Beautiful Things from Sayuri - Part 1

Last December, my blogger friend Divya celebrated her blog's 5th anniversary with giveaways. Divya is a talented jewelry designer behind Jewels of Sayuri and I have always loved visiting her blog to see the beautiful things she makes. I joined the jewelry giveaway and imagine my surprise when a few days later, I got an email from her saying I won.

I won... yes... me who never really wins anything much, WON!

*insert happy dance here*

And today, the package arrived!!

All the way from India.

Inside the package...

Don't you just love her business card?

And inside the box? Coming soon next week. I want to take nice photos to do justice to my prizes and right now, I only have my camera phone. 

Can't wait to try them on!! :)

Murano Necklaces Series - Part 1

Part 1 because right now, I was only able to take photos of one... the one I made for me. Part 2 will probably have the photos of all the others, all lumped into one post :)

"All the others" because my mom tasked me with making 13 necklaces with the Murano pendants she bought. And out of the 15 (13 for her, and 2 for me because I found out that I still had 2 unused Murano pendants in my stash), I only have 3 finished. And I need to finish everything by the first week of December. 

Plenty of time.

*deep breaths*

*I will not panic*

* I have plenty of TIME*

*yeah....*

The one above, that's mine. I love how simple it is with the black cord tied around the donut-shaped glass pendant. It's currently my favorite necklace and I've worn it like 4 times this week since I finished it last Saturday.

I usually have a hard time working with Murano pendants because they tend to be statement pieces because of their size and colors and I find myself not knowing how to "set" them properly without the finished necklace looking too overwhelming. For the Murano series I'm doing for my mom, I decided I will use just the pendant and the cord, no other embellishment. 

By the way, I just realized that Part 2 will probably be after Christmas. My mom is giving those necklaces as gifts and I don't want to spoil the surprise for any of the recipients who might accidentally stumble onto my blog.

Anyway, I hope you all have a happy weekend!

Surrounded - Part 2

Since last week, nothing much has changed:

• I still don't have agate slices
• I still don't know how to crochet

But my first attempt at making a Surrounded-inspired necklace didn't go very well. When I wore the necklace, I saw that the white glass bangle was overcome by the black rope and silver rope chain and you could hardly see it.

So I decided to try again.

Those rectangle pieces are made of some sort of shell set in resin. They were once part of a cuff (8 pieces held by elastic to form a cuff). I guess I must have found use for 4 of them before because there were only 4 of them in my stash.

It's not very visible in the photo but those rectangle pieces are actually pale peach in color. I used white rope to surround the pieces to make this bib necklace.

Here's a closer look?

I bought several colors of rope and I still have those 4 pendants I showed you in my previous post. So if I find time... more to come!

Oh by the way, we are having another guest here tomorrow for our weekly Creating Success Around the World blog hop.

 

I interviewed another talented lady from Asia and tomorrow, you will get to know her too so check back again. Hope to see you!

I am linking to the following parties:

Made By You Monday at Skip to My Lou | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Take-a-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts |  Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Tuesday To-do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie | Tuesday Party at Running With Glitter | Confessional Link Party at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mommy | Link Party at Tea Rose Home | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Weekend Wrapup Party at Tatertots and Jello |

Brook&Lyn-Inspired: Surrounded Necklace

I would like to say this is Anthro-Inspired... since more of you are familiar with Anthropologie and can relate to the concept. But the truth is, I got the inspiration for this first from Donatella of Inspiration & Realization. Have you been to her blog? You really should visit... I'm in love with everything she made!

I saw her tutorial for this necklace. 

Agate slice crochet jewelry. Click link for Donatella's tutorial.

These are inspired from Brook&Lyn's pieces from the 'Surrounded' collection. Then last week, while surfing for some inspiration, I saw that Brook&Lyn pieces are now being carried by Anthropologie.

Brook&Lyn necklaces on Anthropologie.

I love the necklaces! However, I don't have agate slices, nor do I know where to get them here. And I don't know how to crochet... I tried to learn when I was younger and my sister is really good at it... I am not. I might try again in the future, but for now, I will improvise.

I have these pendants in my stash and was initially planning to use them:

Bits and pieces of shell set in resin.

