Adjustable Necklace Knot Tying

Hey everyone! For those of you who enjoy making your own jewelry specifically necklaces and bracelets, this might be able to help you! This is super easy to do so I hope you try it out!

Materials:
- Bead/beads
- String


I love that this can make the simplest jewelry a little more versatile!

Steps:

1. Tie a simple "Overhand Knot" with one end of your string to the other end.

2. With your loose end, do the same thing on the other end of the string (that you just tied). You should be able to move the knots along the string! This allows you to adjust the length of your jewelry!

Great! Here's what your necklace/jewelry should look like:

What I've learned:

- Make sure you use the right kind of rope or string. You don't want anything easily frayed or roughed up!


This is great for simple necklaces and bracelets! I really like that you can wear the necklace long or short depending on your outfit. I hope you enjoyed this post and that you use it too! :)

Keep on crafting!

Alison

DIY Corner Bookmark

Hi everyone! I know it's been awhile and I promise to try my best to blog more! I've bee doing a lot more reading on my commute to work and decided to make myself a simple, yet functional bookmark! This corner bookmark is super easy to make and you can really personalize it and make it your own. Keep on reading to see how to make one! :)


Materials:
- Ruler
- Scissors
- Paper
-Tape/glue
- Markers, pens, pencils etc.


I used a plain sheet of paper but you can use cardstock or construction paper of any color to personalize your bookmark! Make it really fun!


Steps:

1. Using my ruler, I cut the sheet of paper down into a 5x5 square. Then I trimmed the edges so that they were even on both sides, like in the picture below.





2. Now (this gets a little weird to descibe), cut what would be a small square out of one side of your paper. You should have an "arrow" shape now!







3. Fold the two ends of your "arrow" down so that you have a small square! After the second flap, take some tape or glue to secure it in place. Double sided tape works well or roll up your tape so that you won't be able to see it.





4. Decorate and personalize your bookmark! I wanted to keep mine fairly simple but decided to write a quote about reading on the back. Cheesy, I know... :)

Here's my Corner Bookmark!

What I've learned:

- Mark your measurements down in pencil lightly. They help a lot and you can go back to erase them.
- Whie plain paper works pretty well, I think using cardstock would be better especially if you want your bookmark to last you a long time.



I've recently started reading a lot more books which is actually part of my New Year's Resolution so this DIY Corner Bookmark project was great! I hope you liked this simple craft and that you try it out for yourself. What books are you guys reading and do you have any recommendations?



Alison :)

DIY Paper Gift Bow

Happy holidays everyone! 'Tis the season to be crafting! I tried making my own Paper Gift Bow this year because it's not only cheap but you can reuse paper that you were going to throw away anyways. Hope you get a chance to make some for this gift giving season!


Materials:
- Sheet of paper
- Scissors
- Tape
- Stapler


Steps:

1. Cut your paper strips out! You will need:

- 3 long strips/width of the sheet of paper (mine was 8.5 inches)
- 3 shorter strips (7.5 inches)
- 3 even shorter strips (6.5 inches)
- 1 very short strip (2.5 inches)

Depending on the size you want to make your bow, change up the measurements. Also the wider the strips the more difficult it might be to twist, so keep that in mind!




2. Take each strip and twist both sides so that the ends meet in the middle. Do each side one at a time and tape it so they won't move. Leave that little piece for later. Hopefully my pictures will help!

<<<<<<<<<                     >>>>>>>>>

3. After you make all your pieces, put together each layer (of 3 pieces of the same size) so that they kind of make a 6 petaled flower. Then staple all of them together. Largest one on the bottom, with the other two on top. Take the smallest strip and make a loop, holding together with tape. This will be in the middle of the bow, covering the staple. ;) Don't know if I'm making sense but I'm trying to... Pictures always help!

Here's my first Paper Gift Bow!




What I've learned:

-You can have pointy corners or rounded ones depending on how tightly you decide to twist your paper strips before taping them.
- I tried to twist them together more so that the corners would be pointy!
- Card stock might be a good alternative to paper if you want a "tougher" bow.


Why not recycle and save money at the same time! Added bonus: impress your relatives with you're crazy craftin' skills!

I liked this project so much! I want to try making similar stuff especially around the holiday season! Stay tuned for more! 

Alison :)

DIY Sparkly Peter Pan Collar

Hi everyone! Today's DIY project is one that I've been itching to do for awhile now... a removable Peter Pan collar! I decided I wanted to make a super sparkly piece of statement jewelry for New Years and here's what I came up with. This project is a little more time consuming but it is totally worth it! Keep reading to see what I did and try it out for yourself! :)


Materials:
- Glue                          
- Magazine/scrap paper                          
- Small beads
- Ribbon
- Pen
- Felt 
- Scissors                       I chose colors that I thought could be versatile,
- Corkscrew                                     but had a some glitz to it!



Steps:

1. Draw out a template on a piece of scrap paper. I folded mine in half, drew out one side of the collar and cut it out so that both sides would be the same. Using a pen, trace the paper cut-out onto your felt! Cut that out once you're done.

 2.  Now's the tricky part, take your glue and slowly glue on your beads. I did small sections at a time, spreading the glue and sprinkling the beads over it and filling in the spaces afterwards. During this step, make sure your beads are laying flat!

3. This part was actually a little difficult for me too. You have to decide how you want to fasten the collar around your neck. I went with ribbon! Using a corkscrew (resourceful maybe?), I poked 2 small holes to the trimmed ends of my collar. With one ribbon, I looped it through the 2 holes and tied it in a bow. This way, it'll still be adjustable!

Here's my finished Peter Pan Collar!

 What I've learned:

- Make sure you know the exact shape of your collar before cutting your felt. I even tried on the scrap paper version to make sure it was what I wanted.
- The ribbon as a fastener works well for me because I want to have the flexibility to change it to fit different shirts. You could also use one ribbon on either side to tie together, or a button if you want the collar to be fixed!
- Choose beads wisely! Make sure they're small enough to be glued on without falling off. Flattening all the beads on your collar will help make sure they won't get caught on anything.
- To get my ribbon through the "corkscrew holes" I used a twist tie as a threading tool!

I hope you liked this DIY project and make your own Peter Pan Collar! This project was a little more tedious (especially when I was getting beads stuck to my fingers from all the glue) than some of my other DIY's but the end result turned out a lot better than I had expected. What do you think?

I like my new Peter Pan Collar so much that I want to make another one! I should also buy more high collared/crew neck shirts... ^.^


Alison