A Triple Rosette Pin in Turquoise

Lately, I've been busy making jewelry and hair clips for a community fundraising event. 

When I handed everything over to the charity's director (so that she could pass it along to the folks organizing the raffle, silent auction, etc.), she mentioned that she loved the turquoise color of one of the necklaces (seen in this post). She also, very nonchalantly, said something like it would make a good pin and she liked pins. Now this is a woman who has done so much over the years for this particular organization and my family and I have benefited from her hard work. 

So of course I made her a pin. In turquoise. And put it on her desk a week later. I hope she liked it. :)

Linking up here:

Little Rosette Earrings ~ Tutorial

I have been into rosettes lately and thought, if they look good on hair clips and necklaces, why not earrings?

  So here is my little tutorial on making little rosettes for the ears.

If you like bigger-sized earrings, go with 1" strips of fabric and knot them at the top.

 Or if you liked small, daintier earrings, go with .25" strips and knot them (I did both to compare.)

Pinch the knot (with the very end face-down) and wrap a full circle around before starting to turn to make "petals." Make sure the fabric is folded in half (you can glue the fabric in half before starting if it'd make it easier for you. But don't overdue it or the rosette will end up stiff and too thick.) Below is a picture of my first turn. I turn outward--top to bottom--to make a flatter rosette.

 I suggest putting a dab of hot glue on the rosette right before and after every turn. Just a tiny bit.

 Depending on what you like, you can make 2 turns per round, 4 turns, or a continuous set of turns. I did about 4 per round. When your rosette gets big enough, you might find it easier to move your finger and thumb to the top and bottom of the rosette to make it easier to hold, and help keep the rosette flat. See below. (If the rosette gets too thick, it'll dangle off your ear and won't look so good.)

 I used about 9" of fabric, but go with what you like. At the end, do one final turn-down and glue the edge on the bottom of the rosette. Snip off any extra fabric.

 Here are my finished rosettes from the 1"-wide fabric. I added a felt circle to the bottom, but decided not to do that with the .25" fabric because it made the earring thicker than I wanted.

 Here's another shot of the 1"-wide fabric earring.

 Immediately after finishing these, I started the smaller set with my strips of fabric that were .25" wide.

 See how much smaller these earrings turned out?

 I like the littler ones better. I think they're more subtle and less of a "statement." Which is what I prefer. Do you have a preference?

 Easy and fun to do. And who doesn't love saying, "I made them!" when someone gives you a compliment? Enjoy! :)

**If you make one of these projects, please be sure to link up your pics in my FLICKR Group! Thanks!**

Linking up here today:

Our Creative Spaces

Pom Pom Bib Necklace ~ So Pretty & Easy to Do

 So this past week I volunteered to make some jewelry for a community fundraiser and decided I needed to get to work figuring out something that looked smart and pretty at the same time. I found this awesome tutorial here for a beautiful pom pom bib necklace and got busy.

 I did my chain differently than the tutorial. I bought 6' of chain, jump loops, and lobster clasps and made my own chain at a length I liked (about 8" of chain on each side). I was very proud of myself for not only locating pliers (!) to cut the chain, but for also assembling the whole thing and making it look rather good! Right after I finished, I wanted to do another one. So I did.

 Not sure yet which necklace(s) I'm donating yet (I'm sort of in love with the gray one and want to keep it), but I know I'm going to be making some more in the next few days to try out some other fabrics and colors. Fun and easy. And aren't they pretty??

Linking up here today: 

 

Our Creative Spaces

Yellow & Gray Rosette Necklace

If you happened to have seen my post a few days ago about my yellow rosettes, you might've known that I had another rosette project in the works. Well, here it is!

 I like the yellow-gray combo and my idea was to have the rosettes worn a little off-center for a slightly more dressed-up look. Here's another view of my first-version of the necklace.

 After wearing it around a little bit, I found that the rosettes did not stay too well where I wanted them on my neck. There were two solutions I could see: 1) tie the ribbon tighter (which I did and thought it worked ok, but not exactly how I wanted it) or 2) add another rosette and beads to see what happened.

 So I added another rosette that would be a little higher on my neck, as well as a few more beads. Here's version two with the extras added on.

 I think this looks so much better! And it sits more comfortably too, being a little off-center which was what I wanted. It instantly dresses up a plain t-shirt! And it was very easy to do. :)

Yay for a new piece of jewelry!

Linking up here today:

Two Yellow Rosettes

I've been playing around with rosettes some more, having some fun putting them to use in different ways. I made two yellow rosettes the other night while hanging out with my husband and started to see what I could do with them today.

A double-rosette necklace?

 A hair clip?

 A single rosette on a chain?

I have one more idea for these babies, but it involves a little more work, so I'll have to come back and post again when I get it done! What other ideas do YOU have for rosettes? I would love to know!

Linking up here today:

Our Creative Spaces

Rosette Wipe Board ~ Mama's Game Day Board

Earlier this month, my husband took my son to the Home Depot Kids' Workshop and, together, they made this.

 Well, actually, not quite this. They came home with what Home Depot called the ESPN College Game Day Board and it looked more like this. Minus the lovely orange and green colors.

Rather, it came home in its unfinished-wood glory. I admired the handiwork, marveled at the guys' work, and stashed it away for myself. In my mind, I had plans for this little "game day board." It was going to become Mama's Game Day Board.

I enlisted my son a few days later to help with the paint job. And then I attached these rosettes which I made not too long ago. You might remember them from this necklace, which I decided was not going to stay a necklace. Once again, I used my hot glue gun with my rosettes and attached them to the board. Now I can plan MY day with it. (Ok, so maybe this list is mostly wishful thinking!)

 Linking up here today: 

>center>

Rosettes and Fabric Jewelry Fun

I started something new a week or so ago. I started fooling around with fabric rosettes and you know what - it got a little addicting. (I was going to show you the table full of rosettes, but then decided maybe I shouldn't? hehe) Anyway, they're easy to do and you get some pretty fast gratification from making them.

My challenge was how to attach them to a necklace. I ended up hot-gluing some ribbon loops on the back.

This set actually stands up (rather than lies flat) and doesn't work so well on a chain. So I'm wrapping the rosettes differently this week (more on that in a future post!). The trick however--and I'll tell you this now--is if you want flat rosettes, you have to keep your finger and thumb on the top and bottom of the rosette as you wrap with your other hand (this way the fabric stays squished in place and doesn't bubble up).

I also started experimenting with these little fabric flowers, made out of circles (traced with a shot glass). Also, pretty addicting!

I made this one into a hair clip and it looks really cute in my daughter's hair! But guess what. I put it on her and before I could take a picture, she lost it. I am sure it's somewhere in my house, but where I do not know!

 By the way, the fabric in the hair clip is from this vintage sheet. Love it!

Linking up here today: