Shrink plastic earrings

February 5, 2014.Reading time less than 1 minute.

shrink plastic earrings by thisblogisnotforyou.com

A little while ago, I ordered some shrink plastic online since I’d seen so many lovely projects using shrink plastic.

Here’s my first go at using shrink plastic to make jewellery. I don’t really like how the bird cage earrings turned out, but I love the bobby earrings. I made them for my sister who was obsessed with them on her last visit.

shrink plastic earrings by thisblogisnotforyou.com

It was easier than I thought, the main problem was figuring out how much the plastic actually shrinks in the end. I started working on some Alice in Wonderland themed jewellery, but I have to finish quite a few sewing projects first, before I can continue working on that 🙂

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knotted necklace {diy}

December 31, 2012.Reading time 1 minute.

I made this neckace months ago, but couldn’t post it since I made it for someone who reads this blog frequently for Christmas…well, here it is. It’s fairly easy to do, but it took me about 2-3 Gilmore Girls episodes until I had threaded all the beads. (Don’t ask how many – I didn’t count!)

I used three different colours of tube beads in random order.

I basically made two strings (each consisting of eight single strings) and knotted them together using the Double Carrick Bend and twisted the ends.

For the fastener I made a loop out of rocaille beads and used a bigger square-shaped bead on the other end. I used crimp beads to seal the end.

One string is a little longer than the other – thus the necklace/knot is slightly asymmetric which makes it look more interesting.

Have fun – oh, and Happy New Year! 🙂

DIY grape-earrings and matching bracelet

December 16, 2012.Reading time less than 1 minute.

I made those a long long time ago, but I wanted to share this anyway.
I made two identical bracelets, one for my best friend and one for me. The matching grape earrings I made for myself. All I used were glass and plastic rocaille beads, earring hooks, a silver chain and silver wire in different strengths.

Refashion It! The Old Mirror [sort of tutorial]

November 10, 2012.Reading time 3 minutes.

I’m a girl. And I adore jewelry. Of course.

I love buying it, wearing it and making it myself. The only thing that annoyed me for years was not knowing how to store it.

I have a really nice jewelry stand for necklaces, but nothing for earrings – one of the reasons why I often wear the same earrings for weeks, because I don’t think of all the others stored in little boxes somewhere.

I found some really nice earing holders in a cute shop in Covent Garden, but too expensive for my taste. Nevertheless, they did inspire me to make my own.

Since I love how everything’s reflecting in the mirrors in jewelry shops and therefore looks so much nicer, I came up with the idea of upcycling an old mirror that has been waiting in a corner for months. (So old that it has an “made in GDR” stamp on the back cover).

It was rather easy to do, but it took some time and creativity to decorate it.

If you got an unneeded mirror and an old wooden frame, some wire and some bells and whistles for decorating, it’s easy to copy.

Here are some pictures of the crafting process:

The mirror’s original colour was red. Before painting it and adding wire and decoration, I removed the back cover and the glass panel.

First I sandpapered then painted the frame. (I did not only use plain white paint, but also light browns, ivory and grey to make it look more vintage). I used some old florist’s wire and shaped it with help of a pencil. I attached it to the frame by wrapping the ends around small nails (1”) .

Decorating is definitely the best part, but it takes a lot of time to find things that go well together and I tried a lot of different ideas until I came up with this:

I printed pictures on book pages and cloth, wrapped satin ribbon around the wire and found some pretty postcards to glue on the mirror.

Finally, all my little treasures have their own display.

We haven’t found a way to nail stuff onto the wall yet, since we don’t have wallpaper in our new flat (the plastering starts crumbling immediately 🙁 ). But it doesn’t look too bad sitting on the dresser.

diamonds are a girls best friend [Bracelet Tutorial]

September 22, 2012.Reading time 4 minutes.

…but not many of us can actually afford those pretty little friends. Me neither and that’s why I make a lot of my jewelry myself and try to do that as inexpensive as possible. I use all kinds of materials, just recently I tried making jewelry from old pieces of fabric and cheap plastic beads. It turned out really nice, I think.

Here is how to make one of those: (It takes about an hour, so take your time.)

#1 – What you need

Basically, you don’t need any fancy materials and tools to make this. Make sure you have:

– large plastic beads (they don’t have to be the same size) or an old necklace/ bracelet

– a piece of fabric/ scraps (it should be at least 30cm x 5cm, depending on the size of your beads)

– matching thread, a needle, scissors

– a matching, rather narrow piece of gift ribbon, if you want to give your bracelet a final touch up. Be creative with your choice of fabric and ribbon. I used a cream-coloured ribbon (6mm) for both bracelets.

You won’t need a sewing machine, but it’s useful and goes faster if you have one.

#2 Pick out the beads you want to use or cut an old necklace of yours. You can use plastic or wooden beads with different sizes and probably different shapes, as well, but make sure the size difference is not too big.

#3 Pick out the fabric and a matching ribbon (optional). If you want your bracelet to be more modest, leave off the ribbon. If you pick a fabric with a bigger pattern, try to imagine how it looks on your beads (Just wrap it around one of your beads and see what it looks like). You might be better off with a smaller pattern.

For the length of the fabric, measure the circumference of your wrist + some extra cm (30 cm should work for most of you). For the width, cover the largest bead that you are going to use + 1cm for the seam allowance.

#4 Fold the right sides together, sew the fabric end to end using 0,5cm seam allowance. Turn inside out. You can do that with the help of a pen or brush.

#5 Slide a bead into the tube (but leave at least 5cm of the tube open), then stick a needle through the tube above the bead and wrap it around the tube several times then tie it off. Try to hide the knot. Repeat until all the beads are in the tube (I used 10 beads (1,5cm) for each bracelet).

#6 After you finished putting the beads in, close both ends.

#7. Cut the ribbon (twice the length of your fabric). Sew it to one end of your bracelet, tie it off. Wrap it around the beads (see picture below) and sew it to the other end of your bracelet. I wrapped it around the ends several times before sewing it.

Use the loose ends of the ribbon to make a knot and a bow. And you’re done!