Upcycling DIY home decor, woodworking and Crafts
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Calling all creatives out there, today’s 50+ roundup is going to feed your inspiration banks. We gathered over 50 super awesome things to make from wire. You can get craft wire for pretty cheap, and as you will see, you can even use wire hangers! From Christmas, Halloween and Valentine’s Day projects, to jewelry to home decor and gifts, you can find a wire project for about any occasion. If you have a wire project we didn’t find, send it to us. Enjoy!
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Creative bloggers are pretty much just rad, if I do say so myself. In August, I had the opportunity to gather with my people in Atlanta at a blogging conference (not a clogging conference, as my friend Rick misunderstood, although that could be interesting too). That is where I met Daune from Cottage in the Oaks. I was admiring a beautiful leather cuff bracelet she was rockin’, and I found out, not surprisingly, that she had made it herself. How cool would it be to have one with my blog name on it, I expressed. Guess what came in the mail!!
I love that it came with lavender in the package! My favorite scent. The bracelet is gorgeous. You can order your own custom text bracelet from Daune, or pick one that speaks to you in her Etsy Shop.
What. You are a DIYer and you wanna make your own? Little Blue Boo has a great DIY hand stamped leather cuff bracelet tutorial:
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I am always on the look out for interesting jewelry display ideas. While out junking with the ladies, I spied this cheese grater, all rusty like I like it. Immediately “earring holder” came to mind. Not because I am a creative genius, but because in my Pinterest browsing I have seen just that – a cheese grater earring holder. This is the easiest project I have ever done.
I bought the thing for $3, brought it home and removed the tag with Goo Gone Sticker Lifter. You just apply the liquid, wait 2 minutes and scrape away the sticky.
These trendy mixed metal chain bracelets are a cinch to make, and are a great way to use up those links left over from other jewelry projects. Mix and match as you please. Scoop up costume jewelry and vintage pieces to dismantle and incorporate into your own custom, stylish bracelet. Make some for yourself and give them as gifts. Embellish with charms and fibers for unlimited design options! I will show you how.
2 pairs of jewelry pliers, flat or needle nose
Several lengths of chain about an inch shorter than you want your final bracelet to be
2 8-10mm jumprings and a length of chain to make bracelet adjustable
Open jump ring with both pairs of pliers and add one end of each chain to the jump ring. Add clasp then close jump ring with both pairs of pliers. Pic above shows jump ring still open.
Repeat on the other end with the 2nd jump ring, attaching a 1.5 inch length of chain for the adjustable length connector. That is what the clasp will grab when fastening the bracelet.
Use jump rings to attach charms. Tie coordinating fiber scraps to large jump ring where all the chains meet.
Check out more of our Bracelet Tutorials and Features
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There are tons of cool ways to make your own jewelry holders using the most random of objects. I shared a roundup with you not long ago – 50+ DIY Jewelry Display Ideas – with some of my favorite ways to store your bling. Today I am excited to share my jewelry storage solution using a cool rusty cart given to me by a friend. I saw it in her barn and lit up, immediately picturing bracelets and earrings dangling from the naturally aged, patina wire grid. She was happy to part with it, and I am equally thrilled with my awesome antique display. This project took a whopping 5 minutes.
I sprayed the cart with the water hose to removed the cobwebs and other debris. Then I wiped it down with a lint free, soapy, wet cloth. This was mainly to get rid of loose stuff. I love the rust, and wasn’t trying to get rid of that!
I spray 3 coats of Krylon Crystal Clear, which I had on hand for sealing polymer clay pieces. This was to protect my jewelry from the rust on the cart. I let that dry and it was good to go!
Need some jewelry to put on your new display? Got you covered:
I have shared several resin tutorials with you, trying out the various types available. ICE resin is quickly becoming my favorite. It is easy to use, and hardens to a strong, clear, glass-like finish. Today’s project is a fun bezel resin pendant using Susan Lenart Kazmer’s papers, Iced Enamels and ICE Resin. You can find everything I used for this piece at your local Hobby Lobby.
Iced Enamels: Shattered Fire Opal
ICE Resin
Spellbinders Bezel
Tim Holtz Word Stickers
Chain
Charm
Image
Pen
Scissors
Popsicle stick and cup for mixing resin
Sealant such as Mod Podge or Embossing medium
Place your bezel over the part of the image you want and trace with permanent marker.
Place word stickers where you want.
