Vintage style cuff

First things first, this idea isn't originally my own. It was inspired by {this} tutorial over at I Heart Naptime.

Mine's a little different though. When I saw this pretty pleated ribbon at Hobby Lobby the very first thing I thought of was "Oh!! That would make an awesome cuff!" And here we are. You wanna make one?

Uh, don't mind the pic, I changed my mind a lot while I was making this. So, besides the glue gun, heat sealer, and scissors, you will need:

• Pleated ribbon
• Ruffled velvet ribbon
• Buttons
• Velcro
• Satin ribbon

Just pretend everything is in the picture, mmkay?

Wrap the ribbon around your wrist and subtract an inch. Cut the smaller ribbon the same length, and glue the ruffled ribbon on the pleated ribbon right down the middle.

Ok...I cheated a teensy bit here. I used button shank removers to take the shanks off, but this isn't necessary. You could glue them down just fine or use your scissors to take the shanks off. Don't throw rocks at me!

Arrange your buttons on your cuff in a pleasing way, and glue them down.

To close the cuff, I cut two 2 inch lengths of matching satin ribbon and heat sealed the ends. I glued them on the back side of the cuff.

The Velcro part of it...it's really just measuring and guessing. I wrapped the cuff around my wrist and overlapped the ribbons, then a glued on the Velcro where the ribbons overlapped.

See? It didn't totally match up, but since I measured it against my wrist it worked out perfectly!

And I really love how it turned out! The gold buttons really gave it a more vintage-ish feel.

(Dude, my hair is cuh-raaaazy in this one!)

I seriously love it, I want to wear it with everything and I am typically not a bracelet person.

We still have one more day of the Jewelry Making for the Non-Jewelry Maker series! Though tomorrow...I cheat a little bit. :( There are a few easy to find jewelry supplies but I couldn't pass up the opportunity for some really simple jewelry.

I'll give you a hint. It's the necklace I'm wearing.

Vintage style ring

As promised with your little teaser yesterday, the tutorial for the beautiful vintage style ring! It is so easy, you'll want to make a million of them. Not to mention they are adjustable, and take less than five minutes. Is that enough persuasion for you?

And they are so dang cute!! Eeps!! Ok, you will need:

• Old hair tie
• Vintage pin (or a regular pin, or a button)
• Hot glue gun
• Ribbon

Yeah, that's it. And you've probably already got all of it.

Measure it around your finger, you'll want it to be a teensy bit smaller than your finger so it will fit snugly. 

Cut it (oops, forgot yo mention you needed scissors, sorry). 

Hot glue the ends together. Cut a small piece of ribbon and heat seal it. 

And glue the ribbon around the raw edge of your ring. 

Pin that little pin on over the ribbon. The thickness of the band and the ribbon should keep everything nicely in place. If you have a button sew or glue it on. 

And slap the sucker on! Five minute cocktail ring anyone?

This is my serious model face. Obviously I've perfected it over the years!

But in all honesty, pay attention to that ring. That blingy little sucker deserves the attention. Not my lack of eyebrows. It's one of the major downfalls of being naturally blonde...your eyebrows are naturally blonde and they kind of disappear into your face. One time, when I was a wee youngin, I was in the grocery store with my mom and suddenly shouted:

True story. No, it really is a true story. And to think they've actually gotten a teensy bit darker since then.

Come back tomorrow for the last bit of "formal" jewelry! Hope you are liking the series so far. :)

Velvet choker

Squee!! Welcome to the first installment of "Jewelry Making for the Non-Jewelry Maker" series! I have been wanting to this series for some time now, I've had so many ideas swimming in my head and I am dang glad to be getting them posted!

Soo... what is "Jewelry Making for the Non-Jewelry Maker?" Well, it started out as a little challenge to myself. I do that a lot. "Amie, can you make this sewing item no-sew?" "What can you accomplish with your glue gun today?" "Hmm...can you make some jewelry without using any of your fancy tools?"

Shazam. Why yes I can. I played around with ribbon, trim, glue, buttons, and a bunch of other things in the craft store and came up with some jewelry pieces that can be made without any special tools, techniques, or supplies. Almost everything I used you should be able to find around your house, or in your craft stash. And just in time to stuff some stockings and keep your wallet at bay. Everything in the series costs pennies to make!

The first few tutes will be more "formal" jewelry, as formal as glue gunning can get that is. But my intention was more "Christmas party" jewelry. The others will be more casual, everyday jewelry. First item on the list, a velvet choker. For some reason, velvet chokers just seem so Christmasy to me, so festive!

Overkill? Yeah sorry. Picnik is way too fun.

As I was saying, I love velvet chokers around Christmas time. They are delicate, soft, and simple. I had one when I was younger (I almost typed "a little girl" until I remember that I am still in fact, little.) that I absolutely adored. So when Joann was having a great sale on trim, I snatched up the last yard of velvet ribbon to make this lovely choker.

