the crown

i was recently commissioned to make a festive special-occasion crown for a friend of a friend. this was a first for me, and i thoroughly enjoyed the assignment. the crown had to incorporate an assortment of creatures, as the recipient is a true animal lover. given how many components were at play here, i first created a sturdy cardboard base - i cut one from the thick cardboard back of a drawing pad. i bent it into shape, stapled a short end of wide elastic to both ends (so it would be one-size-fits-all) and mounted a remnant of silk/linen on the front using spray mount. i outlined all edges with a vintage metallic ribbon, and added a row of rhinestones on top for extra bling. then the real fun began: i collected a bunch of animal figurines, some were holiday ornaments, others were plastic toys, and painted them all using my ridiculously large collection of metallic nail polishes. some of the larger animals needed to be affixed using metal wire, the smaller ones only called for a dab of hot glue. last but not least, a flock of gold painted paper butterflies were mounted on the crown's top, two silver bells were hung on either side of the bottom edge and the crown's inside was lined with a matching color felt. all of this was done while binge-watching "the crown" on netflix, i'm not kidding. my husband says the final result looks like something florence foster jenkins would have worn. what do you think?

bonjour handmade

a few weeks ago, i received a lovely email from anny frechette at bonjour handmade, offering to send me free craft supplies if i wanted to make a diy project with them and then blog about it.  how could i say no? especially when i delved into her gorgeous website and browsed around. i decided to select the stainless steel lobster clasps, thinking i would use them in a decorative manner rather than the function they were intended for. i am still very much on a tassel kick, so the clasps became mini-tassel holders. here is the result. below the photo are step-by-step instructions for the project. enjoy!

supplies:
- 18 stainless steel lobster clasps, 16 mm x 10 mm
- vintage bead necklace
- remnants of embroidery floss
- paper or cardboard scraps
- scissors
- extra tubular beads (optional)
- strong linen cord

fold your piece of paper or cardboard into a small rectangle that is about 1" x 1.75". wrap floss around folded paper lengthwise 30 times and cut through. slip bundle of floss through large opening of clasp, fold over, wrap and tie with contrasting color floss.

make 18 tassels in various colors. cut open vintage necklace to recycle beads and arrange tassels and beads into a new lay-out. i decided to incorporate some gold-colored tubular beads as well to make the necklace even longer. string both tassels and beads in the right order onto a strong linen cord and tie together with a double knot. done! to find our more about bonjour handmade, click here.

friendship bracelets

in just a few weeks, my new booklet for the taunton press will be published. "friendship bracelets - 12 jewelry designs to make and share" is a collection of easy, colorful and fast projects with yarn and embroidery floss. i included a pair of earrings and a necklace as well. all projects were modeled by the gorgeous and amazing elise and juliet, let's hear it for the redheads!

shoe clips made with t-shirt yarn

dainty and ladylike, shoe clips are a fun but somewhat old-fashioned accessory that needs to be taken our of the bridal realm, and back to the forefront of fashion. the shoe clips below are a witty take on preppy tasseled loafers.

STEPS:

1. per clip: cut four 6” long pieces of t-shirt yarn.

2. fold this bundle of yarns over and tie together with another piece of t-shirt yarn, using a double knot. cut off the ends.

3. thread a hex nut onto each tassel end and make a knot underneath.

4. hand sew the shoe clip to the back of each tassel. done!

after making the tassels, I decided to try my hand at t-shirt yarn bows: cut twelve 3” long pieces of yarn and tie this bundle in the center together with a 10” length of T-shirt yarn, then wrap it over six times, and finally tuck under the end. hand sew the shoe clip to the back of the bow. 

collective design fair

i attended the opening night of the collective design fair last night, at moynihan station in manhattan. twice as large as last year's edition, the show features an exceptionally curated group of galleries and dealers, all with an extremely unique point of view on design innovation. highlights include the new designs by india mahdavi  and the quirky scandinavian antiques showcased at dienst + dotter. but in the end, what really caught my eye were the amazing jewelry designs, such as the deer antler collars by jennifer trask, and the insect necklaces by marta mattson. unbelievably gorgeous! the show is open through may 11, don't miss it...

Bungee Band Bracelets & More

i am so excited to announce the publication of "bungee band bracelets & more", a booklet i produced, photographed and wrote for the taunton press. the publication date is april 1 (no joke), and it is already available for pre-sale on amazon. i loved exploring the craft possibilities for this fun material, here are some examples of the projects you'll see in the booklet:

tassel bracelet

here's another quick project, made with the recycled t-shirt yarn from haiti, generously donated by keith recker from hand-eye magazine. cut the yarn into 12 equal lengths, string the pieces through the loops of a chain bracelet and tie together. then, thread a gold-colored hex nut onto each end and secure with a knot. voila!

rhinestone beads

a few months ago, i made a necklace out of polymer clay beads. i had a few leftover beads that were a little burnt, so i decided to make a quick project by covering the damaged beads with craft rhinestones from michaels, using a glue gun. the whole things is strung on a double string of recycled t-shirt yarn, generously donated by keith recker of hand-eye magazine.

