{Hand-made Goodie of the Week} Black Bead and Flower Statement Necklace

I made this one a while back and LOVE it!  It's so easy to do and makes a great addition to any wardrobe.

I'll be showing you how to make a pretty and easy statement necklace that won't break the bank.  Make one for yourself or give it away as a gift, or both!

I love a pretty and simple statement necklace.  Something that packs a punch without being overwhelming.

Photo courtesy of Forever 21

I saw this necklace over at Forever 21's website back at the beginning of the year.  I went to try and find it in the store, but no luck.  Then I thought, hey, I could make my own!

To make yours, you'll need:

About 3 yards of black "pearls" (I got mine at Joann's)

Sheer black fabric

Black ribbon, about 1/2 in. wide

Needle, thread, glue and glue gun

Start by cutting 3 lengths of the beads: one 35 1/2 inches, one 31 1/2 inches and one 27 inches.  You can adjust the measurements if you don't want your necklace as long.  Lay them out longest, middle and shortest (as shown in the picture.)

Cut two lengths of ribbon, 4 inches long each.  Glue on the ends of the beads, keeping them in the laid-out (longest, middle, shortest) order.  Glue the other ends to the opposite edge of the ribbon.  Be sure to keep them in order so they don't get twisted!

Glue on the other piece of ribbon, covering the beads.

There!  Now it's time to make the flowers.

Cut 4 9x 1 1/2 inch strips of the sheer black fabric.  This will make three flowers-two small and one large.

Fold them in half, without creasing so you end up with a tube and hem together the edges, about 1/8 of an inch in.

Start rolling the tube, turning the raw edges at the end in.  Stop when it looks like this and stitch in place.

Gather the remainder of the fabric and roll around the center.  Stitch in place.

For the large flower, sew two strips of fabric together, end to end and repeat the steps for the small flower.

Now it's time to attach the flowers.  Decide where you'd like the flowers to be and start with the top one when you begin attaching them.  Glue the flower onto the center strand first.  We'll attach the addition strands once all of the flowers are attached.

Attach the large flower next, followed by the last small flower.  Once all of the flowers have been glued onto the center strand, attach the flowers to the other strands.  Be sure to keep the beads tight, but not over-tight, so there's no sagging or bunching in between the flowers.

And there you go!

Your very own, pretty statement necklace!

Hand-made Goodie of the Week: {Anniversary Gift}

So, I know, my anniversary was like, 2 months ago.  But as most of you who have been following along can atest, things have been SUPER crazy these last few months for me.  I'm just glad that they're beginning to return to normal.

Anyways, this is what I made for my hubby for our 5 year anniversary.

It's a book with a page for each month of the year.

And on each page, is a date already planned and paid for.  Like this one, our date for the month is bowling.

Some of the dates, like this one, I couldn't get ahead of time.  The Strawberry Festival is a big thing here in Florida every March and my husband loves going.  But you can't buy tickets until February.  So, for this one, I already have the money set aside for it, just have to go pick up the tickets when they become available.

I decorated each page to go along with that month's date with cute little saying and sweet notes to my hubby. This is for June and we're going on a little beach getaway : )

Here's my inspiration for the whole project:

A Year of Dates by Lady J Creations 

{A big HUGE thank you to the awesome person who helped me re-find this link.  You're da bomb!}

She has a ton of other lovely paper, scrapbooky projects over on her blog-I definitely recommend heading over and taking a look around!

I've got a sweet guest for you all tomorrow {hooray for the return of Who's That!} and I'm guest blogging somewhere, so stop by to find out who and where!

Hand-made Goodie of the Week: A Piece of the Beach

I think I'm just about caught up.  Whew!

This week's hand-made goodie is easy-peasy, but I love it so.

As I've mentioned, I love the beach.  It is seriously one of my favorite places to be.  So, logically, a girl like me with a love of the beach would want a little piece of it at home.  I've got a whole shoebox full of shells that I've collected over my lifetime.  I wanted a cute way to display them and add some decor to my bathroom (which, I have decided, is now beach-themed.)  