I got them for around $1 each, I think, from Quiapo, Manila back in 2007. I couldn't decide which one to use because I only had enough rope for one necklace. While rummaging in my supplies drawer, I found this:

It's a white child-sized glass bangle I also got back in 2007. Since it's small, I've been using it as a pendant for another necklace I made a long time ago. I thought the technique will work well with this too and decided to use this instead and got to work.

I used a glue gun to attach my rope around the bangle. And then, since I can't crochet, I decided to line the area between the bangle and the rope with some rope chain.

Attach the locks and ta-dah, done!

I love the simplicity of this. I think I want to make more using my other pendants. I'm buying more rope this week and get to work on the others. I think this technique can be used with any flat pendant you may have.

By the way, don't forget to check back again tomorrow for my first Creating Success Around the World interview! I will be having one very talented lady as a guest.

See you tomorrow! :)

I am linking up to the following link parties:

Show Me What Ya Got at Not  JUST a Housewife | Take a Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Link Party at Tea Rose Home | Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman | Creative Juice Thursday at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions |

Turquoise Love

Hello again! After my 2-week hiatus, I finally had time to finish a couple of projects which I will be sharing with you this week. But before that... I want to share this...

It's been a long time since I did my nails. But last week, I found a bottle of nail polish in pretty turquoise at a bazaar and I liked it so much I decided to shirk a few chores last weekend to find time to do my nails. I did my toe nails too.

Uhm... Please don't look too closely... I did this myself so it's not perfect ;)

The color goes so well with these turquoise earrings which I got for only P20 (less than $0.50).

And the Anthro-Inspired Trimmed Necklace that I made a few months ago.

And since I'm loving turquoise today... here's a preview of another bird's nest necklace I made with 3 turquoise eggs for a friend.

I hope you all had a great weekend! I'll be sharing one of my new projects with you tomorrow!

Bargain Finds

Last night, I started cutting some fabric to make a dress for my niece. So while we wait to see how that turns out, I will share some of my thrifty finds here in Manila.

My mom and I went shopping for accessories last weekend. I took her to Quiapo, where I used to buy my materials to make jewelry before and accessory pieces at really, REALLY low prices. I limited by shopping budget for this trip to P1000 (US$23). Please excuse the quality of my photos... my SLR camera went on vacation so I had to use my camera phone for these photos.

Stainless steel Dragonfly pendant, P160 (US$3.75), 18-inch stainless steel chain P120 (US$2.80)

A closer look at the pendant.

Let's start with my favorite purchase... a stainless steel Dragonfly pendant. When I saw it, I fell in love with it immediately! Stainless steel is a cheaper alternative to silver. They do not tarnish and when they do... they are easy to polish. In the past couple of years, I began seeing stainless steel jewelry being sold at malls for around P400 - P700 (US$7.00 - 16.25). Although still cheaper than the price once it hits the international market, nothing beats the price of getting it direct from the source. Sophie Fashion Jewlery, a store in Villalobos St. in Quiapo, has a wide array of stainless steel jewelry (bracelets, pendants, rings, bangles, chains) at affordable prices. The catch? They're a wholesale store, you need to buy at least 6 items (any item) from their store to be allowed to purchase. But once you're there, it's actually not hard to find 6 items you WANT to buy. I always hit this store first when I go to Villalobos and I blow half of my budget on this first stop. Luckily, since my mom was with me, 6 items was a breeze. There were other pendants there, like the puppy and the elaborate butterfly... I didn't buy them because I didn't want to spend a lot of money on accessories... I already have enough, but now, I can't get them out of my mind! I also bought gold-plated stainless steel star studs for Andrea but forgot to take a photo. I think they were around P120 (US$2.80).

Jewelled Peacock cuff in emerald green, P100 (US$2.32)

details of the Peacock

My second favorite. I forgot the name of the store I got this from... but it's about 2 or 3 stores away from Sophie's. They have several designs for chunky cuffs like this and I had a hard time choosing just one. All cuffs from that section cost P100 (US$2.32).

Pucca stud earrings for Andrea (she loves Pucca!) P20 (US$0.50)

I bought 2 pairs of these Pucca earrings: one for Andrea, and one for my niece. I got them from the same store where I bought the Peacock cuff.

