Candy Wrapper Bracelet

This is a project that just about anyone can do!!  My 11-year-old did this one all by herself!!  :)  I showed her how to do it & watched her work - - love it!!  ;)

We used:
* raw wood bracelet (Michael's - on sale for $0.59!!!)
* candy wrappers
* Mod Podge (we used clear & glitter)

Simply apply clear Mod Podge to the back of a candy wrapper - (we used Starburst), then apply wrapper to bracelet!  Continue with the rest of the wrappers, until the bracelet is covered as desired!  Once covered, apply a coat of glitter Mod Podge.  Allow it to dry!  THAT'S IT!!!  So simple - I think there might be a few other projects in the near future. . . being that I bought a ton of wooden pieces!!  ;)  (You can see my teacher necklace I made over HERE!!)

 We didn't use the square piece yet - - but soon!!!  ;)

Spool Bracelets - Part 2

Finally getting around to posting the rest of the spool bracelets!! :) These are super easy & only limited to your creativity (and supplies)!! ;) If you need (the super easy) directions, just click on the category "spools" or "jewelery" on the right!

Washer Necklace

I've seen these on a few other blogs, but wanted to try them myself!! They are super simple, super cheap, & (if you're prepared), super quick!!

What you need:
* metal washers (found at Home Depot/Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc.):

* scrapbook paper
* glue that will hold metal (ie. Gorilla Glue, hot glue, etc.)
* clear nail polish, Mod Podge, or any other clear top coat
* necklace chain, rope, ribbon, or whatever you want your necklace to be made of
* any embellishments you wish to add

For my 2 necklaces, I used scrapbook paper. First, I traced the washers on the wrong side of the paper, then cut the circles out. Apply the adhesive of your choice, (I used Gorilla Glue because that's what I had!), then attach the paper circle & allow to dry. After glue has dried, apply a top coat, (I used clear nail polish because I couldn't find my Mod Podge & it worked great!!), making sure to go over the edge a bit to seal off the paper! Once the top coat has dried, you can attach another washer, or add embellishments!! The final step is to add the chain or necklace of your choice! For the brown necklace, I used a chain that I had, with a small piece of chain to attach my lock & key:

For the other necklace, I used a "ready made necklace", that was black velvet, that I just looped around the washer! That's it - super easy, super cheap, & super quick!

You can also use nail polish to "paint" the washer for a cool effect:

I haven't done anything with it yet, but I thought the metallic blue was so cool, so I had to try it out!! :) - And it's a bad picture, so it doesn't really do it justice!! :(

Spool Bracelets

While looking through my ribbon today, (planning to make a hair bow), I found some empty spools & started to clean them out. Well, to carry them easier, I put them on my wrist - - then the my creative juices started flowing!! ;) Why not turn them into bracelets??!! I grabbed all my materials & went to work! My daughter wanted a pink & black one, so we used some sheer black ribbon, a silk flower & a cool button accent for the top!

First, I took the spool of ribbon apart. (Sorry for all the different colors of ribbon shown - I hope you can get the idea!!) ;)

Then, I put a dab of hot glue on the spool & tacked down one end of the ribbon - at an angle.

After that, I just wrapped the ribbon around, (putting little dabs of glue under the ribbon, on the inside of the bracelet, as I wrapped it), until I came back to the starting place! Then I added one last bit of glue to finish it off. Well, my daughter tried it on & it was WAY too big! So, I just cut it open & over-lapped it a bit, glued it together & made it work! :)

I added a small circle of light cardboard (cut from the pieces I removed from the spool) to the back of the flower, just to make it sturdier.

I attached the final piece, tied some extra ribbon on the sides, (put a small line of Fray Check along the edges of the tied ribbon), & ta-da . . . . one cute bracelet!!! :)

I'll post the other bracelets as soon as I give them away as gifts!! Stay tuned!! :)

Earring Re-do

My daughter wanted some black earrings, so we set out to find some. Looked at every store in the mall & didn't really want to pay $8 for one pair. Stopped by Wal-Mart & couldn't even find a pair there!! Thought about buying the materials to make a pair, but realized that it would be about the same as what I DIDN'T want to spend!! However, I found some earrings on clearance - 9 pairs for THREE dollars!!!!! Bargain! Well, the earrings were turquoise, yellow & green - - great colors, however, not black, and we didn't need 3 pair of each color! So, thinking like a crafter ;) I came up with a great plan. . . why not paint them!!!??? We went home & got out the nail polish & ended up with 9 new pair of earrings, all different colors . . . for only $3!!!

Like my Circle K earring holder??? ;) I tried a few other things to hold the earrings while I painted (polished) them, but this actually worked the best!!! We kept one of each of the original colors, then added black, purple, red, red/white/blue, and pink!! (One pair actually broke, so we only had 8 in the end - - still a great deal!!) After they dried, I went over them with clear, sparkly polish!!