Feather Anklet

I found inspiration for this from an etsy "barefoot sandal," which don't get me started on the whole barefoot sandal thing.

It is part of my #CraftingForCoachella movement.  I cant give pictures of every step by step, but it shouldn't be too hard to figure out. ;) 

Materials:
crafting rope (or leather cord)
premade bracelet (or make your own, which I suggest just for easier knots)
thin flexible wire
optional beads and feathers

Instructions:

I bought a premade bracelet from the craft store because it was pretty and went with my color scheme.  However, it came attached to super thin threadlike strings, which I wasn't aware of when I bought it.  Anyways, to make it an ankle bracelet I could slip over my foot, I made one of those knots where you can adjust the length of the bracelet.  I'm more of a random loops and twists knot making type of girl, so I used this tutorial to show me how to tie that specific knot:http://jewelrytutorialhq.com/how-to-make-a-sliding-knot-closure/

I had leather cord on hand and used that to make the sliding knot.  I just tied the ends of my thin string around the excess cord to keep them from sliding out if stretched too far.

Once my bracelet was ready, I attached my rope using thin wire. (I practiced tying rope up my leg to find a good length, then cut it from the spool of rope).  There are many ways this could have been made better, but sometimes I just do what is fast, simple, and on hand. Ideally the bracelet would have been on a thicker rope which would be the same material used for the sliding knot which would also have been tied around the long rope that ties up the leg.

I tied several random plain old knots the length of the rope just to give it a little extra texture.  Once my rope was attached to the bracelet, I wrapped it up my leg and made a bow tie on the side.  I then attached a few beads in random places using some thin wire (had my rope been thinner or bead openings bigger, I would have just put the rope through the beads).

Now time to attach the feathers on the excess rope from the bow knot.  Now, some feathers come with handy loops attached, while others don't. 

 
So I just wrapped some wire around the bottom of the feather (that green thing on the blue feather in the pic) and then wrapped the end of that wire into the rope to attach. And that's it!

You can wear with thin sandals like the ones I have on, or add an extra piece of rope to tie around your toes. Just try and avoid ringworm if you decide to walk around barefoot everywhere ;b

Adrienne J

Butterfly Headband

So. My sister and I decided that we are going to go to Coachella 2016! I am beyond excited and anticipating the advance sell tickets this spring. While I wait (a year and a half D: ) I decided to tap my inner bohemian flower child spirit, and start crafting jewelry to wear (I'm starting a one woman movement called #CraftingForCoachella). This first piece is a spin on the notorious flower headband worn at every hippie dippie music festival.  While I think flowers are necessary to be a "flower child," I like to be different and unique while still following the crowd haha.  When you Google butterfly symbolism, you will find a lot of places say they refer to the soul, as well as freedom and creativity.  So here is my free spirit headband.

Materials:
Headband ( I found this great rope/twine headband at hobby lobby.  I would use the less visible black plastic or wire headband, but my head is really big and I get instant headaches from wearing those lol)
Butterflies
Optional: hot glue gun

Instructions:

I found these butterflies near the garden section of the craft store, and they come attached to a thin wire.  They are feathered and have a nice flapping motion when the fan, or wind, blows on them.
 

Whether you are using a solid headband or a braided one, like mine, all you do to attach the butterflies is wrap them around (or through) the headband.  Then twist and tie the wire up until you're satisfied with the level of security haha and trim off any excess wire. I like to make them different lengths to give them the flying away look.  A few of them did fall off of the attached wire (this is where the glue gun comes in).

 

If you have any gaps on the headband, these would be good spots to hot glue the wireless butterflies.

 



 

I placed a piece of cardboard (from the butterfly package) between my leg and the headband to prevent burning my leg while attaching the butterflies in the empty spaces.

 

 

 

Remember, since they are attached to a wire you can always bend them and change the shape once attached.
Now you have a beautiful crown of butterflies swirling above your head Soul Sista ;)

Peace Out
Adrienne J


Deco Mesh Wreaths!!

Wow! It has been two years since my last post! I've graduated college since then (Boomer Sooner!), and am working full time in a diagnostic laboratory.  However, since I no longer have to study for tests, I feel like I have more free time to craft! Here are some instructions for making the huge bubbly deco mesh wreaths for Christmas, Thanksgiving, or any other occasion. (I made these several weeks ago, so I apologize for not having better step by step pictures).

My favorite!

Frosty

Santa (decided to go big or go home with the "Merry Christmas")

Frozen Christmas

Fall, Thanksgiving

Materials:

wire wreath frame (mine are around 20")
pipe cleaners (or any type of wire or twist tie)
deco mesh (21" width)
decorations (ribbon, flowers, ornaments, etc)

Instructions:

Using your pipe cleaner, tie the end of the deco mesh roll on the inner ring of the wire frame.  Bunch some of the ribbon up and use another pipe cleaner to tie it to the inner wire, continuing until you reach your starting point.  Spacing the ties further apart makes a larger more bubbly wreath.  Closely spaced ties make less voluminous wreaths.