Seal image and word stickers with embossing medium or Mod Podge and dry with heat tool. This protects the image from the resin, which can darken it if not sealed.
Sprinkle in Shattered Fire Opal Iced Enamels, or glitter or other mica powder. Anything sparkly will do!
Drip resin into bezel using popsicle stick until it domes. Be careful not to overfill!
Let dry 6-12 hours, attach chain and charm. Enjoy your awesome, custom resin jewelry.
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UPDATE: WE HAVE A WINNER! Do you love the look of soldered jewelry, but feel totally intimidated by that hot freaking iron and molten metal? My creative friend Hope is here to break it down for us in a detailed How to Solder Jewelry video that demystifies the process and will have you making jaw dropping pieces lickity split! As if that isn’t enough, Hope has teamed up with Saved By Love Creations to give you lovely readers a chance to win your choice of 3 gorgeous pendants!
Hope invited me in to record her process! Before jumping into the video, I want to let you know the supplies you see will being used are from GlassSupplies on Etsy, a shop owned by Robin Ramsden.
This tape used in the video is 3/8 inch wide copper backed foil tape, which you can get at the linked store and probably elsewhere. Hope recommends black backed foil tape for most simple projects since it holds the pieces together better and is just strong/less frustrating for us newbies! She was out of it or we would have been using it for sure. It is available in the linked shop above (GlassSupplies on Etsy).
Obviously if you are using thicker glass pieces than we did, you may need wider tape. You will have to experiment.
More info on supplies is found below and in the video tutorial.
I did a soldered pendant experiment and shared it with you here:
I took my pendants to Hope’s with me and she helped me figure out how to make them more what I was going for. I learned so much from hanging out with her that I haven’t seen elsewhere. It turns out I wasn’t using near enough solder, and oh yeah, my soldering iron tip is disintegrating. There is a solution for that, and many soldering woes. This woman solders A LOT and is a wonderful resource! She is also super sweet, so if something isn’t covered that you want to know about, you can find her on Facebook: Hope Ellington. She even takes custom orders, although she is pretty swamped with them right now from what I have seen so hurry if you are interested.
There were so many tips and tricks that I had to break the video up into 2 parts, and they are still long. You will learn a ton, and if you are like me, your soldering will be vastly improved. I made a pendant this morning and love it! Don’t worry, you will see it soon.
Now for the best part. You get a chance to win a free handmade soldered pendant from Hope’s Bloomington Indiana Shop, Girlfriends on the Farm!
Pendant 1 – A fancy pants, blinged out vintage ephemeral piece
Pendant 2 – A message in a bottle “LOVE”
Pendant 3 – Vintage Lace under beveled glass
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I had the pleasure of attending a DIY blogger conference, Haven, in Atlanta over this past weekend. I could write for days about the awesomeness of that whole experience, but that is not what this post is about. While there, my friend Jessica from Mom4Real was sporting a cool necklace that I photographed and knocked off. This is a super fast and easy project. I used a sewing machine, but I will tell you how to make it the no sew way.
SUPPLIES:
Fabric Scraps
Fabric Scissors
Wooden Beads 2 Sizes
Beacon Fabri-Tac
You can use old t-shirts, old sheets, any fabric piece you can think of, really. I used fat quarters and the above picture shows a headband I found at Dollar Tree. The cool thing about using that is it is already a tube, so I didn’t have to sew or use liquid stitch. If you use fabric not already in a tube, just cut a rectangle about 14-16 inches (depending on how long you want your necklace or bracelet). Sew into a tube inside out, then flip right side out.
Tie a knot like above, put bead, tie another knot and continue until it is as long as you like. I use an odd number of beads so there is a central one.
Pick out coordinating ribbon and cut to length you want.
Sew on ribbon to each end or adhere with Fabri-tac. I use clothespins to apply pressure. Fabri-Tac dries super fast and is basically hot glue in a bottle, but not hot 🙂
For some of the bracelets, I just used the end fabric to tie them instead of adding ribbon.
SUPER EASY, and adorable, I must say.
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I found these cool new pendant blanks by Mod Podge at Michael’s a couple of weeks ago, and have been waiting for some inspiration (and time) to create with them. This Mod Podge® Antique Urban Pendant Necklace Tutorial at Michaels.com is just the nudge I needed.
Have you created with these pendant blanks and papers? If so, do share.
For more jewelry ideas, visit our Paper Jewlery Projects Roundup:
