Romantic Snow Queen Jewel Box

Hehe. Sorry for the cheesy name of this post. :)
So, my mom was getting rid of some old boxes, and since I like to decorate things, I asked her if I could have some to decorate.
For awhile I couldn't think of what to do with this box. So I let it sit on my dresser for awhile. I knew I wanted to do something with pearls (because I love pearls...), but it took me awhile to find enough embellishments that I liked. Anyways, I think the end project turned out really pretty!

This isn't exactly a step-by-step tutorial, I'm just going to show you a few things.
After obtaining the box (my mom gave me this one, but I've seen them at Hobby Lobby), I kept my eyes open for anything pretty at Michael's or Hobby Lobby to use.. I used three different sizes of pearls, and collected different rhinestones and other gold and sparkly things.
Basically, anything you want. Make yours unique!

The theme for my box is obviously gold, pearls, and rhinestones.

I started by laying out my embellishments in a number of various ways, until the look pleased me. If you're going to do a centered decoration like mine, be sure to put the first piece in the very middle, or else the whole thing will be off. Also, don't glue it down until you have it all laid out the way you want it.

Keep laying it on (WITHOUT GLUE), until you have it the way you like it.

It took me awhile to get the pearls looking right. :P

To bring in some more gold color, I put a gold jump ring around some of the rhinestones. It gives it a different look.

See how nice it looks with the gold jump rings?

I was almost finished at this point, but I figured it needed something around the edge. So:

After that I went ahead and picked up each little piece at time to glue it down with E6000.

I think it turned out really pretty. :)

You can keep anything you want inside. I keep (surprise) pearls.

That's all for today. Sorry I haven't been posting! You know how it is. I've been busy. :P I hope you're having a good day. :)

Snow in a Bottle Necklace

Well, how was your Christmas? Your New Years?
I don't know about you, but where I live, there has been a significant shortage of snow this Winter.
I got to thinking about that the other day, and whenever I start thinking about something, it usually ends up in a project. :) Of course, sometimes those projects turn out great, other times they aren't so great. But, this is one of my projects that turned out well, I think. So here it is.

Lack of snow? Well then, we'll make our own!

I couldn't quite fit all the supplies needed into this picture, so be sure to read the list below.

 Here are the things you'll need:

• Little corked bottles (it helps to buy ones that already have the little screwy things in the top, but if you can't find those, regular will do and you'll have to buy the screws separate). The bottles I have are from Bead Landing.
• Silver Snowflake charm. Any kind will do, just don't make it too huge or it will take away from the bottle. Mine was about a half inch wide.
• Silver chain.
• A silver clasp and ring to attach to the chain.
•  E6000 glue (use at your own risk...).
• Rhinestone Chain. You can find rolls of these in the jewelry section of pretty much any craft store. I think they also sell smaller sections for a cheaper price. I bought the roll because I'm going to be using it a lot for my projects. :)
• Last thing, you'll need some white or clear glass glitter. Mine is from Recollections. It comes in a cute flower-y box with 6 different colors. 

Here's the rhinestone chain I was talking about.

First, cut a little section of the rhinestone chain and use E6000 to adhere it around the neck of the bottle.  

Oh, and if you haven't already, you might want to read my little warning about this glue in my last post.

At this point, you also want to stick your little screw eye thing in the top of the cork lid. Secure with glue, if it needs it.

Now you want to get our your glass glitter 'snow'. 

  

I used a little slip of paper as a funnel to get the glitter into the bottle easily. You might want to put a spare sheet of paper underneath your work, in case you spill a bit.

 It's beginning to look really cute. :) Be sure to glue the cork on when you're finished. You don't want it popping off while you're wearing it!

Now you just get out your charm, and your chain, and attach them to the little screw thing.

And voila.  I used a little jump ring to attach the chain, because the screw eye was too small for mine to go through. :)

It's perfect for January. In the wintertime, people have a million crafts for Christmas. But there's not as many projects for January. After all, what am I supposed to do with myself all month before Valentine's Day finally gets here? Well, at least I have my birthday coming up. That's always fun. :)

Ok, that's all for now. :) Have a good January.

Fairytale Rose Necklace

Hello! Today I want to show you a fairytale necklace I made:

I've actually never made a necklace with lace ribbon before. I had to use a different kind of clasp to secure the ends, but I think it turned out great, and I'm going to show you what I did.

The bulb I used is from Fairy Tale, by Bead Treasures. I got it at Hobby Lobby. They have a lot of their pendants in the jewelry section. I love these Fairy Tale treasures because, well, they're just so fairytale-ish. Is that a word? I'm not sure. :) I'm a huge fairy tale person, so when I discovered this brand at Hobby Lobby, I was really excited to see all the stuff they have. They had little storybook pendants, dragon pendants, swords, bottles with moss inside, basically any kind of enchanted jewelry piece you can imagine.

When I saw this bulb with the dried flowers inside, I knew I would have to make a necklace. Instead of using an ordinary chain to hang it on, I used some lace ribbons from Bead Landing that I got at Michael's. These are the clasps I used to secure the ends of my ribbon. I believe they are called 'spring coils'.

You have to secure them onto the ribbon by chomping down onto the last coil with pliers to hold the ribbon tight.
At first, I had some trouble getting those broad ends of ribbon into the spiral shape. The ends would keep fraying so that I couldn't get the entire end secure in the clasp. It took some doing, but I found a solution!

I folded the ribbon lengthwise near the end, then I threaded a needle, and tied a large knot in the thread.

Then I just slipped the needle through the spiral, and pulled...

Ta-da! It worked great! It was the only way I could think of to shinny that thick ribbon into the teeny spiral. Then I just cut the thread and chomped down that last spiral ring with some flat-nose pliers and put lobster clasp on.

And a jump ring on the other end.

It makes me think of something from Beauty and the Beast! Which, by the way, I can't WAIT to come out. Being my own favorite fairytale (that and Cinderella), I was super excited when I heard they were making a new live action movie! And since the necklace looks good with pretty much anything...
 

...I might even wear it when I go see the movie. :D The dried flower would fit in perfectly with the enchanted rose theme.

If you like, you can keep it in a jewelry pouch, which I have a tutorial for here!

Thanks for reading this, and have a great week!
-Phoebe