DIY '90s Tattoo Choker

 

Since being a little kid, I've always loved the look of wearing chokers. I've decided to recreate this retro look of American 1990s fashion with just some thin black plastic-coated wire, a pair of pliers, and some mini copper seed beads.

With 0.38mm Beadalon stringing wire, I measured out 3 feet for a bracelet and 6 feet for a choker. I folded the string in half and began looping it, and placed one seed bead at the end of each loop. After a couple hours of looping, I added a crimp bead to the end of my string. For the choker, I also added a lobster clasp to the end since my wire string is not very stretchy (this type of jewelry is usually made with stretchy magic string, but I used plastic-coated wire). The choker I used to wear when I was little has gotten pretty stretched out from being worn so much, so adding a clasp helps to prevent the jewelry from being stretched out as well.

I love the look the little beads add -- they help make the chokers look slightly more elegant, while still a little bit edgy.

<3 Mandy

Creating a Quaint Collar

Sometimes an outfit needs a little something to finish it off. Sometimes it might need an extra pop of color or a piece of jewelry to make a statement and add to the look.

I decided to make a collar necklace - it can easily be added to an outfit, but it also can be effortlessly removed, rather than being permanently sewn onto a shirt.

I embellished my collar by sewing on gold tube and seed beads. There are 95 tube beads and 1 seed beads on the collar face.

To strengthen the collar, I glued and sewed another piece of felt and a patterned blue and white piece of fabric to the original piece after sewing on all of the beads.

And to finish it off, I cut and sewed a rose gold chain to the collar tips. I added a gold lobster clasp to the middle of the chain in order to make it adjustable.

I look forward to wearing this collar when I want to dress up, as well as when I just feel like wearing something I made.
<3 Mandy

Magazine Paper Bead Jewelry

A couple of years ago, my sister bought me a magazine paper bead bracelet from the deYoung Museum. It's from a company called Mzuribeads that gets handrolled beads from women in Uganda to make recycled fair-trade jewelry.

I love my bracelet and wear it all the time, and I wanted to buy another one. However, I did not see any bracelets being sold anywhere.

So I decided to make my own.

To make my necklace, I rolled up long triangular strips of colorful (and recycled) magazine paper into tubular beads, and then secured their shape with a dab of glue, a coat of mod podge, and a top coat of clear nail polish. After allowing the beads to dry, I strung them onto a piece of thread with seed beads to make a long necklace. Depending on how many times you wrap the necklace, it can be a long necklace, a double-stranded necklace, or a multi-stranded bracelet.

I've made a few of these as gifts and for myself, and I love the look they add to outfits. I gave one of these to my aunt, and my cousin bought a similar one in Africa for her, as well!

These necklaces are very easy to make, and they only take about an hour (plus drying time).
<3 Mandy

DIY Bird Nest Pendant

A few of posts ago I mentioned having found some copper wire and decided to make some love rings.

Inspired by Sincerely Kinsey's Bird Nest Necklace, I made my own pendant!

To make, I started with about one foot of wire and strung on 3 round silver beads (which I painted with a thin coat of pale pink nail polish for more of an egg color, yet still with some silver shimmering through) and simply twisted the wire around and around itself. I added more pieces of wire of similar length and continued to wrap the wire around the nest, tucking in the sharp wire ends as I went. The reason I didn't use one piece of wire for the project, and instead used many pieces, is that I wanted to make the nest like a bird's nest in nature would actually be: with many pieces put together. I felt this process would remind me of the steps birds must perform to make a necessity; this necklace is a symbol of the hard work, individual steps, and little details I like to put in my work.

I hope you like this cute project! And always remember the little things in life - they are often the most important, as well as what I enjoy the most.
<3 Mandy