Once you reach the starting point, tie the ribbon to the outer rim of the wire frame and repeat the same process.  Since I use long pipe cleaners, I just stick the upper half of the pipe cleaner through the space between the first and second rim and loop it around the outside of the frame to tie the ribbon.

If the wreath isn't full enough to my liking, I'll do a third layer of wraps using the same process.

Once my base is complete, I'll wrap ribbons around it using the same technique (and same pipe cleaner if there is enough left over).

Once ribbons are added, I'll add bows, flowers, and ornaments until I'm satisfied with the results.
I generally use strings (the kind that come with ornaments) or wire (pipe cleaners) to tie my decorations on so that I can change them out if I ever want to.  Some things, like on the thanksgiving wreath above, I hot glued on (pumpkins, leaves, cross, etc).  This makes it more permanent, so I cant reuse the base and change out decorations.

Alice in Wonderland

 

I found the trinkets at hobby lobby, and used glow in the dark paint to outline a print out of the Cheshire Cat.

And there you go! You can make a beautiful wreath for just about any occasion (or no occasion at all)! If you have any questions about this or any of the wreaths on my page feel free to ask =)

Happy Crafting!
Adrienne J

Wreaths!

So I was bored last weekend and couldn't sleep, so I thought about how I've always wanted to make a Christmas wreath, but it's summer. Then I was like well hey, an everyday/year round wreath would be a cool decoration to personalize the outside of my apt more. This particular one I made for a friend who loves animals, esp cats.

Materials:

foam wreath
yarn
hot glue gun
decorations (letters, numbers, flowers, etc.)

Instructions:

At the starting point, hot glue a piece of string to one side of the wreath. Press it down and make sure it's stuck. Then, begin wrapping the yarn in/out of the wreath.

This is a pretty long process (I used a 16" wreath and it took 3-4 hours) Once you've covered all of the foam, hot glue the end of the string to the wreath.

Now it's decoration time! For this one I used a bouquet of flowers (got them for 95 cents at Walmart) and cut the flowers from the stem. Make sure not to cut it too short though, because you're going to use the wire from the flower to stick it into the wreath. You could always hot glue it, but if you just stuck the wire into the foam you can always exchange it with different flowers as the seasons change.

I also painted some letters to add. The letters, however, I hot glued down.

And that's it! It's fairly easy (wood wreaths would be faster to make since the yarn wrapping is skipped and you just decorate it) and really thoughtful as a house warming gift.

I became a little obsessed with it so I'll prob have an overstock of wreaths lol. I plan on selling them either locally or on etsy. So look out for them!

Adrienne J.

Cut Out Shirts

I saw a shirt on Urban Outfitters with a skull shape cut out on the back, and I really wanted, but didn't feel like spending $40 on something I could probably do myself. Here's what i came up with.



(This is UO's)



Materials:

shirt (the material of the shirt can make it harder or easier to cut, cotton=hard; modal=easy)

box cutter (or scissors)

pencil (optional)

cardboard (optional)

Instructions:

First, lay the shirt down flat, and insert a piece of cardboard inside to prevent cutting through to the other side of the shirt.

Use the pencil and mark out what it is you want to cut. (For the skull shirt, or for a less structured design, just start cutting and do not mark where you will cut.  Sometimes random, less neat designs looks best.)

Grab your box cutter and start cutting away the holes

That's it!

(this is the back of the shirt, it was just hard taking a picture of my back so I put the shirt on backwards)

Cool idea for all those old family reunion shirts you have in the back of your closet.

Adrienne J

String Eiffel Tower

Second string art project.

Materials:
cork board
pins
string
scissors

Instructions:
I decided to paint a background for this one.  I used a sponge paintbrush and red and white paint.  I started with white, and then added a little bit of red with each new layer to create an ombre effect. I then let it dry overnight.

Pick out a design that you want your string art to be and place a cutout of it on the board.  Then outline it with pins.

(board fell over and half the paint got rubbed off)

There's no particular order in which you should wrap the string, random is easiest.  First, you'll need to tie a knot around your first needle then just go back and forth between and around other pins until you're satisfied.  Once you're done, tie a knot around your final pin to keep everything from unraveling.

Adrienne J

String Kite

I saw several types of string art with words and hearts, and thought it would be cool to try one of my own.
I don't have time to finish it just yet, but by Friday hopefully I'll be able to upload pictures of a finished product ;)

Materials:
cork board
pins
string
scissors

Instructions:
Pick out a design that you want your string art to be and place a cutout of it on the board.  Then outline it with pins.

Remove the cutout, and add additional pins as you see fit.  Then, start stringing!

There's no particular order in which you should wrap the string, random is easiest.  First, you'll need to tie a knot around your first needle then just go back and forth between and around other pins until you're satisfied.  Once you're done, tie a knot around your final pin to keep everything from unraveling.

I'm obviously not done yet, but you can see an outline of the concept.  Grass, sky, and kite lol. It needs more pins to fill in all the gaps and additional string.

Adrienne J.