Posts Tagged ‘diy’

DIY: Gold and Leather Bolo Necklace

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I’m hating the silence over here. We’ve been busy packing up Black Friday orders, driving 700 miles, nursing some serious head colds and doing laundry. Anxious to get some creative time under my belt this week, I made a couple necklaces with Penelope. She rummaged through my jewelry stuff and strung any kind of pendant and bead onto a leather string. I played around with some leather and metal and came up with this. I love how my new necklace turned out. It’s reminiscent of a bolo tie because of the length and windsor knot-like shape of the leather piece.

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I found this laser cut scale leather in a scrap bin at Michael Levine back in May when I went to LA. It’s such a small piece. It’s so nice to be able to use small scraps for things like this, I feel like there’s no waste that way!

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Make one with me!

Leather Gold-Dipped Bolo Necklace Tutorial

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Supplies

  • gold chain 11-18 inches
  • 20 guage gold wire
  • 4 jump rings
  • closure
  • leather strip, 8 x .5 inches
  • scissors
  • jewelry pliers
  • liquid gold or gold foil
  • junk brush

If you’re going the vegan route, go for felt instead of faux leather. Felt will wear and look better over time than faux leather.

Click below to read the rest of the instructions!

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Sponsored: How to Wrap a Turbeanie

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Inspired by Ford’s Fiesta Movement, let’s talk about accessories and styles that we have yet to conquer. For me. . .

It’s hats.

In the last 10 years there have been one or two times when I’ve worn a hat for fun. And It’s been off in about 30 minutes after a lot of scratching and adjusting. Perhaps it stems from the bowl cut of my youth. I went from long locks to my buns to an early 90s girlish boy-cut at 8 years old. From then until I was 11, much of my day-to-day was focused on dressing like a girl. Several times strangers mistakenly called out “Young Man!” in my general direction. Dressing like a girl didn’t include wearing hats. At least none of the hats I found interesting.

Just over a year ago I found myself needing some head coverage in downtown SF. All I had was a scarf on-hand, so I worked magic and made a turbeanie (a turban-like beanie). I loved it, but couldn’t seem to replicate it. Until now.

What styles do you struggle with? High-low trends? Boxy tunics? Leggings? Ankle boots?

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The turbeanie feels much more feminine than a regular beanie, but so much less work than the oh-so-popluar turban headbands. I don’t have to do my hair in order to make it look done!

One of the best parts? I have everything I need on-hand. I bet you do, too. Let’s do wrap a turbeanie together!

How to Wrap A Turban Beanie

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Supplies

Your scarf or fabric – a simple cut of some lightweight knit would be perfect – should be 2 yards by about 18 inches or so.

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If you have an extra wide scarf, fold it in half.

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If you’re going for a beanie look, tie your hair into loose piggy tails to keep your hair from going all over the place. You could alternatively tie this turban with a topknot or any other hairstyle.

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Instructions

Find the center of your scarf and line up the hem along the nape of your neck.

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Pull both ends so the line at the nape of the neck is tight. Cross ends over.

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Cross ends again.

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This creates the popular turban look you see in headbands everywhere.

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Take the ends to the back and cross over to the front.

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tuck remaining tails into the fabric. Be sure to keep any corners on the inside of the folds of fabric.

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Adjust the turban as needed.

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Remove the hair ties and style your hair as needed. I like how this stays on my head, but isn’t as restricting as a regular beanie. Hope you like it, too!

Alternatively, you could watch my little how-to to see it done in real-time.

This is a sponsored post and I was compensated for my participation. The opinions expressed are my own.

This tutorial/freebie is free for personal use and should not be distributed/republished without my consent. Altering any files is NOT ALLOWED. If you would like to use this tutorial for commercial purposes, please email me. Thanks!

Crafting with Children

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I’m watching my friend’s children today; they’re six, seven and eight. They’re also incredibly adorable how they dote on Felix and party with Penelope.

This morning was a tad more chaotic than normal as I was still tying to finish my first look for project run and play. They were really good at steering clear of the new machine, but still eager to try their hands at sewing. We had a little impromtu crafting session, where I helped them each make little totes. Penelope was more interested in running around with the kids than sewing, so she didn’t make one.

It makes me wonder, when will my kids become interested in sewing? Ever? My interest didn’t really start until I was in ninth grade, our school switched to uniforms and I wore pretty much the same thing every day.

Project Run and Play

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I’m so very excited what next month will bring! The calligraphy course will be launching and I’m participating in Project Run and Play! Project Run and Play is much like Project Runway, but for crafty sewing bloggers. You can sew along, too. There are great prizes for the winners.

Follow my updates on the online calligraphy course and Project Run and Play over on ISLY’s facebook page! There you’ll get frequent sneak peeks of all the fun that goes on behind the scenes. Alternatively, you can sign up for the I Still Love Calligraphy online course newsletter here.

I Am A Giant Tag-alonger

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One thing I know for sure about myself is the fact that I have no motivation to do anything unless there’s a deadline. Like. . . What? we’ve got a wedding to go to in two hours & no clean clothes in the house? I guess I’ll do the laundry/ironing now. That’s just how I roll. Which is, of course, one of the reasons why I keep up this blog. It gives me the opportunity to make for myself deadlines so I actually get off my sorry butt & do something productive. Yesterday two of my favorite bloggers announced a little challenge that they’re doing (along with some other big-time bloggers – see below). Nicole & Emily are decorating doll houses & taking us along as they do it. Genius. They even invited anyone else interested to tag-along. Can I participate, can I, can I? I’m totally the un-cool little sister here. ;)

Well, hello there, hand-me-down dollhouse that I’ve been meaning to refurb for 3 years! Maybe you’ll actually get your time to shine now.

This challenge is the perfect opportunity for me to finally check this off my to-do list. I’m going to refurbish this darling little mushroom house, but I’m going to take the challenge one step further, though. I’ve not spent any money on this dollhouse (it was a hand-me-down) and I’m going to keep it that way. That’s going to be tough, but I think I have enough supplies on-hand to do something really fun.

Anyone going to tag-along with me?! Also, I’m so incredibly excited to see what the above uber-talented ladies come up with. They’re sure to be show-stoppers, for sure.

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