All items in the series will need a glue gun, scissors and something to heat seal ribbon, so make sure you always have that on hand. In addition, you will need:

• Velvet ribbon
• Blingy trim
• Blingy button
• Velcro (oops, forgot to put that in the pic.)

Wrap the ribbon around your neck comfortably, and add an inch. Cut.

Glue velcro on the ends so that you can securely clasp the choker around your neck.

Glue your blingy trim around the velvet ribbon. At this point, I looked at my creation and realized that it looked like a black version of my cat's collars. Fail Amie. So I added some bling.

You could certainly glue your button/embellishment on, but this button is from my Mugga and I didn't want to ruin it with hot glue, sew I sewed it on. (Intentional pun)

Oh, it might be helpful to make some room for it. Jus' saying.

I put that choker on and BAM, I felt like a kid again. Actually, I felt more like Alice.

Ok, ok mine is totally different I know.

But I still like it. :)

What's that on my finger, you ask? That's tomorrow's tutorial. :) See you then my friends!

Guest Post: How to make your own scrapbook embellishments from CreationsbyJune

Our last (but CERTAINLY not least!) guest poster is June from {CreationsbyJune} June is one talented chick, you need to see some of her paper bag albums! And check out her latest Craigslist find...I am sooo incredibly jealous of the deal she scored! She's here to teach you how to make your own scrapbook embellishments. If you're anything like me, saving a few bucks on pretty things sounds like my kind of day!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hello!  My name is June and I have a love for things that are shiny and sparkly and soft and fun!  You will find me over at CreationsbyJune I do a little of this and that, but try to stick with just scrapbooking and sewing and maybe some furniture refinishing.  I tend to get in over my head with some of my supplies, but also just hate to spend a ton of money on supplies.

Have you noticed how much the prices have increased on scrapbook embellishments?  I have came up with a few ideas to help decrease the cost and still get exactly what you want, without a lot of effort!

I really like the look of metal, but again the price thing. I have found a way to get the metal tag look on a budget.

 Here is where the clay comes in.. I used black clay.  The usual price is around $2.79, but I always wait to get the 40% coupon before I buy clay.  It is really important to follow the instructions.  You need to knead the clay for about 10 minutes or so and then it becomes a lot easier to handle.
While working the clay, I go ahead and pre-heat the oven 

 I roll it out on my counter and get out my stamps.....  I have acrylic, but that is just my choice, any type will work

 Once I have stamped the image on the clay, I use a knife to cut around the image.  I try to get it in the shape I want at that point, but if you don't, you can still  cut the shape even after you bake the clay.
I always do several at a time, so I can just have the embellishments on hand.  With this type of clay, the directions indicate to bake at 275 degrees for 15 minutes, but some clays are different

 The other thing I do, is bake on parchment paper.  It just makes it easier to handle, but it is not an absolute necessity.  Once the baking is done and the shapes are cooled off then the fun begins.  Like I said, I like the look of metals, so I go to my set of metallic inks..

 I just smear it all over the clay shape....

They look beautiful, don't they?  I just use a rag and  and rub the ink into the clay, think of it like you are shining or burnishing.  You can add more ink, or just a minimal amount, depends on what look you are going for.  If you notice the edges are not smooth or in the shape you want, you can go ahead and use scissors to cut in the shape you want.   Are your ready to see the final product?

 Hard to tell it is clay now!  You can even add a hole and use as charms for jewelry or a whole variety of things.  I used 2 packages of clay, total cost of about $3.50 and ended up with 20 different embellishments... not  bad deal and they are all ones that I would use, so no more buying a package of embellishments for the 2 or three you like and the others going to waste!

On to easy peasy idea number 2......  I use stickers and love the dimensional ones, but again with the cost..... I had found this Halloween paper and loved it and thought the bottles would be pretty cool individually.  So I took some liquid glass and filled in the shapes...

 I just cut the bottles out and used them individually for my Halloween books..

 Are you ready for the last idea for uniquness for your scrapbooks?  What if you have a favorite shirt or wedding dress or baby clothes or... you get the idea...  How can you put that in your scrapbook?  Take a photo and add it?  Well, when I was in Hawaii last year I picked up some fabric and loved it and thought it would make some great scrapbook paper..

 I did the easiest thing EVER!  I copied it on acid free paper....

 And now I have totally unique paper!  Think of that for like wedding or baby albums.  How cool would it be to have a photo of the bride and groom matted on paper that is made from the same material as the dress.  Or a photo of the baby matted on paper that is the baby blanket that great grandma had made for grandma?  Just a lot of different thing you can do.  I got mine printed at the local scrap book store and it only cost about a dollar for one.

So now you have three different ideas for unique scrapbook embellishments that will not break the bank!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sheer brilliance!! Photocopying fabric? Genius! Why didn't I think of that? Thanks for posting June!