WIWW

Okay today I don’t have an outfit so much to show you, but more accessories. I heart accessories. A girl can never have too many, right? Once upon a time, I got lots of crazy jewelry from my aunt. She found it at a yard sale. Bags and bags of clip on earrings, brooches, necklaces, you name it.

Well, I looked through that stash the other day, and found some stuff I thought was awesome, but not as is.

Look at those yellow earrings. Aren’t they fantastic? I decided to take them off their clip on back and put them on “real” earrings. Done. New piece of jewelry. See the pearl cluster and the purple leaf-y thing? Those were earrings. Missing their mates. They’re huge too, so that seems a little weird on someone’s ears. So the pearls became a ring glued onto a ring blank,  and the purple leaf thing became a brooch with a brooch pin glued on the back. Easy peasy. By the way, for some jewelry, I’ll use my hot glue gun. For others, I’ll use E-6000 glue. See that turquoise rectangle? It was a cuff link. I  don’t need those, and my husband doesn’t have any cuff shirts, so I broke off the cuff part and glued it onto a ring blank. (which was actually an old, flat ring that I got ears ago in the 25 cent machine). Finally, the arrow necklace was on a piece of black wire type stuff, which was all bent out of shape, so I took it off that and put it on a chain.

There you can see the backs of the rings. I love getting new jewelry, for free!! Oh, and the brooches that I’ve found, you can pin those onto a few necklaces and get a look like this:

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or pin them onto a scarf and make your own infinity scarf. Nice!

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Yay! Downton Abbey!! Hopefully I’ll finish the season finale today!! Maybe while refashioning some more jewelry… Have a good one!

Tulle Pouf Ring

I saw a bow at church that inspired this ring. I figured it wouldn’t be too hard to recreate, and it turned out fun! And since I had scraps of tulle and ring blanks, it was free! Talk about a statement ring! Ready to make one?

You’ll need some tulle in color of choice, felt in matching color, and a ring blank. You also need a hot glue gun and scissors. Cut a bunch of circles out of the tulle.

It’s easiest/fastest if you fold it and get a bunch of layers to cut 5-7 out at a time.

I don’t know how many I cut, but maybe 20-30. Then, cut out the felt in a circle that fits on your ring blank.

Your circles do not have to be perfect!

Fold up your circles and glue it to the felt.

I did it folded in quarters and just glued it to the middle of the felt circle.

Be really careful, it’s super easy to burn yourself on the glue since tulle has so many holes. Keep layering it until you have a nice, full pouf.

Glue your felt to the ring blank.

It probably looks something like this now.

A little crazy and uneven.

So, take your scissors and cut it to a nice round shape.

And your pouf ring is finished!

I wish ring blanks came in smaller sizes, but I just wear them on my index fingers so they kind of fit. What do you think? By the way, there’s some super cute ring blanks over at The Plaid Barn right now!!

Fabric Yo Yo Flowers

These little cuties can be used in your hair, as a pin, you can use them to spice up a boring shirt or handbag, and you can even use them to make your own jewelry.

I realize this is kind of a girlie craft and I have all boys, but I just spent a week with my nieces.  I think it is so fun to decorate those little girls then give them back to their mamas!  :)

Oh, and if you guessed that we were on vacation in Yellowstone, you were right!  It was tons of fun!  Actually, I am just guessing that it was fun.  We should still be on the road home by the time this post goes live.  :)

Anyway, this is super easy.  All you need for these little bobby pins are:

• small circles of fabric (any kind_
• bobby pins
• buttons
• needle and thread
• super glue

Start by threading your needle.  Hand stitch around the outer inside edge of your circle.  Like so:

Make sure you go all the way around the circle.

Once you make a complete circle, cinch up the thread to bring the outer edges into the center.  Do not cut the thread.

Take one of the buttons and hand sew it into the center of the flower.