I've been adding little touches here and there-I dressed up these jars with some cute ribbon that matches our shower curtain

I know it's kind of hard to tell, but the blue dots on the ribbon are the same color blue as the middle of the flowers on the curtain.

But I still felt that it needed something.

I bought this flat-ish round vase at Walmart for $2.  On our last beach trip, I scooped up a bag full of dry sand to use in the vase (my husband was looking at me like I was nuts.)  I filled it about 1/3 full then added the shells.  And that was it.  The whole project took 5 minutes (probably less.)  And all it cost me was $2!

Nothing really impressive, but it makes me happy when I see it because it reminds me of the beach : )

Hand-made Goodie of the Week: Pin Cushion Wristlet

Sorry that this is so late, all.  My day took an unexpected turn right after lunch wen I had to take the hubby to the ER.  He had been having some weird things happening with his arm and face and we decided it needed a professional opinion.  He's home and fine, so no worries there.  But it did suck up my ENTIRE afternoon.  So, without any further delay, here's this week's project.

Oh, and hey, don't forget about our Along for the Ride giveaway-it ends tonight at midnight, so you still have some time to enter!

Pin Cushion Wristlet

This is so handy when you're sewing!  You've got your pins right there when you're moving around.  And it didn't cost me a dime-I used items I already had!

To make yours, you'll need:

Elastic

Fabric, polyfill, needle and thread (to make your mini pin cushion)

Old, clean plastic lid

Hot glue and glue gun

As you can see, my cushion was already made (I didn't need it as just a pin cushion since I made my awesome pin cushion can.)  To make one, cut out two pieces of fabric in whatever shape suits your fancy, sew closed around the edges leaving a small opening for the stuffing, stuff and sew close the opening.  Ta-da!

Cut a length of elastic about 1 inch shorter than the circumference of your wrist.

Then cut out a piece of the lid.  It should be as wide as the widest part of your cushion and, depending on how big your shape is, about 2 inches long.  I just kind of eyeballed it, and you are welcome to do the same : )

Place a thin line of hot glue along one edge of the plastic piece and stick on one end of the elastic.  Repeat with the other end.

So it looks like this.  

Cover the remaining plastic with hot glue and

Attach your cushion.

Add pins and get sewing!

Hand-made Goodie of the Week: Interchangeable Wreath

 

Interchangeable Wreath

It all started with this wreath.  I've had it for a few months and it's just been sitting in my closet because I've been indecisive about what I wanted to do with it.  I didn't want to "commit" it to one look.  So I racked my brain and came up with a way to make it interchangable!  And since fall is right around the corner, I decided to start off with a fall-ish look.

I made several different kinds of burlap flowers.  This one I ruffled by sewing a line down the center, 

Then gathered it tight.

I formed it into a circle and stitched it together so it wouldn't come apart. 

I also made a few rolled flowers by cutting a strip of burlap about 1/2 inch wide, folded it in half and rolled it.

Then stitched the bottom.

I also made some orange burlap rosettes and some layered "flowers" out of the tan and orange burlap.

Here comes the "interchangeable" part: I then arranged them how I wanted on the wreath then moved them onto a piece of brown felt and hot glued them in place.  Then I trimmed the felt around the outline of the arrangement. 

I then cut two half inch pieces of velcro.

I hot glued the loop (fuzzy) side to the back of the felt.

And hot glued the hook (rough plastic) side onto the wreath.  Then I attached the felt piece onto the wreath.

There you go!  I've got a lovely fall wreath that I can change out when the idea strikes.

Here are some of the other embellishments I've made for my wreath:

I was inspired by this cute burlap wreath by Jen from Tatertots and Jello-go check hers out!  

I'm linking up to the usual parties (see the right sidebar) as well as the CSI Project's Fall challenge.