Cheap & easy DIY jewelry? Yes, please!

Hey there! Hope y'all had a great holiday season.

Just stopping by to post my current obsession...making jewelry out of clear stones & washers. But first, here's my adorable Christmas wreath that I finally finished (I started it last year...hehe). It's a Santa Claus wreath, and I love it!

I used a styrofoam wreath base and BATH LOOFAHS for his beard! I cut a slit in the wreath form to slip the loofahs over the wreath through the crack. Then I covered the crack with the Santa hat.

I bought ornaments for the boots and pinned them to the styrofoam. I couldn't find an old belt, so I bought the buckle at the craft store.

Besides that, I've spent most of my craft time on making fun jewelry. First I started making stuff with the clear craft stones you can get at the dollar store. I made a lot of magnets out of them, too. Here's some of the things I've made so far.

The pendant/earrings above were made with gold glitter nail polish on the back of the stones. I used several coats and then sealed it with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. I also used a coat of MPDM on the front of the stones to make them really clear & shiny.

The red pendant below was also from nail polish. The green one was some thin green fabric I had laying around.

This purple glitter ring below was from one of those sticker-type nail polishes that's so popular right now. They don't work well on my nails, so I made this instead! Then I glued a disc magnet to the back so I could switch it out with other stones on a ring base.

After a week or two of that, I started working with washers (yes, from the hardware store). I've been a maniac with these- I've used letter stamps, engraving, stickers, nail polish, scrapbook paper, glitter, you name it! Here are a few pendants that I've made...with many more in progress.

This first one was pretty simple...the center was part of an earring I had, so I just painted the washer with nail polish & then glued it on. 

This one is fun...I glued 3 washers together to make Mickey Mouse!

For this one I started playing with alcohol inks. I'm not very good yet, but some of them came out cool.

Then I coated it with Mod Podge Dimensional Magic, of course (it's my new best friend!)

I really like this one. The background is a sticker from my scrapbooking stash. Then I used glitter nailpolish around the edges. The center is a cute button I found, and the 3 gold sparkles are from a nail art kit. 

The pendant below was made with glitter scrapbook paper & Mod Podge Dimensional Magic. Oh, and a few beads taken from an old bracelet. 

This one was one of my alcohol ink experiments. Then I glued on a swirl of micro beads for something different.

This one is my fave so far. The brown layer is nail polish. I glued on a little gear I bought at the craft store. It's hard to tell, but the gear and the back washer are painted gold. I need to buy a better bead for the top, though.

Finished necklaces so far!

Hope you like them! I have about 10 in progress, so I'll post them soon. I'll also be back with our season of Elf on the Shelf antics. :)

Take care!

*Starr*

Random Crap- I Mean Crafts.

Hi again!
While I'm online, here are a few things I made this year. I'll post more info about them some other time...maybe :) .

I made my first diaper cake...actually, diaper castle!

My brother got married in May, so I dressed up a pair of outdoor chairs as bride & groom for his fiance's shower 

For her bachelorette party I made her a cowboy hat veil!

For their wedding, money seemed a little boring. So I dressed it up!

For Thanksgiving the kids and I made some turkeys

For the last few days I've been obsessed with painting clear stone to make magnets & jewelry. The kids love it, too!

Alrighty...I better get going! Have a wonderful Saturday night.

~Starr

The elf returns! And so do I!

Hi there! Long time no post!

After being laid off for over a year (12/2011 to 1/2013) I went back to work the first week of January, so this blog (and my crafting) pretty much got put on hold. Lately I've finally found a little time and motivation to pick it back up. Probably because of the return of THE ELF ON THE SHELF!!!

Bad news...I put Mitzy the Elf somewhere for safe keeping last year, and she has yet to be found. I can hide stuff like nobody's business! LOL

Good news...I found a 2 pack of elves on sale, and they are CUTER than the 'official' elf. Now I have a backup- just in case!

Here's the stock photo from Amazon, where I bought them.

Here's the link, if you want to check it out.

Kurt Adler Elf 2 Pack

I was happy that they looked even cuter in person. The arms, head & hat are adjustable, & the legs are a little bit. It's a little bigger than the other elf, but not too much. 

However, I wanted a GIRL elf, so I had to get creative!

Luckily, I happened to have a strawberry blonde color wig, so I gave her some long locks. I added makeup and some fur & a skirt. But, I only have a close-up from before the fur & skirt. I also added black velcro to her hands. I knew that would come in handy!

We named her Trixie. She came & explained that our previous elf, Mitzy, got a promotion at the North Pole and is in charge of the official Christmas List, so she isn't traveling anymore. 

She also brought chocolate advent calendars to win the kids over.

Day 2- Trixie was found under the Christmas tree sharing a romantic time with Handy Manny in his truck.

Day 3- Trixie added google eyes to the photos & figurines on the mantel!

Day 4- Trixie and some friends made a ball pit out of a cardboard box!

Day 5- Trixie took a high spin in a tennis shoe hanging from the ceiling fan

Day 6- Santa holding Trixie. My husband did this, and I didn't notice how inappropriate Santa looks until bedtime! LOL!

Day 7- Trixie brought something special to remind the kids of the real meaning of Christmas.

And that was this morning, so I'll report back soon. I hope you're having fun with your elf, and hope you've had a great year!

~Starr