Once the button is sewn on, still do not cut your thread.  Turn the flower over and sew a bobby pin to the back of the flower.  Just sew around the curve of the pin.  If you sew it on this way (which is more sturdy) then the pin can only be used to slide into an already done hairstyle. If you want to use it as an actual bobby pin, sew the flower onto the top of the pin.

Knot the thread and NOW you can cut it!  :)

Add a drop of super glue to the back for added security.  You don’t want that cute little flower to unravel in your hair! 

See how cute and fun?!  Now you can make a bunch more!

You can also sew them to some elastic for a head band.

So cute.  My sister-in-law and I sure had a fun day making hair bows for her little girlies!

…even though we did it all the way back in February!  :)

Sigh…I sure wish they lived closer!

What I Wore Sunday: Week 18

…52 weeks of shaking up the wardrobe…

The Rules:

1. Wear a different outfit every Sunday.
2. Incorporate at least one article of clothing or accessory that was either refashioned, sewn myself, or handmade.
3. Outfits can be worn more than once; just not the same way.
4. Think outside the box and be creative

This is what I wore Sunday:

I bought this dress off the clearance rack at JC Penney for $6.00.  It was a size 14, and I am not a size 14.  I took it in on the side seams, removed the sleeves, made them smaller and reattached them.  This was my first attempt at ruching.  I did it on the waistband and I like how it turned out.

You can’t see them in the picture, but these are my handmade accessories:

Find the tutorial here.

So, what did you wear?  We wanna see!

Link up to anything you have refashioned or sewn yourself.  It doesn’t have to be dressy, and it doesn’t have to be worn on a Sunday.  It doesn’t even have to be worn by you.  Show it off!

• No links to shops or giveaways, please.
• Link back to Crafty Cousins on your blog, too, okay?
• Bonus points for following Crafty Cousins!  :)
• Tell your friends about the What I Wore Sunday Link Party.  What’s a party without lots of partiers?

Can’t wait to see what you’ve got!  :)

Inspiration gone wrong…

What happens when you get inspired by this:

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This:

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and these:

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And you add that to not having quite the right supplies you need….
You get a craft mess-up. Not quite a fail, cuz I think it will work, but this one….not so much. Please don’t laugh!

I’ll be back with something better…Have a good day!

Jewelry Board

HURRY AND ENTER TO WIN A $20 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO THE BOWLICIOUS BOWTIQUE!  THE GIVEAWAY ENDS TOMORROW!!

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Guess what!  I got my new sewing machine and serger! 

We’ve been spending a lot of time together these past two days, and we’re becoming GREAT friends!

They’re so smooth, quiet, perfect, sigh…I am in love!  :)

Speaking of love…

I live with all boys and I love it.  But, being the only girl in my world of men has made want to be more girly.  Jewelry is one way to do that.  It can really add a lot to an outfit and your mood!  :)

I love Lia Sophia jewelry, but not their prices.  One of my friends had a party, and I decided to have one, too.  I got tons of free jewelry…just nowhere to store it.

My father-in-law built me the jewelry box on the left about seven years ago.  Santa Claus brought me the jewelry box on the right when I was nine.  Both of these boxes have sentimental value to me, so I’ll never get rid of them.  I just needed some other way to store my jewelry.

The Hubsters came up with this ingenious idea:

I took an old cork bulletin board we had laying around and spray painted it black to match my bedroom.

I hot glued some cute buttons onto thumb tacks to hold my jewelry onto the board.

This project took less than 30 minutes to complete.

I hung my board on the wall, then hung my most worn jewelry on the wall in my bedroom.  My other jewelry boxes are still full, just not as cluttered!

This was a fun, fast, cheap, and easy project.  I ended up switching out the thumb tacks for clear push pins.  I am short and hung the board a bit too high.  It’s easier to hang necklaces and earrings on the push pins. 

I love that this is functional and adds to our bedroom decor.  We just remodeled our bedroom.  I should do a post on that one, too.  Hmmmm….