Design by Night

  For many, losing weight is a priority in the new year. Well this tutorial can help! How do you say? Well next time you want to pick up a fork to eat a piece of cake, craft with it instead. Supplies: 18" chain with findings Embroidery thread—4 Colors Scissors Dinner fork Tape Tape the chain to the the fork, keeping it towards one of the outer prongs. Using your first color of embroidery thread, start wrapping it around the fork and chain. I just kept wrapping until I thought I had enough thread to make a nice sized tassel. Cut about a 12" piece of the thread and weave it through the fork prong and around your bundle of wrapped thread (Fig. 2a). Tie the thread tightly (Fig. 2b). Weave the ends through again and around to the back and tie again, make sure to tie it tightly and double knot the thread so it does not come undone (Fig. 2c). Trim the long ends (I trimmed them the length of the tassel so they would blend in). Make three more tassels on th...

I have a bunch of cheapy long bead plastic necklaces that I have picked up over the years. You can usually find them at yard sales and thrift store for a quarter. I often put them on then take them right off, until now! Rework your necklaces with a few minutes, some ribbon and a pair of scissors. Here's how: I used 3 necklaces and some grosgrain ribbon. Cut the ribbon into four pieces, two-12" and two-18". Take one 18" piece and loop it through all the necklaces. Tie a into a single knot. Take a 12" piece of ribbon and center it on the knotted ribbon. Using the ribbon that is already knotted to the necklaces tie the 12" piece to the mix. Take the 12" piece of ribbon and tie it into a bow. Trim ribbon ends as needed. Repeat with the other side.

Supplies : Wrapping Paper White Glue Scissors or X-acto Knife Ruler Chain 4-Jump Rings 2-eye head pins 1-Lobster Clasp Jewelry Pliers Hot Glue Felt (that compliments wrapping paper) Piece of paper Pencil Cut several pieces of wrapping paper 2” wide. Vary the size from 10” to 36”. Take one of the pieces and fold it in half. Fold this half in half two more times making about a half inch high strip. Starting at an end, start to roll the paper on itself to create a tight coil. The coil will be larger or smaller depending on the length of the paper. When you get to the end, use the white glue to finish the coil. Hold in place until it is dry. After you have several coils you like, on a piece of paper arrange the coils into a design. When you get a design you like trace around the outside of it to create a backer template. Cut out the template and use it to cut out a piece of felt to use as a backer. Take your shapes and arrange them on the felt. Trim felt where necessary to avoid overhang....

So if you follow my blog you know that I love to do tutorials! Well the nice people at Baltimore Magazine asked me to come up with a tutorial that would use recycled holiday gift wrap. Well I put on my thinking cap and came up with a quilled paper necklace. And don't worry, if you are not have access to Baltimore Magazine but you want to make the necklace come back Monday and I will post the tutorial!

Years ago I bought a cigar box of old keys. For some reason I was really drawn to them but had no idea or any real purpose for them. So for years I have been shuffling around this box of keys in my studio, each time thinking that I should really make something with them. Recently, I was inspired to make a "key chain" pendant. I dumped all the keys in the box and played around with them thinking that a trio of keys would make a nice shape. Plus, each key I picked had a nice old/rusted patina too. Now I had the idea, but how do I attach them? I tried several glues and some wire but got no where. After a few margarita's with my girlfriend and jewelry designer Jill Popowich I had my very simple answer, jump ring them together! How could I have overlooked the most obvious technique? Thank goodness I have crafty friends because I would still be trying to glue those damn keys. Anyway, if you are like me and have a collection of old keys hanging around this would be a great ste...