DIY #10 - Chevron Necklace

Long time no see! Okay I'm back with another tutorial that I actually completed a week ago but am just finding the time to post it.

Here it is!

 

Supplies:

-Polymer clay in your choice of color

-Gold chain

-Gold wire

-Gold Jump rings

-Acrylic Paint

-Paint brush

-Wire cutters

-X-acto knife or other cutting blade

-Wax paper

-Baking sheet

-Paper chevron template

-Jewelry pliers

 

 

Steps:

 

First, lay your wax paper on your surface. The paper will protect your surface from your clay and make it easy to transfer to your baking sheet. Next, take out a chunk of clay to condition. Depending on how big you want your chevron, you may need more or less clay than I used. I used about 1 and a half bars of a Sculpey package. My chevron was 4 inches long and about 1 inch thick all around.

 

Roll out your clay to your preferred thickness (don't make it too thin or it will be fragile) and lay your template on top. With your blade, cut around the template to produce your chevron. 

 

 

 

Smooth out any mistakes with your fingers or a clay tool before moving on. 



 

Make two eye pins with the wire and stick them in either side of your chevron like in the above picture. Keep smoothing out everything.

 

Once everything is smoothed, transfer your wax paper and polymer clay creation to your baking sheet and bake it in the oven according to your package instructions.

 

After removing it from the oven and letting it cool, you can stop here or take it a step further like me.

 

Using some strips of regular tape, tape off sections of your chevron to paint. I used a few coats of gold acrylic paint by Martha Stewart for my design. 

 

 

Once the paint dries, add a jump ring to each eye pin, and add your desired length of chain. I made my necklace long enough to slip over my head like I did with the Fairy Door necklace.

 

And wah-la! You're done! You now have a fabulous chevron necklace.

Enjoy!

 

DIY #9 - Fairy Door Necklace

 

 

Hey there! Here is my next tutorial. It's pretty simple and I find it adorable.

 

Supplies:

-Miniature Fairy Door (I found mine in the miniature section at Michaels)

-Gold wire (I used 20 gauge, also from Michaels)

-Gold chain

-1 gold jump ring

-Jewelry pliers

-Wire Cutters

-Strong glue

 

 

Steps:

 

First things first, remove your fairy door from its packaging. 

 

Put that to the side and grab your gold wire. Cut off a piece about three inches long with your wire cutters. Starting at one end, start rolling the wire into itself, creating a bail. With the last half inch or so of wire, bend it at a right angle and curl the end into a loop. In case that was confusing, you should end up with something like this:

 

Now, using your strong glue, glue your handmade bail to the top back of your Fairy Door. The small loop at the top should be sticking out past the top of your door so later we can add our chain and jump ring. 

 

 

While you wait for the glue to dry, prepare your chain. Figure out how long you want your necklace to be, and don't forget to account for the length of your Fairy Door pendant. Once you have a measurement in mind, cut your chain to your desired length. Before you attach the two ends of the chain to each other, slip on a jump ring.

 

 

 Once your glue is dry, open the jump ring that you have on your chain and attach it to the loop on top of your bail. Then close it up again and you're done! You're very own Fairy Door Necklace!

 

Enjoy!

DIY #6 - Cross Necklace

 

I'm back with another tutorial! My schedule has been slightly hectic do to Driver's Ed classes all this week and the next but I'm managing. Now, on to the tutorial!

 

 

Supplies:

-2 pairs of pliers (yes, I have baby ones.)

-8 gold jump rings

-Gold chain

-A gold lobster clasp

-A cross cut-out pendant (details below) 

 

 

 

 

Steps:

 

I had already pre-created my pendant with some Sculpey polymer clay. I didn't take pictures, but it's easy enough to explain.

 

Taking your choice of color of clay, roll it out to the thickness you want. Then cut out a rectangle that is 1 1/2 inches by 1 1/4 inches.

 

With either a cross shaped cutter (if you have one) or free-hand with an X-acto knife, create your cross shape in the middle. Then add two holes at the top for the jump rings by piercing the clay with a needle and bake at 275 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes.

 

Once you have your piece created, put one jump ring through the two top holes and one at the bottom of the cross like this: 

 

 

Then add one more jump ring to the first three, like this:

 

Next, prepare your chain. Cut two pieces that are equal length and as long as you want them to be.

 

 

 Attach one end of the chain to the last jump ring on the top of your pendant. Repeat for both sides.

 

Then, taking a third shorter piece of chain, attach one end to the jump ring at the bottom of the cross, and the other end to a point on your chain that is just a few inches from your pendant. (I put my chain on the right side, but in the picture it looks flipped.)

 

Lastly, add the last two jump rings to either side of your necklace chain. I put my lobster clasp on the right side because I'm right-handed, but you can do whatever feels more comfortable.

And then you're done!

As always, I'll post pics of the necklace and how I style it on Instagram, just look me up @danithedancer.

Enjoy!



DIY #5 - Spiked Snapback

 

 

 

I love hats. Fedoras, snapbacks, beanies....all kinds of hats. But who really wants to pay all that money for an embellished hat when you can easily DIY one?

 

 

Supplies:

-Snapback in your choice of color

-Spikes (mine were screw back spikes that I got on Amazon, but any spikes will work)

-Hot glue gun and glue

 

-Optional: chain, a jump-ring, two pairs of pliers

 

 
 
 
 
 
 

 

Steps:

 

First, place your spikes on the brim of your hat so you can decide what design you'll use.

I went for a semi-uniform scattered rows kind of look, but you can do whatever you like. If you want to copy my design, you'll need 13 spikes. While you figure out your spike placement, plug in your glue gun.

 

 

Next, take your glue gun and start gluing the spikes to the hat. I would recommend gluing them down from one side and work your way to the opposite side. All you have to do is lift one spike up a few inches from your hat, put a dab of glue on the bottom and then press it back down in its spot.

Hold the spike down for a few seconds while the glue dries. 

 

 

 

 

 

And that's all there is to it! However, once I finished gluing on my spikes, I realized I wanted a little extra on my hat. Soooo.....

 

I added a draped chain to the back on the actual snap part. I didn't take any pictures, but all I did was open a large jump-ring with two pairs of pliers, slip one link of my chain onto it, and hooked the jump-ring onto the first hole on the left side of the snap before closing the jump-ring again. With the other end of chain, I simply glued the last link to the end of the right side of the snap. I hope that's not too confusing..

 

 

In the end, this is how my chain looked if I were to wear the snapback backwards (and cocked to the side slightly).

 

And you're done! If you make your own spiked snapback, post a pic on Instagram and tag @danithedancer.

 

Enjoy!