Chain of Change

Life is in serious transition mode now.. In all of this change occurring, I am trying to keep in mind the adage,

"Every end is a new beginning."

After a year, I've decided to postpone my return to America and continue living abroad.

Though there are so many changes now, what hasn't changed is my continued search for inspiration and love for DIY :)

I made this jump-ring chain necklace a while ago now and am still waiting for the perfect opportunity to don it.

MariaFrancescaPepe Tubular Chain Bracelet

The inspiration came from a picture I found on Pinterest (of course!) of a MariaFrancescaPepe bracelet.

After studying the picture for awhile to deduce how the jump rings were attached to each other, I set to work.

At its most basic form, all you really need to make this is A LOT of jump rings, pliers (or two pairs to save your fingers!), and a clasp... and patience.

How To:

(I made these pictures in hopes of making the instructions as understandable as possible!)

1. Open a smaller jump ring (or a chain of them or a paper clip) and slide on two jump rings.

2. Open and add two jump rings perpendicularly to the first two grey jump rings.

3. Push the blue jump rings back (so that they are parallel with the smaller jump ring). 

4. Slide the grey jump rings open so they make a 'V' and have the blue jump rings come forward.  Open two more jump rings and attach them to the blue jump rings.

5. Add two more jump rings perpendicular to the green jump rings you just added.  This is the same thing you did in step 2.

6. Push the purple jump rings back (so they are parallel with the blue jump rings.  Again, this is the same as step 3).

7. Slide the green jump rings open so they make a 'V' and have the purple jump rings come forward.

8. Open two more jump rings and attach them to the purple jump rings.

Pretend these two new jump rings are the green jump rings in step 5 and that you now need to add purple jump rings and then light grey jump rings. 

Keep repeating steps 5-8 until you get to your desired length.  Add a smaller jump ring to the end and a clasp.

A beautiful jump ring chain made (hopefully!) easy!

I decided to make a necklace instead of a bracelet - thoughts?

Tri-Color Tassels

Some more tassel earrings! Hurray!

These are super simple DIY earrings made from string and 3 colors of seed beads.

my DIY earrings

What you need:
-2 earring hooks
-2 bead tips
-nylon string (preferably in the color of the lowest color bead, in this case, brown)
-3 colors of seed beads (or more if you'd like).
-needle
-scissors
-pliers

First, cut 10 pieces of nylon string, about 4 to 5 inches each, depending on how long you want the tassle.
Then, string one bead of the last color onto one end of a cut nylon string.  Pull bead to middle and fold in half.
After folding the string in half, you can put a the two string-ends through a needle to make your life easier.  String all the following beads onto the needle so the first bead is stuck at the bottom (and no knot is needed at end to keep the beads on!).
Put as many beads of each color as you like.  Lots of freedom here!
Leave yourself plenty of room at the top.
Make 10 of these beaded strings.
With 5 beaded strings, slip the remaining string through the bead tip.  Knot the tops of the strings well so they cannot slip through the bead tip.  Cut the excess string.  Use the pliers to close the bead tip.
Repeat with the second set of 5 strings.
Use the pliers to open the bottoms of the earring hooks and slip on the bead tips.  Use pliers to close earring hooks.
All done!                   
                                          Wearing my DIY creation:

The most time consuming part of this DIY is definitely stringing all of the seed beads!

Who Doesn't Like Braids?

I've seen this braided bead necklace on tons of Pinterest boards!
Of course, I had to make it!

The DIY Inspiration

The most time consuming aspect of this necklace was stringing 6 strands of beads (2 for each piece of the braid).

Supplies:

- a lot of 1 bead type

- string

- 6 crimping clasps (also called bead tips?)

- 2 jump rings

- chain

- closing clasp

-pliers

For photo instructions, check out this image.

I went to ACMoore and bought a pack of reddish coral beads for this.  I cut 6 pieces of string, and tied them 2, 2, and 2 (so three strands).  Once I beaded to the desired length, I closed the knots of each 3 strands to separate crimping clasps, on each side (so 6 clasps total). Close the crimping clasps.  Then, braid!!
Once the beads are neatly braided, I combined the 3 closing clasps on the left onto one jump ring, and the 3 clasps on the right onto a second jump ring.
Then, attach the chain to the jump rings on each side.  Open the chain at the top to put on a closing clasp.  All done!

I made a second one in white with gold chain for my mom.  But, it looked great on my sister, so we gave it to her!

Bauble Bead Necklace, Part II

My first post on this blog shared a pink beaded cluster chain necklace I made, inspired by this necklace.  It's one of my favorite necklaces, I wear it all the time!
My mom, a stellar crafter - (I always ask her advice when I make things!), asked me to make one for her also!

I made this one with gold chain instead of silver.  Rather than pink beads again, I used purple and gold beads, on gold head pins, with a gold spacer bead at the base.  I thought this color scheme would look good on her olive skin tone.

For some instructions on how to make this necklace, check out this post!

 

Which color do you like better??

Pink Bauble Bead Necklace

I have always been more of an earrings-girl, but necklaces have been on top of my DIY list this summer!
While browsing through the Old Navy site, I came across this necklace:

Old Navy Pink Beaded Cluster Chain Necklace

And I thought, "Wait, I can make that!"

What you need:
- 2 pieces of chain
          one with medium links (about 4 inches)
          one with small links (to go around neck)
- 30+ headpins
- 30+ glass beads in various colors within one color scheme
- end clasp and jump rings
- round-nose pliers and needle nose pliers
- wire cutters

Take the chain with medium sized links and start adding headpins with beads.
For a tutorial on how to put beads on headpins, reference this DIY on Flamingo Toes
Here are a few pictures from Flamingo Toes:

Add bead to head pin, hold pin in round nose pliers, wrap wire around pliers to create a loop.

For this necklace, do not cut the remaining head pin yet! The extra wire makes it easier to place the bead on the chain once the cluster gets busy.

Add anywhere from 3 to 5 beads per link on the chain, depending on the size of the beads and the clustering desired.
Once the wire is filled with beads, attach the smaller chain to each end of the medium chain to form a circle.
Estimate where the small chain will hit the back of your neck and if possible, open the chain, or cut a link with the wire cutters.  On one end of the chain, attach a clasp.  On the other end, attach as many jump rings as desired (to alternate the length of the necklace).
Now, use the wire cutters to cut off as much of the remaining head pins as possible.  All done!

Made it myself!