Carved Coral Roses bracelet, P180 (US$4.20)

This is another favorite... ok I seem to have a lot of favorites but seriously, I just love everything I bought last weekend! I was shocked when I saw this. Because I've been looking at necklaces with one carved coral pendant at a store selling Filipiniana items at the mall and the cheapest one was P1400 (US$32.50). Maybe because those necklaces use real silver. But still, I just wanted the pendants anyway so when I found this bracelet at Pot of Gems with lots of carved coral roses, and at that price, I got really excited. I plan to pry them out of their silver-plated metal parts and use them in some accessories I plan to make. This is also available in cream... and I am now kicking myself for not buying that too.

By the way, my mom wanted me to add that she still thinks those roses are made of plastic and not coral *rolls eyes*. I asked the store owner's son who was assisting customers and he told me they were made of coral but my mom doesn't believe him. When I got home, I compared the texture of the material of the roses to the texture of some carved coral bangles I already have and they feel the same... I'm no expert though. You know, maybe I'll just sacrifice one of those roses tonight and hit it with a hammer to see how it looks like when it shatters.

Necklace made of wood beads and beads made from coconut shells, P50 (US$1.15)

Elastic cuff made of wood beads, P25 (US$0.60)

I forgot the exact store in Villalobos where I got these last 2. I just remember my mom bought several bead necklaces and I was enticed to pick up a couple.

Brass tone cage pendant ( pack of 2 pieces), P40 (US$0.90

I also wanted to buy some materials for making jewelry but my favorite store to buy those things from was closed on Sundays. I visited another store, Chains, Beads and Components (store name is so specific don't you think?), and was able to buy these the bird cage pendant. The bird I just included in the photo... I already have it :)

Total cost: P815 (US$18.95). I did not exceed budget!!! :D

By the way, Villalobos Street in Quiapo is a great place to buy accessories and beading components when you want to buy in bulk.  I don't think it's worth the effort to go if you only plan to buy one or 2. You have to be ready to brave this:

Villalobos Street in Quiapo. Photo from Metro Manila Revisited . To see more photos of Villalobos, click here. Go on, check it out before you go if you are planning to go.

The stores I'm talking about are on both sides of this street which also doubles as a street market where vendors sell fruits, vegetables, shoes, dried fish... and a whole lot of other things. The crowd is worse on Fridays (because of the Black Nazarene mass at the Quiapo Church? I'm not sure... I'm not Catholic... but believe me there was a time I didn't know and went there on a Friday. Never again) and Sundays (because of Sunday Mass).

I found a map of stores in Villalobos Street from Bead Snob:

To get there, if you have a car, we usually park at Isetann Recto. And then we walk to Quiapo church. Behind Quiapo Church is Plaza Miranda and Villalobos Street is the street directly in front of Plaza Miranda. If you have to commute... I usually take the LRT, purple line and exit at Recto Station. Recto Station is directly in front of Isetann Recto.

All Things Pink: Shoes, Clip, and Bird's Nest Necklace

I had a post for today drafted last Monday and ready for posting but I decided to scrap it and write another one to add a few things. From my blog title, you would guess that I love pink. I do! But for some reason, I don't wear a lot of pink. Yesterday... I decided to pass by the mall before going home. And guess what I found??? The perfect pair of pale pink peep-toes!

I haven't worn high heels since I got pregnant in 2009. And after that... high heels are just crazy high! What's with the 4? 5? 6? inch heels anyway? Do shoe designers have a thing against walking? Anyway, I love peep-toes and the heels on this baby are only are only about 3-inches high. They're quite comfortable too.

And when you find a good thing, you know what you should do? Buy it in every color available!

Nope, I didn't wear it like this :) Just showing you the other color.

The lady at the store said this also came in black... only when they checked, they don't have it my size anymore :( If I have these shoes in black, silver, gold and red... I can live in them forever! And I would probably buy 2 pairs of every color so I'd have a spare. These are totally my style!

I wanted to wear the pink one today. I decided to whip up a hair clip real quick before I left for work to match my pink shoes.

I saw something like this at Papemelroti and have been considering just buying one from them since they weren't expensive... but I think about all those ribbons, glue stick and clips I have at home and what the heck. Let's make life a little harder and just make one, right? I still just might buy other colors from them later. I really like this clip. It goes so well with my wavy hair.

