doable for a DIY, and it doesn't require mad skills to make!

This sells for $32 on their site. You can make yours for less than $3. Who needs to know?!

As you can see, I made mine in silver; I wear a lot more silver and I had extra silver chain and findings on hand. They make gold and silver versions, so pick whichever metal you like better.

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, a paintbrush, clear lacquer, scissors, polka dot ribbon (Ettika makes green, blue and yellow versions of their bracelet so pick one of those colors), two jump rings, a clasp set, and chain.

My ribbon was about 1cm. wide, but it's ok if the size varies a little, it won't change the look entirely.

Step 2: Make the bow. Take your length of ribbon and make a loop in the center around your first finger (pic 1). Take the ribbon on the bottom, and loop back up around your first finger, over your thumb. Take the ribbon to the back of your first finger (pic. 2). Pinch the first loop you made along with the part we just took over the thumb with your other hand (pic. 3). There should be a small opening at the right to pull that ribbon from pic. 2 thru. Pull to form the bow. The arrows show you which way to pull the ribbon.

You should end up with a bow in the center of your length of ribbon. If the polka dot side is not showing, twist the ribbon to make sure it shows on the front. You don't want the blank side to face front.

Step 3: Finish bow. Take you paintbrush and paint the back of the knot really good with lacquer to "glue" the knot in place. Then, cut the ribbon ends into triangles to create that cute cut look. I cut mine about 2.5cm from the center knot. Then, paint lacquer on the back edges of the ribbon to prevent fraying.

Step 4: Add chain and finish. Measure your wrist to cut the correct amount of chain. The bow will be about 2" long. I needed my bracelet to be 6" long. I needed 4" of chain on each side,  8" of chain total. You need to double the amount of inches of chain you need on each side of the bow because you will be making a loop, and essentially cutting the entire chain length in half by doing so.

Loop these two chain lengths through the loops in the bow. Close the chains by attaching your jump rings.

Add the clasp to the end. Finished!

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

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!

DIY- Anthropologie "Perched Harmonies" Necklace

Ready for another tutorial?

Anthropologie's Perfect Harmonies Necklace

What a pretty necklace. Not a pretty price! Make your own $68-looking Anthropologie designer necklace at home for barely no money at all. All that are needed are some beads, wire, and wire-working skills (don't worry, nothing too complicated here!). It's surprisingly quick to make, took me less than an hour.

My DIY Anthro Necklace

Get out your pliers; let's make some jewelry!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are pliers, thick gold wire (I just used craft wire I found at a hardware store, it's 3mm in diameter), thinner gold wire, a gold necklace chain, clasps for your necklace, two jump rings, 4mm round glass beads-assorted colors. You will also need a hard surface and hammer for making the pendant. I used a regular hammer from my garage (which gave the wire a rustic texture), but it would be a totally smart idea to use a jewelry making hammer found here, because it will give you that smooth shine. Also, you can use a stainless steel bench block found here to hammer on, which will give your piece a totally professional look. Those two tools are great to buy if you want to make more wire jewelry!

I used just plain 4mm glass rounds, as the Anthropologie necklace uses faceted gemstone beads. You can find similar 4mm gemstone rounds , like the ones I used, here.

Step 2: Make the wire pendant. Cut a little less than 3 inches of your thick wire. Go outside to your garage-or, a nice hard and somewhat surface. A sidewalk would even work, if you don't have the bench block.

 Time to hammer. Carefully hold one end of the wire while hammering down, flattening the wire slightly as you go. You don't want it super flat, just slightly. Use even pressure throughout the wire.

When it looks slightly flatter, hammer the ends extra hard to sort of "push" the wire outwards, flattening it a lot. Your wire should look like this when done. See how the ends are hammered more?

Step 3: Make the holes. I positioned a small ice pick with a nice point right the my end of my wire. I tried this with a fine nail at first; it just bent as the wire was stronger than it! So, if you don't have an ice pick you could probably use a tougher nail or a screwdriver. We just need something with a somewhat fine point. Again, I hammered this through both sides of my wire to make holes. Your pendant should look like this when done.

Step 4: Add your beads to the pendant. Use about 10 inches of your thinner gold wire; wrap the end around one end of your hammered wire a couple of times to secure. Then, string the beads on the other end. THE ORDER OF THE BEADS IS CRUCIAL TO GETTING THE LOOK; the Anthro necklace goes: clear yellow, yellow, opaque mint, blue, purple, pink, clear, red, orange, jade, pink, red, blue.

If you don't care about it looking the exact same or don't have the exact colors of the beads (some of my colors were slightly different hues), then just go with what you want. No worries.

Start wrapping the beads onto the pendant. Position a bead right against the front of the wire, pull with your right hand tightly while holding the bead with your left, and take the thin wire under the hammered pendant and up behind the back, then back down across the front. Continue about 3 more times to secure the bead to the pendant before adding another bead. Continue with the other beads to weave on all 12. 

Here are some close-ups so you can see the weaving technique. When you have the beads strung and excess wire, wrap almost up to the hole, trim, and fold the trimmed end across the back to hide. 

Step 5: Add your jump rings to the holes in the pendant. Attach even lengths of your wire to either end, and your clasps to the loose ends of the wire to make a necklace. The Anthro necklace is 17" long, but you can alter the length if you want.

You are finished! If you want to experiment, try different colors of wire like silver, bronze, copper, etc. Just make sure all your findings match your metal color. Also, you could use different colors and styles of beads (crystals, plastic, metal beads, wood, whatever!) to match your personality. 

The Anthro necklace, worn

A close-up

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