t-shirt yarn from haiti

a week ago, my good friend and founder/editor of the amazing hand/eye publication, sent me box of recycled t-shirt yarn from haiti (thank you!). keith knows how to make a crafter happy! i set myself the goal of making a different necklace from each color. here are the first three. the red necklace is a simple crochet chain, onto which shorter crochet chains are tied. i left the ends of the shorter pieces long and tied hex nuts on them. the black one is a crochet chain into which i crocheted keychain hardware. i then inserted six shorter lengths of yarn in each keychain and tied them off to make them look like a tassel. the last one is the simplest: eight lengths of yarn are held together by these gold-colored rings i found in the hardware store, i am sure there is a technical term of these but it's escaping me at the moment.

clothing labels

i finally got round to doing something with the collection of weird and cheesy labels i kept from my various tie-projects: the wrap and the hairpins. i simply glued them to a scrap piece of leather, and turned them into a cuff bracelet. it's my homage to the unsung heroes of branding and the complete opposite of the coolest of all labels: the 4 white stitches, indicating the no-logo white cotton tape that makes up the martin margiela label. the award for most original brand goes to madeleine vionnet however, who literally incorporated her thumbprint on her label - and she did so in 1923!

rice necklace

here's another medium that is great for making jewelry: rice. it provides weight, it is easy to handle, and most importantly, it's cheap. i sewed a "tube" that is about 2.5" wide when flat, using a fabric that was previously tie-dyed in striped pattern. tie off one end of the tube about 5" in, fill with 2 table spoons of rice and then tie off the resulting "bead" using a waxed jute string. repeat until your necklace is the desired length, and make sure it will fit over your head. stitch the remaining ends together and then wrap string over the whole closure. done!

mother-of-pearl ring

if you've read my blog posts in the past, you know that i like jewelry but that i am mostly drawn to necklaces and bracelets. in fact, i really only wear 2 rings and they're on the same finger: my wedding ring and my late grandfather's signet engagement ring. i decided to branch out and see what i could make with ring blanks: these are simple rings with just a flat round surface which can be decorated at will. here is my first attempt: i hot-glued a stack of vintage mother-of-pearl buttons on the ring blank, from large to small. what do you think?

thank you cloth magazine!

what a nice birthday present: cloth magazine featured my peter pan button collar in the inbox section of their latest issue. louise is modeling. happy summer!

button bracelet

another super easy 10-minute craft. gather 20 to 30 buttons - mismatched or similar colors - just make sure they're all shank buttons, not sew-through buttons. string them all on a length of fabric-covered elastic cording, preferably of a similar color. when you have enough buttons to fit comfortably around your wrist, make a double knot and snip off ends. done!

charm safety pin

a quick 10-minute project, that will really jazz up your new coat this fall. all you need are some charms, pendants, watches, buttons.... use a pair of pliers to attach them with jump rings onto a large kilt safety pin. done!

costume jewelry

i can't wait for the exhibit "fashion jewelry - the collection of barbara berger" which will open on june 25 at MAD (museum of art and design) in new york city. there is something so thrilling about buying costume jewelry, especially when the pieces are so extravagantly designed, they are obviously fake. take away the burden of expense and creativity soars! of course expense is a relative term. the costume jewelry of lanvin is jaw-dropping, but not exactly affordable. thus my hunting ground remains the flea market. here are a few picture of some recent finds.

hat pins

over memorial day weekend, we went to a yard sale at one of the oldest houses on block island. the owner's mother passed away and he was selling the house, and all its contents. i picked up an old box filled with jewelry bits and pieces, for $10. it was so much fun going through all of it later: i found victorian hair jewelry, black mourning beads, mother of pearl buttons and a great little collection of hat pins. my favorite is probably the one that looks like a scarab. since i rarely wear hats that require pins, i think i may mount these on a mat, and frame them in a shadow box. looks like i just started yet another new collection....

clay beads

a few weeks ago, allison and i spotted these gorgeous moroccan necklaces in a local brooklyn store - hand-formed resin beads on a knotted rope - in the coolest, off-beat color combinations... marni by way of marrakech if you wish. the price was a little too rich for our blood so i set about to make my own version. i decided to use polymer clay as i wanted the color to be through-and-through, not just on the bead surface. i had bought some sculpey III packs at a yard sale last year, so i decided to use these. this was my first time baking with sculpey and here are a few tips:
- the unbaked sculpey is much brighter in color than the baked result, bear that in mind.
- sculpey is easy to mold, and i loved creating these hand-formed beads, fingerprints and all.
- i used a wooden skewer to create the holes in the beads, easy!
- as it states on the package, you have to be really precise about the baking temperature and time. apparently my oven does not distribute heat evenly, so i ended up with a few burnt beads.
- contrary to online tips, these burnt bits cannot be sanded off easily - i will save these for another project that requires paint.
- the smell of burnt sculpey is not great.
finally, i used a colored elastic band in a fun blue color, as i did not want to wear raw jute rope on my bare neck. what do you think?

plumber's necklace

a very simple necklace, after a very simple idea from ps i made this, the wonderful blog - and eponymous book - by erica domesek. basically, your beads are copper plumbing fixtures from home depot. i strung them on a strip of tie-dyed silk velvet and voilà!