Mel Designs

Chic Jewelry Box Ornaments Tutorial

 
 

Hi Crafts n Things readers! Sorry to keep you waiting on the tutorials for the February issue I promised you. The CHA show coming on the heals of Christmas has put me miserably behind with blogging.

Without further explanation, below are the steps for making the Chic Jewelry Box Ornaments pictured above and featured in the February issue of Crafts N Things.

Don't miss my tutorial on the Shabby Chic Roses Jewelry Set while you are here. And- let me know what you think of the tutorials I have been posting as an extension of my projects published in Crafts n Things. Do you need more step outs? Are the tutorials thorough enough? Are they helpful? I don't get paid extra for them so I am eager for your feedback so I can decide to continue them or not.  

Here we go...

These ornaments were inspired by one of my favorite movies, Breakfast at Tiffany's. They would be a perfect gift for a new bride and groom or used as a favor at a bridal shower or wedding.

I used a 2 1/4" paper box from the Ready To Go Board Products by C and T Publishing as the base of the box. To make the box lid, I recycled chipboard from some of my many empty packages of doggy treats. They seem to pile up and then I know where all of our money goes!

 
Anyway, I used the Marvy Paper Trimming Buddy to cut a 4" square from a portion of the box.

 
Following that step, I used a scoring blade and scored all four edges of the square at 1."

 
I used scissors to cut on the score lines like in the photo below.

 
Make sure you fold the side of the box in so that any advertising print is on the inside, making the chipboard easier to cover with paint.

 

 Place small strips of super strength double sided tape on the flaps.

 
If you find that you don't have any tape, use tacky glue placed on flaps. Clip ends together when drying with paper clips for a few minutes to hold.

 

Base coat the box and lid with Bahama Blue from DecoArt. It looks remarkably like the Tiffany's color blue.

 
When dry, glue the lid to the box with Aleenes Original Tacky Glue.

 

 
Place a small bead of glue under the base of the lid and adhere the small pearl trim.

 
Let the glue set for a few minutes before proceeding. Cut 1/2"-1" wide satin ribbon in white to three 12" pieces. Place some glue on the bottom of the box and glue one length around bottom and sides of box.

 
Repeat for second length, making the box looked wrapped. For the third piece. tie in a bow and glue to the top.

 
I used rub on sentiments since I wanted to go over the ribbon. So, these wedding sentiments by Royal and Langnickel were perfect.

 
Choose the sentiments you want, and rub on directly over the ribbon on the "front" of the box.

 
 
If desired, add a wire hanger and pretty charm and there is your Tiffanys box.

Live Life Creatively,

Melony  

 

 
 

 

Shabby Chic Roses Jewelry Tutorial

 
Hi Crafts n Things readers! Sorry to keep you waiting on the tutorials for the February issue I promised you. The CHA show coming on the heals of Christmas has put me miserably behind with blogging.

Without further explanation, below are the steps for making the rose and button charms for the bracelet pictured above and featured in the February issue of Crafts N Things.

Don't miss my tutorial on the Gift Box ornaments, inspired by Tiffany's,while you are here. And- let me know what you think of the tutorials I have been posting as an extension of my projects in Crafts n Things. Do you need more step outs? Are the tutorials through enough? Are they helpful? I don't get paid extra for them so I am eager for your feedback so I can decide to continue them or not.  

So, lets get started...

To create the rose charms

Pinch off approximately 1/4 of the package of white Sculpey III polymer clay. To condition, use fingers or a clay dedicated pasta machine until clay is soft and pliable and doesn't show any cracks when you roll it into a ball. One of the best tips I heard for conditioning once was to stick it into your pocket and let your body heat start the conditioning process.

When it is conditioned. Use an acrylic clay roller to roll it out onto a surface. I like to use wax paper as the clay doesn't stick to it, or you can dust a surface with baking soda. Try to get the slab of clay into an even thickness of 1/4. You will need it to be sized so that you can cut 1/2" x 4" strips from it. I use a template created from a paper strip that size.

