Chic Maker DIY Jewelry Kits

Do you ever get that itch to be crafty... and then realize you're too lazy to go out and find/buy all the pieces for your theoretical project? Fortunately, Chic Maker, makes it easy to get your craft on without stepping one foot outside your house. They'll ship one of their monthly DIY jewelry kits with all the materials and instructions right to your doorstep! I discovered Chic Maker when I was perusing one of my favorite blogs Delighted Momma. Below you can see what she did with the March bracelet-making kit. The materials happen to be in one of my favorite color combos too- tan and teal. So cute!

Chain Crochet Jewelry

Best part about being single? You can buy yourself a Valentine's gift... and I think I've found mine.

VIA Petite Mort Shop.

Shop of the Month : Plümo

I am SO ready for Fall... and so is one of my favorite shops- Plümo! Check out the amazing MDP Shop of the Month by clicking below!

The Planet & Polli

Aside from the fact that Australian shop Polli has a lovely selection of indie-crafted objects and accessories, they truely pride themselves in their socially-conscious efforts. You gotta love a company that uses eco-conscious materials, manufactures their products locally, AND donates $1 from each piece of jewelery to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to help with the protection of animals.

Butterfly Wings of Papillon Belle

When I first came across these butterfly wing necklaces, although beautiful, I thought they were kind of spooky. Wear a dead insect? Never thought you would catch me doing it! However, after reading up on Papillon Belle, the idea was brought to a new light. Their company supports a sustainable butterfly breeding program and by purchasing a necklace not only do you get a beautiful one-of-a-kind piece of jewelry, but you also help support the farms that breed these beautiful creatures- usually located in third world countries! Gotta love that!

Vintage Twist on Friendship Bracelets

Handmade jewelry shop owner's Frieda and Nellie came up with the brilliant idea of re-purposing those braided friendship bracelets we made back in Girls Scouts into lovely pieces of grown-up jewelry. Look at all the fabulous vintage pieces they have transformed into works of art! Love this...

DIY Braided Necklace

Has it been too long or what!? I've missed this blog terribly as I've been pulled away to serve my duties as a juror... ALAS I am back and ready to share with you wonderful things I come across around the world and the web... So lets get started back up with a fantastic DIY Braided Necklace I found at the blog ECAB (short for Eighteenth Century Agrarian Business... cute.) I love the colors used for this tutorial- turquoise is kind of my obsession right now for jewelry- but you can of course customize it however you would like :) Enjoy!

Desert Embellishments by Buffalo Girl

Head dresses, satchells and beads- Oh my! New Zealand based fashion line Buffalo Girl has everything a ruggedly stylish South Western cowgirl could ever need (especially for three days out in the desert--- ehem, Coachella much?) I saw these photos on their blog and thought you might enjoy :)

DIY Hex Nut Bracelet

If you couldn't tell by now... I LOVE myself a good DIY project! ESPECIALLY when it utilizes items I've already got lying around my house. Hence, todays post- the Hex Nut Bracelet via blog Honestly WTF. You'll find some other really awesome projects there as well- I really love the Rope Necklace she does. Don't get too frustrated with this one- its actaully easier than it looks... Good luck!

What You Need:

3 strands of twine cut into one yard pieces & 18 small brass hex nuts

STEP ONE

Gather the 3 strands of twine and tie a knot at the top, leaving about 2 inches of slack. Start braiding. At about an inch of the way down, you’ll begin braiding in the nuts. Before you braid the far left strand over the middle strand, thread on a nut, push it against the base of the braid, and crossover. Depending on the thickness of the twine, you can wrap tape around the bottom tips to prevent the twine from fraying.

STEP TWO

Keep your thumb at the base of the braid, holding the nut in its place. Before you braid the far right strand over the middle, thread on another nut, push it against the base of the braid and crossover. Again, hold your thumb tightly against the base of the braid, keeping the nuts in place. Thread another nut onto the far left piece and crossover.

STEP THREE

Repeat the steps, by threading the rest of the nuts to the outer pieces of twine before they are crossed over. Thread, cross, thread, cross. Finish the bracelet with another inch of braided twine and a knot.

STEP FOUR

The bracelet should wrap around your wrist at least two or three times. Trim it to your liking.

You Wear What You Read

Littlefly has an amazing line of jewelry made from paper... but not just any paper. They use the pages from books, then insert the finished jewelry back in to it's "excavated space." They'll even create custom pieces, extracting pages from your very own books. It's a wonderful, unique process where they laminate the paper with a high-gloss- only showing faint imagery from the actual pages. I'm so excited to be sharing this with you today...