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.

Sparkly garland necklace

Here I go again making necklaces out of garland. (In case you missed it the first time, check it out {here}) I can't help it though, garland can just be so pretty! Especially when it's sparkly...

May have looked better on the tree, but nope! A necklace it shall become.

A very pretty holiday necklace! I am thrilled with how it turned out! Wanna make one?

Aside from your glue gun, your scissors, and your heat sealer (remember that trifecta we use everyday?) You will need:

• Sparkly garland, got mine at Hobby Lobby
• Thick satin ribbon (think this is 1 3/4")

And that's it. Easy peasy 1-2-3sy.

Cut two lengths of garland, one should be two inches shorter than the other. I did a 14 inch strand and a 12 inch strand.

Cut and heat seal two 12 inch lengths of ribbon. I also folded over and glued down the ends so that it would be a little bit more sturdy for the garland.

Glue the longer strand of garland to the bottoms of the ends of the ribbon (as shown) and then glue the shorter strand just above that (as not show, because I spaced and didn't take a picture.)

And that's it. Seriously. I feel silly posting these tutes because all but one took me less than 10 minutes! But I couldn't pass up the opportunity to show you how to make inexpensive jewelry at home with no special tools.

I am now a sparkly, dress clad, ready-for-a-party happy camper. That's the last of the "formal" looking jewelry  tomorrow we start casual, everyday jewelry! See you then my friends! :)

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 tie a bow on a card from I Hold All the Cards

Today we have my real life friend and freshman year college roommate guest posting! Brielle blogs over at {I Hold All the Cards} What a clever name right? I've already talked about her {here} but if you are new to KC&A you might not have seen her! Brielle makes AMAZING handmade cards, she's really got a knack for it! And I have owned five of them, so I know it's legit. They are awesome. She's here to teach you how to tie bows on cards, the pretty way!

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As requested I am posting a tutorial so you can tie the bows you've seen on my cards. There are several different ways to tie bows. I like the two that I am showing you the best. They are easy to do. I've taken step by step pictures...which wasn't easy by the way. I had to tie the bow with one hand and hold the camera in the other.

Helpful hint...Use ribbon that is the same on both sides. If there is a print on one side it is a little trickier to get the print facing the way you want it.

Ok Lets get started. I'll start with the method that saves the most ribbon.

Both of these cards use this method.

Notice how the ribbon is tucked between the embossed paper and the card base.

The ribbon can not be seen on the inside of the card. Even if that white piece of paper wasn't on the inside you still wouldn't be able to see the ribbon. Got it?

When I tie my bows I tie it with the ribbon still on the spool. I don't cut a piece off. It wastes less ribbon and it is easier then trying to guess how much you will need for your project.

I use this glue stick to tie my ribbon around. You can use a regular glue stick or pretty much anything else that that a similar shape.

Confused? You are just tying a double knot.

Pull the glue stick out.

This is what it will look like.

Cut it off from the rest of the spool of ribbon.

Use scissors to cut the center of the loop at an angel.

See?

This is what it will look like

Sometimes I pull it tighter or adjust it a little. Just tug on the short part of the ribbon.

Use double sided tape to stick it to the cardstock.

wrap the extra ribbon around the back and glue the cardstock to your card base.

Voila!

You can see it doesn't show on the inside of the card.

Now you know how it is done. If you have any questions leave me a comment. I will be posting my other bow tying method tomorrow. (Amie comment, I'm late posting this, so it's actually over there right now!)

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See what I mean? Thanks Brielle! Don't forget to head over to {I Hold All the Cards} and leave her some love. :)