By Guest Bloggers Melissa + Kellie, from the blog Icing Designs.

Not sure what it is, maybe it’s because Valentine’s Day is near, but we are loving all things wedding right now! Of course we love when brides incorporate DIY projects into their weddings, it makes things seem so personalized and special. We are just loving the idea of a fabric corsages! They are just as beautiful, if not more, than using real flowers. What a fashionable gift/keepsake to give your bridesmaids or flowergirl! If you are not a corsage person, wear it as a bracelet!

Here’s a tutorial to make your own Fabric Corsage!

By Sewing Contributor Jessica, from the blog Life Sew Good. 

My daughter recently had a Hello Kitty birthday party, so I made all the little girls kitty ears. This tutorial can easily be modified for monkeys, bears, puppies, or whatever fits your costume!

You need:

• Fleece—colors of your choice
• ½” headband
• Thread

1. Cut ears from fleece. CUT 4. To get the right ratio, if making kitty, bear, or monkey ears, the base should be about 3 ½” wide. Make a mark 2 ½” high and free hand draw a curved line, either pointy for a kitty or rounded like a bear or monkey. If making a dog or other animal, you may want taller ears.

2. Cut band from fleece—CUT 1. Cut a 12 ½” x 1 ½” rectangle.

3. Sew Ears. Stack 2 ears, right sides together. Simply sew a seam close to the edge on the 2 sides—or on the rounded part. Do not sew the base. Repeat to make 2nd ear.

4. Take your fleece band and fold in half, bringing short sides together. Measure ½” from the middle on each side. Make a mark. Make slits for the ears that measure ½” from the center of the band and 2 ½” to 3″ down.

5. With right sides together, insert ears into the slits you have made.

6. Sew seam close to edge. Trim the extra fabric.

7. Fold band over, matching all edges, wrong sides together. Sew a wide zig-zag stitch across the long edge. Also enclose one edge.

8. Insert head band through open edge. Close end with seam.

Decorate as desired!!

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog Coffee Pot People.

I love all the embellishments for clothing, bags, and other items being made from zippers these days, don’t you? Exposed zippers are a hot trend right now and this look is very easy to get. This is a simple flower pin to make, using just three things, plus a needle & thread:

• A brass zipper about 21 inches long; metal is best (I cut mine from a jacket I no longer wear) OR ZipR Trim
• A pin back or small circle of non-fraying material
• A “silk” leaf
• Needle & thread

Begin by separating the zipper into its two halves—simply unzip all the way, if it’s one that comes completely apart, or cut the stopper off at the bottom and then unzip it. Remove the zip-up thingy, which you won’t need. If you want, you can cut off the long straight piece at the bottom. If you leave it on, use that end to begin your flower.

Before you start working with the zipper, take your silk leaf, stripped off any supporting plastic veins, and stitch it to the pin back’s pierced disk or circle of fabric. You just need to do a couple of stitches in the center, as the stitching to attach the flower will add more stitches to it, too.

My flower has five petals, and I found that about 3″ of the zipper was needed for each one, so I put a dot every three inches, and then just “stacked” the dots. Begin like this:

Then just continue looping. It’s very like making a bow for a package:

Every so often, stitch down through the stack and pin disk to fasten the petals in place. That way they won’t get away from you.

When you have about 6″ of zipper left, start rolling the center of your flower, beginning at the free end of the zipper.

As you roll, take stitches to keep everything in place. When the zipper’s completely rolled up down to the petals, stitch it to the center of the flower, going through the pin disk or fabric circle as you work. Fasten off the thread and cut, and attach the pin’s back piece to the pierced front part. If you’ve used a fabric circle, you can sew a safety pin on the back now; make sure the pin is off-center, near the top edge of the circle, so that the pin doesn’t droop forward.

You’re done! What will you wear your pin on?

