DIY Leather Diamond Necklace

Hello friends!

Today I have another fun leather jewelry tutorial for you!  The leather was so generously provided by the Leather Hide Store (if you are looking to work with leather, they are definitely the place to go! Their leather is great quality and their customer service is amazing!)

I love working with leather in small amounts.  So far, I haven't made a bigger project like a bag (although I know that one day I will!) because I just love these smaller pieces.  Seriously, this necklace probably only requires a 4x4 square of each color that you choose, so you can use up some small scrap pieces with this project!  Without further ado...

Supplies:

• Leather scraps, one color or coordinating colors (again, my leather is from the Leather Hide Store)
• Gold chain, 18.25"
• Gold jump rings
• Gold lobster clasps
• Jewelry pliers
• Pencil and paper
• Diamond template
• Thread and needle (optional)

Cut out of paper or cardstock two diamond templates of different sizes (mine were 2.5" and 1.75").  Trace onto the back of the leather with a pencil or washable marker.  Cut eight large diamonds and 8 smaller ones.  (I cut two diamonds of each color, one big one small.)

Put a jump ring on one end of the chain, and a jump ring and lobster clasp on the other end (make sure to close the jump rings tightly so that they will not come undone).

Using a leather hole puncher, put a hole in the top of each of the diamonds, making sure that they are all in the same place.

Arrange and re-arrange your leather pieces until you decide exactly how you wanted them lined up.

I even thread them all onto a string and held that around my neck to make sure I liked the arrangement.....but that might just be me going too far;)  My order ended up being: small, small, big, big, small, big,small, big, small, big, big, small, big, small, small, big.  I just found that lay out the best, but this is totally up to you:)

Tape your chain down onto the counter and lay out your pieces so that the amount of "left-over" chain on either side measures the same.  Mine measures about 5" on each side, but again this will just depend on your spacing.

Open 16 jump rings.  Pick up one of the outside diamonds and put the jump ring through.  Lay the diamond back in place and slide the ring through the chain.  Squeeze the jump ring closed.  Do the same with the outside diamond on the other side.  And then continue with all the diamonds, switching back and forth between left and right so that the leather pieces don't slowly move over to one side.

Here you can see the chain taped down.....and the finished product!

I love the rustic colors in this piece.

Even though making it is very simple, it still creates a "big effect"!

This necklace can incorporate so many colors so it matches with everything!

I might have even worn it with a purple skirt;)

How would you wear this statement necklace?

Make sure to check out the Leather Hide Store and like them on Facebook so you can see more leather tutorials! 

Have a wonderful Monday, friends!

~Kelsey

 

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Heart Sweater w/Sunshine Shoppe Supply and Giveaway! (closed)

Hello there!  Today I have an awesome (somewhat last-minute) Valentine's Day project for you!  But you know, this can go so far past Valentine's Day!  I'm pretty sure I'm going to be wearing this sweatshirt all spring, and maybe some cool evenings in the summer!!!

 

I've worked together with Sunshine Shoppe Supply to create a few items using their supplies.  I'm excited to show you what I've come up with!  But without further ado, let's get started!!!

 

Supplies:

• Shabby Flowers (I used 16, but this will just depend on the shape and size of your heart
• Crewneck sweatshirt (I found this one at Target for under $5)
• Basic sewing supplies

The shabby flowers come on mesh like this.  To begin with, cut each strip so that all of the flowers are separate and then trim the mesh off from around the flower, being careful to not cut the stitches that hold the flower onto the mesh!

 

Next, lay out the flowers how you like them on the sweatshirt.  Start with the two center flowers to make sure that they are perfectly centered and go on from there.  I rearranged a few times until I had the perfect color combo and heart shape that I wanted.

 

Pin each of the flowers in place (careful that you do not mess up the others while you are pinning one down).

 

You are going to sew a circle on top of each flower.  Each flower is constructed somewhat like a spiral.  Start sewing at the "entrance" of the spiral and continue in a circle until have gone a full circle and are at the beginning again.  Don't forget to backstitch at both the beginning and the end!

 

Keep sewing until you have all of them tacked on........and you are finished!  Super easy right?!:)

 

The shabby flowers were super easy to work with, and I love all of the different colors!  They may fray a little bit, but don't worry about that.  There is one flower that has frayed more than the rest, and everyone who compliments me on the sweatshirt says that one is their favorite!;)

 

Are you ready for the giveaway???!!!  Every blogger always says that she wishes she could enter her own giveaways, and I really do ha!

Sunshine Shoppe Supply is so generously offering a $35 gift card to one of my readers!  So go check out their website and come back here to enter to win!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The flowers for this project were provided by the Sunshine Shoppe Supply.  They did not pay me to do this post but did provide the flowers.  All opinions and statements are my own.

Linking up with:

Kitchen Fun with My 3 Sons Funky Polka Dot Giraffe The Blackberry Vine Blog Sugar Bee Crafts Coastal Charm My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia Home Stories A to Z Elizabeth and Co It's Overflowing A Bowl Full of Lemons Our Delightful Home The Winthrop Chronicles

DIY: Christmas Tree ( or any other design!) Napkin Rings using Silhouette

 

I had a different post planned for today, but then realized how fun this one would be:)  Plus, the weekly challenge on the Silhouette blog this week is a holiday item, so I needed to squeeze this in before they pick a winner on Friday!  For Thanksgiving I made a bunch of those pumpkin and leaf napkin rings (bottom of this picture) and loved how they turned out!  But I couldn't find any Christmas designs, so I decided to make my own!  To make this, I used the 3d moose and fir trees that were on sale a few weeks ago (but I'm pretty sure you could use any Christmas tree shape...or any other shape, for that matter!)

Open up the file.

 

Since you won't be using the moose and the other part of the tree, you can ungroup and delete them.

Using the knife, draw a line down the center of the tree (there is already a dotted line so you can use that as a guideline).

Pull the two sides of the tree apart.

 

Draw a rectangle (for the two sizes of napkin rings that I made, my rectangles were 1.5x5 and 1x3.75).  The size of your tree should not matter to the structure.  It just depends on how you want it to look.

Place the Christmas tree pieces on either side of the rectangle (I suggest using the grid to make sure that they are even).

Highlight all of the shapes and select "merge".  This will only work if the trees line up perfectly on the edges of the rectangle.

You now have your napkin ring!  Last thing you need to do is add slits.

Using the knife, cut a line from one corner of the rectangle to about 2/3 down and the other corner to about 2/3 up.

Now send to silhouette and cut!  This project is super simple, but easily impresses guests;)

Like I said earlier, I made two different sizes.  The smaller one works for regular cotton napkins, and the bigger one for thicker cloth napkins.

 

 I think this design is perfect for a rustic inspired Christmas!

I would love to see pictures if you make these!

~Kelsey

DIY: Antique Book Pumpkins

 

 

Well hello there!  Today I have my second of three Thanksgiving posts.  On Saturday I gave you some ideas for name cards, and today I have the perfect centerpiece for your table!

This idea came from a lady in California who passed it on to my sister, who passed it on to me, and now I'm passing it on to you!:)

 

You already know how much I love thrifting, right? What do they say, "Name brands at Walmart prices?"  I'm all for it.  But this thrifting shopping trip with my sister was all for the sake of crafting.  First we picked out some books for our pumpkins.  (I had to go with some vintage ones to get those awesome covers).  We ended up with some old fiction, a German dictionary, books on the Alps, dog attractions in California, and how to groom your poodle......random right?  (Oh, and of course I had to pick up that Sense and Sensibility...who could resist?  But don't worry, we didn't cut it up for a pumpkin.)

And this belt-turned-boho-headband.  (Super simple.  Just pulled a few stitches to remove the buckle and re-glued the leather to cover up the braid).  All for a whopping 99 cents.

 Alrighty.  Enough about my love for thrifting.  On to the pumpkins.  To begin with, remove the cover from your book.  It is easiest with paperbacks, because you can just slowly rip it off.  Just make sure to not break the binding.  Next, draw half of a "pumpkin shape" on the first page of the book.  Cut through a few pages with your scissors.

 

Once you have cut the first layer, trace that outline onto the next page and cut a few pages.  Continue doing this until you have gotten through the whole book!

As you are cutting, try to make sure that your pages are not getting bigger or smaller.

It will be hard to cut close to the seam of the book, but don't worry.  You can cut all of that off at the end.

As you can see, you'll be cutting through a lot of paper!!!  When you have cut through your whole book, hot glue gun the front and back cover of the book together.  (Cover the entire page with glue so that it will stick really well).  When that glue has dried, glue a short stick into the hole on top of the pumpkin (see pictures below).  And now you have an adorable little pumpkin!

 

For this centerpiece, Lara spray painted some big fall leaves gold and sprinkled nuts and pinecones around.

Don't you just love how a little gold spray paint can add some sparkle to any project?

Do you have a Thanksgiving centerpiece made up yet?

~Kelsey

 

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