And the last thing on my plate today... I'm also wearing it in the photo above... the bird's nest necklace. I've been seeing a lot of these on other blogs but wasn't really thinking I was going to make one. But... I've been following Amy at One Artsy Mama for a couple of months now and she recently discovered the joys of jewelry making. I remember, when I first started, it was addicting. But through time, and since I am concentrating more on learning how to sew, my interest waned. But reading Amy's posts... her enthusiasm is viral! You can't help but catch it. She made this pretty bird's nest on her first attempt at making jewelry:

Pretty isn't it?

And since then, I've been thinking of giving it a try. So I looked for tutorials online and found one I liked at Can't Stop Making Things. Last Monday, before I left for work, I decided to try it and here's what I have:

You know how some people say "This looks better in person" about some thing in photos? Well, this is just the opposite. I can honestly say that my bird's nest looks much better in the photo! ;) You can't see it from the photo but the nest is just a little lopsided. I only put one 'egg' in the nest for the one pretty little egg in my nest: Andrea. the nest looks a tad empty after I was done but since I wired the egg in there, it was a little difficult to add more. So one egg it is.

I want to make one for my sister too so we'll see if I get any better at it. If you're not into DIY or do not have the patience for it (because trust me, this requires patience with a capital 'P'), Amy set up an Etsy shop where she sells these pretty nests. I think she also customizes the color and number of eggs you want. She even made these into earrings and rings.

I am linking up to the following link parties:

Link Party at Tea Rose Home | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Hoo's got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice Thursday at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions | A Glimpse Inside at Catch a Glimpse | A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom | Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge | Friday Favorites at Inspiring Creations | Saturday is Crafty Day at I Am Along For The Ride | Free for All at Young and Crafty | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | K.I.S.S at The Tattered Tag | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sunday Showcase Party at Under The Table and Dreaming | Not Baaad Sundays at Lamb Around | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Take-a-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Lady Bug Blessings | Tuesday To Do Party at Blackberry Vine | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog |

Yellow Rose Bracelet

This is another bracelet I made:

I love that yellow rose... I don't remember anymore where I got it... and I don't understand why I didn't buy more of it! I have 4 of these roses... 2 gray ones, and 2 yellow ones. I think I might have bought them a long time ago to make earrings. One of the gray roses I used in my Rocker Chic Brooch.

Back when I made and sold my creations online, this is type of bracelet I usually make: different types of beads (usually faux pearl or stone), crystals and bead caps and spacers. This one is made of green jade beads, yellow Swarovski crystals, spacers, and that yellow flower.

I'm not posting the tutorial here since it only involves stringing the beads and adding the closure on both ends. But next week... I have a couple of great tutorials for you! Can't wait to start working on them!

Linking up to the following link parties:

Link Party at Tea Rose Home | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice Thursday at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Commercial Break Thursday at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot | Weekend Wrapup Party at Tatertots and Jello | Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge | Friday Favorites at Inspiring Creations | Lovely Crafty Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home | Saturday is Crafty Day at Along for the Ride | Show and Tell at Be Different Act Normal |

Double Strand Locket Necklace

I was cleaning our closets about a month ago and look what I found:

It's another old necklace I made years ago, used once, kept in the closet, and forgotten. This was the time I was experimenting with wire so I decided to make my life a little bit harder by using wire wrapping on each of the pearl beads, instead of the usual eye pin. Here's a closer look:

Hmmm... so you can't see the wire wrapping in this photo either...

The shorter chain is around 18 inches and it's attached to the longer chain (20 inches). So this is just one necklace. And then I added 2 lockets. I love lockets! I have several locket pieces myself and I have 5 packs of different types of unused lockets in my stash (what to do with those... hmmm?) I don't really know what you can put in them since the space inside is very small. 

The black bust was something I also found while cleaning the closet we use as storage. It was from when I had my jewelry business before. I used it to take pictures of the necklaces I made. That way, I don't have to pose in front of the mirror all the time. You will be seeing this black bust a lot in the future when I post my necklace projects.

I am linking up to the following link parties:

Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Tuesday To-do Party at The Blackberry Vine | Tip Me Tuesday at Tip Junkie | Tuesday Party at Running with Glitter | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs | Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Will See It Wednesday at Fabric Bows and More | Share the Wealth Wednesday at Laugh, Love, and Craft | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Wicked Awesome Wednesday at Handy Man, Crafty Woman | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Hoo's Got Talent at Night Owl Crafting | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Creative Juice at Momnivore's Dilemma | Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations | Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home | A Crafty Soiree at Katie's Nesting Spot | Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage | Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions | Catch a Glimpse at A Glimpse Inside | Feature Yourself Friday at Fingerprints on the Fridge | Friday Favorites with Inspiring Creations | Lovely Crafty Weekend at Lovely Crafty Home |

Guest Posting at That Girl with another Anthro-Inspired Necklace

I was invited to guest post over at Melissa's blog:

This is my first guest post so I'm really excited about it. For my guest post, I prepared a tutorial for this necklace:

Left: Anthropologie's Serengeti Beats Necklace, $58. Right: My version of the necklace

 If you want to make one and save $58, head on over to That Girl to check out my tutorial.

Click here to see the tutorial.

Linking up to the following parties:

Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Catch a Glimpse Party at A Glimpse Inside | Thrilling Thursday at Paisley Passions |  Thrifty Thursday at Saved By Love Creations |  Get Your Brag On at Gluesticks | Transformation Tuesday at The Shabby Chic Cottage | Free for All at Young and Crafty | Strut Your Stuff at Saturday Mornings | Sew Crafty Saturday at Wildflowers and Whimsy | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | K.I.S.S. at The Tattered Tag | Sundae Scoop at I heart Naptime | CraftOManiac Monday at Craft-O-Maniac | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Crafttastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | A Round Tuit at Creating My Way to Success | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff |  Your Whims Wednesday at My Girlish Whims | Made by You Mondays at  Skip to My Lou | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios | Make It For Less Mondays at Simply Cadence |  Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design | Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three |

Anthro-Inspired Earrings: Swooping Loops

I think I'm doing too many Anthro-inspired posts... and too many jewelry. I would love to get back into sewing projects (I actually have one in the works... and it has been in the works for 3 weeks already) or get on with my plan to redecorate our house, but right now, I simply don't have much time. It's a really busy time at work (and will be until May or early part of June, I think) and Andrea's been sick with alternating cold, cough and allergy for a few weeks already (which means I don't even get to sleep much). Making jewelry/accessories doesn't take up most of my time so I can usually squeeze those in... plus I have demanding customers: my mom and my sister. Haha!

Last Sunday night, I received an SMS message from my sister along the lines of: "Do you have purple earrings? I broke the one you gave me before. Can you make me purple earrings? You can send it to me tomorrow, thanks Ate! :)" (Ate is a term used to refer to 'older sister' or any older female).

She was really assuming I have something ready *sigh*...

Good thing I had something simple lined up on my to-do list. I saw these earrings from Anthropologie:

Swooping Loops Earrings, $48

 Here is mine:

Using tan cord and silver findings

These are very easy to make, 15 minutes max and most of that time was spent waiting for the glue to dry.

You will need:
  - 2 pieces of cord, each piece 6 inches long
  - earring posts
  - those silver cap things again to cap the end of the cord
  - glue

Step 1: Using your 6-inch cord, make a bow. You won't really need all 6-inches. I just find it easier to tie the bow if my cord is a little long.

Step 2: Adjust your bow to the size you feel comfortable with and cut off the excess cord.

Step 3: Put a little glue inside the silver caps and insert one end of the bow. Do the same for the other side.

Step 4: Glue the bow to the earring posts. Make sure the bow is securely attached to the posts... remember, you will be pulling these earrings off and if the bow is not attached properly, it might come off when you take the earrings off.

If you are using clear glue, dab a little in the middle of your bow too to keep it from getting undone.

Step 5: Wait for the glue to dry completely.

And you have your earrings :)

This is the one I made for my sister:

Using white cord, purple pearl drops, and silver findings

The earring posts I used have a loop (you can see them peeking from under the bows on the one I made for me) so I was able to attach a thin chain. Then I added a pearl bead at the bottom of the chain. And then I asked my husband to drop it off at my mom's house for my sister on his way to work. Order (no payment required though of course, haha) delivered!

Total cost of materials? Pro-rated (i.e. computing the cost only of the portion/pieces of the items actually used) I am estimating, around P10... which translates to around $0.25. 