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

I was left with a small piece of scrapbook paper after using the majority of it, and loved it so much I wanted to immediately use it for something else. I got a wooden bracelet and combined the two, which allowed me to reuse excess materials and wear something that looks unusual. The mix of bright and dark colors works with a variety of outfits and makes the accessory stand out.

What you’ll need:

• Wooden bracelet
• Mod Podge Hard Coat
• Scrapbook paper
• Scissors

Step 1. Cut the scrapbook paper into thin strips. The length depends on how wide the bracelet is. Measure it by wrapping a test strip from around the outside of the bracelet to the inside where they’ll overlap; trim the excess. As far as the width, the pieces are going to overlap, so factor in that only half of the width of the strip is going to show. If you want more of each strip to show, cut wider strips; cut them thin for less to show.

Step 2. Apply Mod Podge to the outside of the bracelet and only on an inch at a time. Put each paper strip down overlapping over half of the piece you applied before it. To avoid creating bumps or creases, pull each strip taut, then place it down with the ends hanging over either side of the bracelet. Do this around the entire bracelet until you’re back at the beginning piece.

Step 3. Apply a layer of Mod Podge on the inside of the bracelet. Use your finger to apply Mod Podge onto the ends of the strips and press them to the inside of the bracelet. Work your way around the entire bracelet, then do the same for the ends on the other side; overlap the two ends on the inside of the bracelet. Let it dry thoroughly before continuing.

Step 4. Place the bracelet over your four fingers to keep it steady while you work on it. Apply a layer of Mod Podge onto the outside of the bracelet, smoothing down all the pieces as you go along. When the bracelet is completely covered, hang the bracelet on something straight to let it dry. I hung mine on a single chopstick and put either end of the chopstick on two containers leaving space in between so the bracelet can hang freely without knocking into anything. After it dries, apply another coat of Mod Podge.

Step 5. Before moving the bracelet, test it with you finger to make sure it’s completely dry and doesn’t feel tacky. Give it plenty of time to dry thoroughly before wearing it.

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I usually only wear my wedding ring but it’s nice, at times, to have something pretty for my other fingers and this initial ring is just the thing.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 12 gauge wire
• Wire cutters and shapers
• Scrap paper and pen
• Pen or marker about as big around as your finger

1. On the scrap of paper, write the letter you want in cursive.

2. Cut a 5 inch piece of wire.

3. Using your wire shaper, bend the wire to follow the shape of the letter.

4. Center the letter on the pen and wrap the ends around so that they overlap by 1/2 inch. Trim off the excess and smooth the ends.

5. Crimp at the places where the wire crosses to accentuate the letter.

6. Slide on your finger to adjust the size.

By Guest Blogger, Blake Fields.

Rexlace bracelets are not just fashionable, but also incredibly functional for those who are often outdoors, and even those who often are not. Rexlace can be unraveled from the bracelet in case of an emergency to fish, create an outdoors shelter, use as shoelaces, or even temporarily fix a fan belt. The bracelets are simple and inexpensive to make. Additionally, the Rexlace can be used to make key chains, dog collars, or belts.

Begin by purchasing Rexlace. Generally, at least eight feet of Rexlace is needed for a bracelet. It is often sold by the yard or in a bundle; buying a bundle tends to be more cost effective and leaves room for mistakes or extra projects. Also, purchase clasps to use to close the bracelet. Two tiny carabiners or a set of side release buckles is ideal.

To start:

1. Measure the length of the wrist. This will determine how many feet of Rexlace to cut. If the wrist is eight inches, cut eight feet of Rexlace.

2. Fold the Rexlace in half. Attach one of the clasps to the fold by taking the looped/folded end through the clasp. Take the non-looped ends and thread them through the loop. This should create a snug knot to secure the clasp.

3. Take the second clasp piece and thread it onto the loose ends. If the wrist is eight inches, the buckle should rest about nine inches from the other clasp. (It’s good to leave room for slack). Do not tie this clasp down.

4. Now hold the clasp that is not secured firmly. This will be the end that the knotting will begin. Essentially, there should a straight length of cord from clasp to clasp, and then two lose ends that are threaded through the second clasp.

5. Take the left loose cord (cord 1) and cross it below the two straight cords (cords 3/4) at a bit of a right angle. This will create an opening on the left side. Take the right cord (cord 2) straight underneath cord 1 and then cross it over cords 3/4 into the cord1 loop that was created on the left side. Pull both cord 1 and cord 2 snug. This creates the first knot.

6. Repeat this now on the other side by taking cord 2 underneath cords 3/4 at a right angle. Cord 1 will go underneath cord two, then up and over into the loop.

7. Alternate sides until there is no more cord left.

8. Cut one side of any excess loose cord and use a lighter to melt it. This will seal the cord down and prevent the knots from coming lose. Repeat on the other side. Be very careful, as the cord will be hot. Use the scissors or a knife to hold the cord down if needed to ensure it seals to the bracelet.

For other projects, simply measure the inches needed and convert this into feet. Be creative and use different colors of cord and clasps.

By Guest Blogger, Mariano Pastor from the blog “Via U! Photography Blog”.

A window and a piece of cardboard is all you’ll need to take pictures of silver jewelry with brilliant, even tones.

Move a table as close to a window as you can.

Make sure that the top of the table is a higher than the window sill.

Tape a piece of tracing paper to the window. Sunny or cloudy skies, the paper will make light coming in to be even and soft. Hang the paper so it goes down below the table.

When using white paper as a background put something white underneath to avoid the table coming through making it look dark.

I used a 2′ x 2′ piece of foam board to bounce back light from the window, you can use anything that stands upright without bending. A piece of cardboard covered with sheets of white paper will work great.

Light will reflect from the white card and from the white surface as well.

Silver is like a mirror, it shows whatever is around. The light and white paper will reflect on the metal making it look light and shiny. Pendant, a courtesy of Roxy’s Jewelry.

If you pull the white card away from the window it will create a dark area that will also reflect on the jewelry.

Different tones of silver make a picture have more depth. You may like the way it looks, or you may not. If you prefer the silver to have even tones make sure that the card is flashed against the window.

However, if you do want your background to have a gradation of tones try replacing the white card with a black one. Blocking the light will create a shadow with a clear edge.

Then you can play placing your jewelry where the background shifts from light to dark to see what happens.

Every other week we post a new product photography tutorial showing how to take at home the pictures we create at the Via U! studio.

By Paper Crafts Contributor, Lauren Romano.

Although placemats seem insignificant, it’s the first thing someone sees in front of them when they sit at a table. Plain is acceptable, but having something that reflects your personality and taste adds a more personal touch. I recently made a placemat for my grandmother that she likes much better than the plain one she was using. It’s easy to create, and requires very little money and materials.

What you’ll need:

• Clear Con-Tact paper
• Decorative Scrapbook paper
• Small decorative papers or food labels
• Mod Podge for paper
• Scissors
• Lace ribbon

Step 1. Choose a coordinating piece of scrapbook paper that reflects the style of your kitchen. I prefer a square shaped placemat, however, you could make a rectangle or circle depending on your preference.

Step 2. Cut the food labels or decorative pieces and lay them out onto the scrapbook paper until they are in a position you’re happy with. I used a few of the food- themed pictures from the “Domestic Goddess” paper by Graphic 45. Place the largest picture in the center to balance out the look.

Step 3. Trim the lace ribbon to the length of each side of the scrapbook paper. Doing one side at a time, apply the Mod Podge along the borders of the paper, then place the lace ribbon on top of it. Press it down, especially around the edges to make sure they won’t curl up.

Step 4. Apply a thin coat of Mod Podge on the back of each small decorative piece and adhere them to the scrapbook paper. Smooth out all the bumps otherwise it will make the Con-Tact paper bunch up. Wait for them to dry thoroughly before continuing on.

Step 5. Lay open the clear Con-Tact paper on a flat, clean surface. Hold the placemat with both hands so the front is facing away from you. Place it face down on the clear Con-Tact paper, then smooth it out completely from one end to the other. Trim the contact paper about an inch away from the placemat. Take more Con-Tact paper and sandwich the placemat in between the two sheets. Press it down little by little, pressing out the little bubbles as you go along, then go along the edges to make sure they’re sealed and smooth. Trim the excess off, then you have a personalized placemat to use. To wash, go over with a damp cloth; do not run them under water.

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

Playing with clay was one of my favorite activities as a kid. I could make a dinosaur, dog, palm tree, whatever my little heart desired. Now as an adult I have a little more dexterity, and I want to work with polymer clay. I love the intricate details you can add with polymer clay.

Since I was trying a new skill, I went to YouTube to find some video instructions. I started with polymer clay bead tutorials because I love beads! I wanted to learn some basic techniques for rolling, cutting and adding details to the beads.

This first video shows how to mix and roll clay to make marbleized clay beads.

I need to get a clay pasta machine! This video shows how to shape, add embellishment and add the beading hole to your clay.

By Recycled Crafts Contributor, Anitra from the blog “Coffee Pot People”.

Art materials really are “where you find them”, and that sometimes includes the makings for some really cool jewelry. Take the bag of goodies above, for example. Can you identify all those little rings? If you can, you get top prize for Geekdom today—they’re parts from defunct computer hard drives! If you’ve got dead hard drives lying around, these are reason enough to disassemble them. If not, look for a place like our own Free Geeks, here in Portland, Oregon, where you can buy them by the pound.

I’ve had them sitting on my desk for nearly a year, waiting for inspiration to strike, and it finally did. Below are instructions for making two necklace pendants and a pair of earrings.

For the first necklace, you’ll need:

• Two perforated hard drive rings, matching or not
• Silver wire, 18-20 gauge
• A few beads in the color of your choice
• Jewelry-making tools

Take the rings you’ve chosen and measure the width from the outer rim to the hole you’ll use to create the pendant. I do this by laying my round nose pliers on the ring to see where the jaw is the same or a little larger than that distance.

Take a length of wire about four inches long and begin a wrapped loop, slip the wire through a hole in the ring, and finish the wrapped loop. (For this entry, I’ll assume you know basic wire wrap techniques.) Slip on a bead, and make another wrapped loop, slipping the other ring on as you work. You’ve now connected the two rings.

Now take a length of wire two to three inches long, and begin another wrapped loop, slipping the wire through the topmost hole of the connected rings. Slide a bead on, and make a wrapped loop above it. That loop should be large enough that you can slide the pendant over a chain or ribbon for wearing.

Here’s the necklace:

And right beside the necklace is a pair of earrings. To make them, and the second necklace, you’ll need:

• Four simple hard drive rings
• Two beads in your choice of color
• One pair earring wires
• Silver wire, 18-20 gauge
• Two good-sized chain links (mine were from a broken belt)
• Jewelry-making tools

Begin by making a wrapped loop, slipping one of the hard drive rings on while working it.

Slide on a bead, make another wrapped loop, and attach to one of the earring wires. Repeat.

That was so easy, let’s just go ahead and make that other necklace.

Using two pairs of pliers, open out the first chain link, slip one of the hard drive rings through the opening, and close back up. Open the second link, slip in the other hard drive ring, and close the link back up. (If your links weren’t connected to begin with, be sure you connect them while you’re working those steps.)

You now have a pendant you can use in two different ways, either by slipping a chain or ribbon through one of the rings, or by sliding it through one of the chain links, which will “fold” the pendant, giving it a layered look.

By Sewing Contributor Jessica, from the blog “Life Sew Good”. 

It’s an easy 20 minute project that allows you to use up the ever-growing scrap pile (and don’t tell anyone: you don’t have to sew a stitch!)

You need:

• Scrap fabric: doesn’t have to match, but you need to be able to have some longer pieces
• 1 square of felt
• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Headband

First, Tear a few long strips of scrap fabric. The best pieces are about 1.5″ x 12″, although I used different widths and lengths. You can cut it if you prefer, but tearing it gives it the look I want!

For The “Flowers”:

1. Heat up your glue gun.

2. Beginning with one stip of fabric, begin to twist the fabric while rolling it up. I suggest using a dot of glue in the middle and then about once every roll.

3. Repeat making 3 “flowers”.

4. With a piece of coordinating felt, cut 3 circles the same size as your flowers.

5. Glue your flowers to the felt pieces. This will help keep them together and secure when you put them on the headband.

For the Headband:

1. Take a regular headband & a long strip of your fabric. Starting at the end, start twisting your fabric around the headband, gluing it conservatively. Make sure you tack both ends with glue.

2. Arrange the flowers on the on the headband & glue them in place.

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

Headbands are one of those accessories that are practical as well as pretty! A win-win as a craft project if you ask me. Simplicity’s line of headband décor has over 65 different decorations to add to your headband. From flowers, bows, feathers, and rhinestones in every color, you will have a custom headpiece to match your outfit!

Start by picking out a headband. They come in a variety of sizes and each one is covered with colorful satins.

Next you select which accents you like. Some are interchangeable so you can slide them on and off, or add as many as you’d like. The other accents can be glued or sewn on. Also you can decide where on your headband you want your décor, lower or higher, top or bottom. 

To add the slide-on accents, you just weave your headband through the back. The photo below shows the front and back of my headband accents.

These headbands are my favorite!

What are your favorite things?

By Crafts-a lot Contributor, Mable who is an avid reader of craft blogs & magazines and has aspirations to improve her crafting skills. Join Mable on Facebook to socialize and share with other crafters!

As I’ve mentioned before, I love earrings! Earrings are fun to make; you can customize them to match any outfit and occasion. The more I get into jewelry making, the more I learn about the cool products that are out there. Recently I’ve become a collector of earring findings. There are so many pre-made earring finding: hoops, posts, chandelier, fish hook and ear wires in round, kidney, oval and square shapes. And they come in every finish! Silver, gold, bright silver, crystal, antique silver and gold!

I recently got some hoop earring findings in silver. I made 8 different pairs in one crafting session! These findings have a loop at the top where I strung flexible wire through to add beads in some of my designs.  I used plenty of crimp beads to hold them in place. For some other designs, I bent the loop up and added beads to the bottom of the hoop.

My other favorite is the kidney ear wires. The rounded top and the longer dangle of the earring make them look dressier than the regular ear wires. This is my favorite pair!

Something I like to keep on hand is extra earring backs. Not all earrings come with them and not all earrings need them. I like to add them, just in case.

What are your favorite things?

By Guest Blogger Kristen, from the blog “Make the Best of Everything”.

Wine charms are a very popular accessory for get togethers. Charms help people keep tabs on their drink. Here is a cute idea for coffee charms. Coffee charms can be used for groups of people who get together and drink coffee!

Here is how I made these.

1) Went online and Googled “Coffee Puns” to get some cute saying for my coffee charms, and printed them out on cardstock.

2) Glued the coffee sayings on miniture tiles.

3 ) I Found a few coffee beans/grounds from the coffee stash in the kitchen.

4) Purchased a few packs of “Hoop earrings”.

5) Hot glued everything together to make the Coffee charms!

6) Decorated some finishing touches with puffy paint.

7) Here you go! Coffee Charms!

Click to view larger photo

These were Really fun to make! I cannot wait to make more sets of these to gift to family members and friends!!

By Fashion & Jewelry Making Contributor, Alicia from the blog “Dismount Creative”.

One of my favorite things to do is look through runway shots and magazine editorials to pick out designer trends that are DIY-able. Right now I’m seeing tassels everywhere, and this trend has all the makings of a perfect DIY.

On the runway designer Sonia Rykiel showed tassel belts and added large statement tassels to hangbags. You can craft your own tassels from leather, pleather and other materials or buy premade tassels (often used for interior decorating) and just tie them on. 

Tassel earrings, like these from Erickson Beamon, ASOS and Ann Taylor are great DIY inspiration – grab some chain, jump rings and earring findings and get started!

For more tassel DIY inspiration check out these projects that my favorite bloggers have posted!

Grace from Stripes and Sequins and Jenni from I Spy DIY and InStyle both made tassel earrings.

For tassel belt projects, check out Honestly WTF and P.S. I Made This!

By Fashion & Jewelry Making Contributor, Alicia from the blog “Dismount Creative”.

Lately I’ve been really interested in leather. Like wearing black, it’s a fashion staple that never goes out of style. And it goes perfectly with my other favorite thing – hardware. I combined the two in this simple but stylish bracelet that makes a big statement.

If you’ve never worked with leather before it might seem intimidating due to all the different types and specialty tools. Don’t be afraid to start with a simple project like this and work your way up.

SUPPLIES

Leather – a piece of suede trim or tooling leather will work
Clasp – I purchased mine from Tandy Leather
Rivets & Setter – an assorted kit will have what you need
Punch – an XACTO knife will work in a pinch
Scissors or Utility Knife – must be sharp
Hammer or Mallet – for setting the rivets
Leather Cement – optional
Varnish – water-based, optional

1. Cut your leather strip. Measure your wrist and add 2 inches to determine the length. The width may depend on your clasp- I made mine a little over 2 inches wide. You can use a sharp pair of scissors or a utility knife to cut the leather.

2. Fold under 1 inch on each end of the strip. (My strip was longer so I folded more than an inch.) You can secure it with leather cement, but it’s not necessary.

3. Wrap the leather around your wrist and hold the clasp over where the ends meet. Use a pen to make a small mark where you need to punch holes for the rivets.

4. Use a leather punch set to make a hole where the rivets will go to secure the clasp. In a pinch you can make the holes with an XACTO knife, but a punch will do a better job.

5. Choose your rivets carefully – you want to choose a size that will pass through two layers leather and your clasp but not more than an 1/8” further. This will ensure a nice, secure fit. (I used the smallest size.) Insert the post of the rivet from the base and snap the cap on top. Use a mallet and the rivet setting tool to secure the setting by giving it a sharp strike. Tandy Leather has a great illustration of the process.

6. Repeat the process on the other half of the clasp. (I recommend double-checking the alignment of the clasp before punching the holes and riveting the second half.)

7. Depending on the leather you use the edges may look great as-is, or they might be a little rough. I used a tiny amount of water-based varnish along the very edges to seal them and give a cleaner look.

8. Show it off!

By Guest Blogger Keri, from the blog “Pink Lemonade”.

Creating a fun set of jewelry with great little flowers always helps me feel like Spring is just around the corner…well this set fits the bill just perfectly for this! I created this set in the DEAD COLD winter of January. It really helped to feel “warm and snuggly” while the weather was not so warm outside. LOL Enjoy!

Here’s the set:

Then here’s how I decided to “present” them to my customer. You know what they say, presentation if half the sell, right? I simply stamped a beautiful image from the  Layers of Color – Acanthus clear stamp set. I then just cut little slits on either side of the panel and poked two holes to hold  the earrings…and WHAM, done! Enjoy!

By Craft Trends Contributor, Trent Jaxon.

Hello Crafters! I am fresh off the plane from the Craft and Hobby Associations Winter Tradeshow. This is probably the biggest show of the year for craft retailers and it is chock full of new products being released in 2011. I am excited for what the year has in store for us: Great New Products!

As the show is for retailers and those in the trade only, I am happy to put my craft ninja skills to work for you. This is your exclusive sneak peak at what is coming out this year to make your craft projects even more glorious.

Beading was huge at the show this year. My favorite collection was a hot new line called Sweet Beads by EWC. They will bring a combination of class and bling to all your projects. Look for them at CreateForLess in March.

John Bead released some new colors in their seed bead line. They are available now so go pick some up!

Blue Moon hit the nail on the head with 3 new Lines. Fairy Tale is both whimsical and trendy. Fashion Findings is big and bold. Art Glass is amazingly beautiful and truly looks like it was hand blown by a master glass worker. Look for these lines to be released starting within the next few weeks and into April.

Beadalon has released some new findings to beef up their line. As with all of their products they are high quality and look great. Their sister company, Artistic Wire has come out with a new line of Chain Mail products. This finger intensive craft is making a resurgence and for those looking for a good challenge that will leave you with a gorgeous result this is the way to go.

DecoArt has updated their line of painting products this year. Glamour Dust is their line of glitter paint. The paint is easily workable and you can decide how much glitter you want through using multiple layerings. Gloss Enamels is a great line of versatile quick drying glass paints available in both regular and dimensional varieties.

Delta has “gone green”. Their new soy products are sure to be a hit. These paints and stains are low V.O.C., low odor and are free of many of the chemicals in regular acrylic paints. They are able to do all of this without sacrificing quality. The paints themselves are available in a variety of great colors and the stains are perfect for all of your wood products and due to their green qualities are easy to work with in your craft room.

A great way to use all of these paints is to craft with premade paper mache’ products. We have some great new items from Craft Pedlars including ornaments, frames, picks, mail boxes and various containers and boxes. The best part is you won’t find a wider selection or better price on these items than at CreateForLess!

We saw a ton of new product in the scrapbooking world crafters! So much in fact that it will have to wait for a separate post.

So until then my friends get to beading, chain mailing and painting and make your world just a little more creative. And remember to always…..Keep it Trenty!

By Kid’s Craft Contributor, Gillian from the blog “Dried Figs and Wooden Spools”.

I love bracelets and I’m always on the hunt for a new one. But with the cold weather outside, I haven’t been wearing one, not liking the chill that I feel when the bracelet gets cold against my skin. The solution? A knitted bracelet!

Here’s what you need:

Bulky weight wool yarn

Size 10 knitting needles

Fabric scissors

Large button

Fabric measuring tape

Yarn needle

1. Measure your wrist and add one inch, this will be your knit length.

2. Cast on 10 sts. Knit as follows

row 1 – K1 P1 across

row 2 – K1P1 across

row 3 – P1K1 across

row 4 – P1K1 across

Repeat this pattern until you are one inch from your length (this is a double, vertical seed stitch)

Now make a buttonhole:

Knit in pattern for 3 sts. Without knitting, cast off 4 sts. Slip the last active stitch to the other needle and use it to make 4 new stitches. Finish knitting in pattern. Turn piece and continue to knit in pattern for 3 more rows. Cast off in pattern.

3. Try on your bracelet and mark where your button needs to be. Stitch into place and try it on!

By Fashion & Jewelry Making Contributor, Alicia from the blog “Dismount Creative”.

I have been admiring these Marc by Marc Jacobs faceted earrings for months! They disappeared from the shop I had been visiting so I set out to make my own. I think they turned out pretty awesome, so I wore these on New Years!

If you want to do it on your own, here’s what you’ll need:

• 0.25 oz polymer clay
• 1 pair earring studs
• Jewelry adhesive (E600) or Super Glue
• Acrylic paint – I mixed 1/2 Folk Art Metallic Pure Gold and 1/2 Folk Art Metallic Taupe to get the color I wanted
• Paintbrush
• Razor Blade

Watch this video for detailed instructions:

A few final thoughts: This was a fun and simple project that only took about an hour. You could just use gold colored clay, but I like the look of the paint. I’m already brainstorming my next project, a ring…