 
To cut the clay into strips, I laid the template on top and used the Sculpey III Super Slicer with comfort handles. The first time I used the slicer, it took me a while to figure out how to attach the handles to the blade so I can including visuals for you to follow below. There is also an instructional video on the Sculpey website that might help as well.

 
 
 
 

Now that your blade is ready, use the blade to cut the strip from the clay slab.

 
 When you have strip one, combine the remainder of the leftover clay and repeat the whole process. You should be able to get five strips from 1/4 pkg of clay.

Now, the fun part. Starting at one end of the coil, roll the strip into a loose coil, letting the ends sort of fan out to resemble a rose.

You might also use your fingers to gently pull the edges out to make the rose look more natural. Your rose will be much thicker than you need to make a charm, so use the super slicer to cut off the back of the rose so your rose ends up about 1/3" thick.

 
Don't worry about getting all your roses perfect. Forms found in natural are all different and unique!

To make the leaves, condition 1/4- 1/8 package of Moss Green clay and roll into a pea sized shape. You can then use a leave shaped mold of just gently form a simple leaf shape by hand. You need five of these total for the bracelet's five charms.

 
At this point you can gently but firmly press the leaf shape to the back of the rose, or bake it separately and then glue it to the rose with tacky glue.

 
Make sure your oven is preheated to 275 degrees and while it is pre heating, use a toothpick to pierce a hole in the top of the rose charm so that you can attach your jump rings when ready.

 
Pop them into the oven and follow the manufacturers instructions to bake. Baking times will vary according your oven, so don't leave unattended. I think mine took about 45 minutes. See bottom of post for instructions on how to complete the charms after baking and cooling.

To make the button charms

While those are baking up, let's make the button charms for the bracelet. Find some flat backed buttons that are about 1/2". Punch 1/2" circles from the vintage dictionary paper (or use some pretty script themed paper, or any other fitting patterned paper scraps that you might have laying around.)

 

This small circle punch from Marvy is the perfect sized punch for this project.

I used Sealant from Nunn Designs and a foam brush to attach the circle to the button. Use several coats for added durability since your charm will be worn.

You will need some wire to finish the charm and this 26 gauge wire from Artistic Wire is perfect! Use some wire nippers to cut off about 8" and thread through the holes and top of the button to create a rustic looking vintage charm. 

 
Continue wrapping until you reach the end and tuck end into the hole to complete.

Attach a jump ring to the wire at the top of the button with round nose pliers to complete.

 
 
Finish the Shabby Rose Charms 

By now, your rose charms should be baked and cooled enough the finish them up. Let's create the shabby look with a toothpick, paint brushes and these products from DecoArt.

 
Use a toothpick to gently add Raw Umber to the edges of the rose petals.

 
Let that dry, and dry brush the leaves with Light Buttermilk.

 
Dry brushing involves dipping a brush into a little paint, swiping the brush back and forth on a surface until most of the paint is removed, and using the brush to add a little color in a random fashion to a surface. Dry brush the leaves and rose with the Shimmering Silver. When all is dry, coat with the varnish. To finish the charms, attach a jump ring to the pierced hole.

You can now finish your bracelet with beaded head pins, etc. I also added vintage images on raised tag Patera findings to complete the theme.

 
Live Life Creatively,

Melony

Welcome to 2011! Ideas to Kick Start Your Creativity

 
Wow! I have missed chatting with all my favorite bloggy friends. I am so HAPPY to be back in the blog world. The holidays were unexpectedly busy for me this year and right on the heals of Santa I am getting ready for the upcoming CHA show in LA.

I love the beginning of a new year because, like you, it inspires me to start fresh with new creative ideas.

How do you kick start your creativity? I wrote an e-zine for Creative Women's Newsletter that you can read by clicking here. It is packed with all sorts of ideas for getting in the creative groove. Have a wonderful 2011!

I would love to hear your stories on how you get reved up, creatively speaking.

Live Life Creatively,