I linked up to the following link parties:

Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | K.I.S.S. at The Tattered Tag | Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime | Sew Crafty Saturdays at Wildflowers and Whimsy | Free for All at Young and Crafty | Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Making Mondays Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative | Making the World Cuter Monday at Making the World Cuter | DIY Craft Tutorial Link Party at Fine Craft Guild.com | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Made By You Monday at Skip to my Lou | Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Take-A-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | Weekly Tues - Thurs Link Party at Running with Glitter | Tutorial Tuesdays at Hope Studios | We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design |

Another Anthro-Inspired Necklace - Unbreakable Bonding

I find myself browsing Anthropologie's site more often lately. They have a lot of nice things but it just amazes me sometimes how they price things.

Take this one for example:

Anthropologie - Unbreakable Bonding Necklace, $148

It caught my eye because I have beads like that... in different colors. One pack/string cost only around... hmmm... $2? I made them into necklaces for me back in summer of 2008.

Anyway, here's one of my bead necklaces:

You can wear it with the ribbon tied in front or at the back. I made this design in different colors. Here's the white one:

I also have this in deep green and pink... same design. So to shake things up a bit, I decided to make the yellow one into my version of Anthropologie's Unbreakable Bonding Necklace:

Ta-dah! Janelle's Seriously Unbreakable Bonding ;) See bottom of this post to see why I say 'Seriously'

I only had enough beads for half of the necklace so I added a chunky chain for the other half. Total length of the necklace is 22 inches.

Want to make one? I prepared a tutorial :)

You will need:

• Resin beads... these are about 0.75 inches in diameter each.
• Glue (I used Mighty Bond, the kind that dries fast)
• Thin chain that can go through your beads.
• Jump rings
• Clasp (I used oyster clasp)
• Hmmm... I don't know what these are called... caps? See the picture below to see what I mean:

Silver metal cap thingeys and the chain I used

Step 1: Cut your chain into 3 pieces. If you want your necklace to be 22 inches, your chains need to be around 30 inches each (if you have enough beads to make the entire necklace). Since I only had enough beads for half of the necklace, my chains were only around 20 inches each.

Step 2: Put a small amount of glue inside one of those silver cap thingeys and insert one end of your 3 chains.

Wait for the glue to dry before proceeding to Step 3.

Step 3. Start braiding. I made a couple of braids without the beads first before I added the beads. Quick braiding how to:
- you have 3 chains: the leftmost, the center, and the rightmost;
- insert your bead on the leftmost chain, and then cross the leftmost chain over the center chain;
- insert one bead on the rightmost chain, and then cross the rightmost chain over the chain to it's left;

- repeat the last 2 instructions over and over again... making sure that the chains cross below the beads. See picture below:

See? The chains cross below the beads.

Step 4. When all your beads are braided, make a couple of braids with the chain without beads. Make sure that there isn't too much slack in the chains. The braided chains with beads twists and turns and the braid can become undone or messed up if there is slack in the chains. After you are sure that there is no slack on the chains, cut off the excess chain and hold this end with your fingers. Don't let go!

It took several tries for me to get this right because the braids kept getting undone.

Step 5: With your other remaining free hand, put a small amount of glue on that other silver cap thingey. Then insert the chains you are holding in your other hand to the cap and wait for the glue to dry.

And... No, you are not done yet :)

See I read the reviews on this necklace on the Anthropologie site and one customer said:

After braiding and securing both ends of my chains... I can totally see how that can happen, even if there is no slack to your chains... the beads will still move. I thought about it and tried to glue the first 2 beads on each end to each other.

Then do the same for the other side. I also made sure that the chain between them is also glued between the 2 beads.

After that... I closed my eyes and shook the entire thing. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the beads stayed in place! I tried to drop it and shook it some more. The beads still stayed in place! I did say this was 'Seriously Unbreakable' :)

Step 7. Add your jump rings, extra chain (for me since I only had half the necklace), and clasp.

And this time... you are done!

I really love this color :)

And this morning, we had to take our pretty princess to the doctor for a check up for her cough and colds.

I'm wearing my necklace, and we are using our matching bags! :)

I linked up at the following parties!

Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Crazy Cute at Between You and Me | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello |  Keep It Simple Sunday at The Tattered Tag |  Sundae Scoop at I heart Naptime | Strut Your Stuff at Saturday Mornings |  Free for All at Young and Crafty | Sew Crafty Saturdays at Wildflowers and Whimsy | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Made by You Monday at Skip to my Lou | Take-a-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts |  Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios | Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home |  We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado |