DIY Stella and Dot Pegasus Necklace

I don't remember exactly when I first found the Stella and Dot Pegasus necklace, but I do know that I've continually thought about it for ages. Even though I'm pretty good at navigating the interwebz to find supplies, it's taken me quite a long time to find the supplies to make it on my own. Recently I've discovered how to order things in bulk from China on Alibaba.com and it's really helped my statement necklace-making endeavors. :)


The original. Source 1, source 2.


For this project, you need:

-Leather scraps (This leather is from an old leather Jacket I got at the Goodwill Outlet.)
-Metal leaf pendants (Some gold ones on Amazon, and one on Alibaba. They don't have the exact ones I used anymore.
-Chain for the top layer (I used chain from the Styled by Tori line I worked with last year.)
-Superglue. I used Aleene's 7800.

Start by cutting out a piece of leather in a half donut shape that looks good around your neck. I used a piece of paper as a guide to measure around my neck and make sure the shape was right. Then stitch two long pieces of leather to the inside of your half-donut shape for the ties.


Then you can start gluing the leaves all around the leather. I made my metal leaves overlap a bit.


Finish by gluing the chain around the top of the leaves. Let the whole necklace dry 24 hours and you're good to go!


Close-up.






<3

DIY Flower Cabochon Necklace with Martha Stewart Jewelry

Over the past year I've been really into making different kinds of jewelry-- especially detailed statement necklaces. Maybe it's my lack of space living in a NYC apartment, but I've gotten quite a kick out of making detailed accessories while watching a show or sitting in the park. Recently Martha Stewart Jewelry came out with this awesome line of jewelry-making supplies-- and it's not just the buy-and-assemble jewelry lines that are so common in the craft shops. With the Martha Stewart line, you actually paint resin, create the cabochons from clay, and assemble the rhinestones in settings. It's really, really neat and I'm impressed.


Just some of the items in the new line. Things like glass beads, pearl beads, cabochons, faceted gems, colored enamels, epoxy clays, decorative molds, findings and tools... Some fun stuff.

For my necklace, I used:
-The epoxy clay
-A few of the rhinestones and put them in settings
-The jewelry paint and glaze (and the glazing brush)
-A bit of rhinestone chain
-Leather scraps
-A couple of litte vintage notions that I had around


I started by mixing the epoxy clay and placing it in the mum cabochon. The cool thing about the epoxy clay is that it is stronger than regular polymer clay so you can turn it into charms!


To get the cabochon to be smooth on the back, I found that it was helpful to dab a little bit of olive oil on my fingers and then smooth everything on the mold. Then you let it dry for a few hours and pop them out!


After the cabochons dried completely, I painted them with the jewelry glaze. I also glazed one of the rhinestones after I put them in settings. Then I glued it in the center of the mum cabochon with some of the Martha Stewart jewelry glue.


To make the base of the necklace, I took some leather and cut it in the shape I wanted. (I actually got this leather on Ebay as part of a lot of upholstery scraps. That's why there is a little line of stitching on the left side so that I could make the shape that I wanted.)


Then I glued the mum cabochons onto the leather with the jewelry glue and stitched some rhinestone chain onto the outside of the leather edges.


I added some of the Martha Stewart pearls and rhinestones with more rhinestone chain and that's it!


I actually finished the necklace this weekend when I was sitting in Central Park with some friends. :)






Memorial Day in the park. <3
And a final closeup of the mum cabochon.


Be sure to check out the other projects that you can make using the line of Martha Stewart Jewelry! (By the way, the entire line is available at all Michael's stores.) :)





A huge thanks to Plaid for providing me with the materials for this project! Follow Plaid on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Disclosure: This was a sponsored post via The Blueprint Social, which occasionally provides wonderful opportunities like this one to try new crafty products and share them here. The project idea and opinions are completely my own. <3

A Little Trip to California...

A couple weeks back I was lucky enough to take a little trip to LA for work to give out BarkBoxes to a bunch of rescued pups.

I'd never been to California before, so I was quite tickled with the (yellow!!) sunshine, the Pacific Ocean, and the laid-back attitudes. I think the speed and impatience of NYC has gotten to me a little bit and I need to remember that there are places where people still open doors for one another and smile on the street. ;)


Our cute and kitschy little LA hotel.


I spent most of my time in LA at the Best Friends' Super Pet Adoption where people could come to the park, check out the dogs, and take one home if they chose.


The whole event was part of Best Friends' NKLA initiative-- an effort to make Los Angeles a no-kill city and get all the adoptable critters warm and happy homes.


There were hundreds and hundreds of critters in need of adoption, but I couldn't help but choose a few favorites. Pictured above is Toby and Chula, the odd couple.


There were purebred dogs, kittens, puppies, mutts, a snake, and a rabbit... All in need of a good home. After the entire weekend was over, 411 critters found new homes in three days. Crazy. (More on that here.)


While there was a little bit of free time to go see the LA sights...


...And the beach...


Ohhh that beach... :)




...The weekend was still all about those pups getting new homes. A wonderful, wonderful experience that I feel so lucky to have had. <3 More-- What it's like to work at BarkBox.