A ribbon hanger for your make up pencils

The biggest of challenges in organizing my cosmetics is where to tuck my eye pencils and lip pencils. It is similar to what I face with toothbrushes and tongue-cleaners. Sadly products related to organizing are too focused on plastic boxes and cylindrical containers. I recently found how a foot long ribbon and sometimes a small bangle or bracelet can do a lot to help with organizing the pencil-stick kind of paraphernalia. 

Grab your needle and thread, a pair of scissors, and some ribbon. I chose decorative sequins ribbon that we utilize to embellish sarees with patchwork designs. This is rich in texture, and can blend into your wardrobe easily. Or simply stick it up on your office cubicle wall for that all important pen, eraser-marker, or a hair clip that you cannot allow to be thrown around.

You will also need a wooden ring or a bangle. This ribbon or cloth tape or saree border, is over an inch wide. And I used up over a feet of it in length for the project. If you want to stick this up on a cardboard after finishing, grab a glue gun. Or go after a double sided tape. I also kept some quilting headpins handy to keep the ribbon intact with folds while I stitched up.

Start by inserting the ribbon into the ring and bringing it over. Spare an inch of the inserted or protruding bit and pin it up against the longer part of the ribbon. Now grab a spool of matching thread, a large sized needle, and hem the piece up. I used four strands of thread to give it the necessary strength.

Once the hemming is done, leave a five inches' gap from the point of hemming downwards on the ribbon. Gently use your fingers to create a fold, such that you can insert your index finger into the fold's hole. Pin it up and stitch. If you want to insert and store wider objects such as combs, fold accordingly.

Create three such folds or more and stitch up. Once this bit is done, you may trim the length of the ribbon holder, by cutting it. Fold the end inwards and hem-sew.

You have the option, of sticking the finished piece on a cardboard or hard surface and hanging it. Or simply find a hook on the wall and hang it up.

I tucked in my toothbrush and tongue cleaner, and a make up brush.  This hanger is useful for storing your child's head or hairbands, colour pencils, marker pens and the likes.

So if you have a spare fabric lying around, waste not your time. Try this for yourself, or to give as a party favour.

Pictures Courtesy: Radhika M B

Content: Radhika M B

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Barrette clip and key chain charm with plastic bottle

Ever wondered what to do with a barrette hair clip whose decor element has fallen off? At times we wish that companies that made such fragile pieces learnt a lesson or two from vintage accessory makers. 

I bought a bunch of barrette clips and I have a few at home that look like boats lost in the sea. 

A large soda bottle that we bought recently for a family do got me started. I had a key chain, with its charm broken.

So the bottle worked for a two in one project. This one must be done in the absence of kids. At best, you can do this with a teenager.

Among the materials you need is of course a plastic soda bottle.

The other things you need:

-- tacky glue

-- paint pen

-- barrette clip - a piece with decor that has fallen off, or a bare new one

-- key chain with no charm

-- multi-surface glue

-- a pair of scissors

-- a craft stick 

-- sequins to embellish

-- small hole punch

-- jewellery plier

Wash the bottle thoroughly and dry before you begin.

You need to use a plastic cutting shear for the project. Using a pair of scissors that you have set aside for cloth or paper would affect the sharpness of the tool.

Cut part of the bottle.

You will notice the curve on this bottle that may vary from the bare clip's curve. A larger sized bottle is a better option than a smaller sized one, to help set over the barrette clip's arch. Cut a smaller piece from the bottle. But before that, measure the barrette clip against the bottle.

Cut a piece from the bottle to hold the clip in between, with a half inch space between the edge of the piece and the clip.

Optionally you may light-swipe the edges over a lit tea-light to give them a finished feel.Glue the clip to the piece with multi-surface glue and press hard.

If the difference in the arch of the bottle piece and clip is a problem, place a heavy object over the barrette clip. Leave it aside for at least half an hour so the glue sets and dries.

I meanwhile picked up another piece that I cut off from the bottle's chassis. And ran its edges over a tea-light.

The next bit, was to punch a hole in the piece that roughly resembles a water drop.

I then fixed a large jump ring to this hole, and connected it to the key chain using a jewellery plier.

Before fixing it though, I doodled with my gold colour paint pen. The key chain with its charm is ready for use.

The barrette clip with the bottle piece almost dried.

You will need some sequins to embellish the piece using tacky glue. The picture here shows it yet to dry. It could take a whole day or two to completely dry.

The pieces I made can go with dresses in white, off-white, golden or mustard colours, greens and yellows. I set aside the bottle's mouth for use on plastic sachets later. 

For now I dream of making use of every bit o the plastic. The bottom half I hope to use as a pen stand soon.

This project needs some patience. But hey, the plastic bottle did not go into trash. The other half of the plastic bottle I have preserved for making another item. Am currently Pin-storming on Pinterest. Yeah, Pinterest can make you addictive:)


Pictures courtesy: Radhika MB

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Re-use that plastic ring from your water bottle: How to

I collect caps of plastic bottles crazy. They say recycling companies are not equipped to separate bottle caps before the bottles get crushed for recycling. And so I try hard, to wash juice bottles and keep the bottle caps. Am dreaming of making full use of all my bottle caps some day.

But it was that oblivious fitting underneath the bottle cap that caught my attention the other day. What if those rings that work as pull tabs when you turn the cap to open it can be repurposed?

The plastic ring works to make such bottles tamper proof. When you trash the bottle or call the local recycle shop guy over to collect them, the ring becomes an invisible collateral.

A million ways may exist to put these rings to use in some way around home I bet. My easiest project was to grab those jewellery/jewelry pliers and some thread. Read on.

Your basic step before starting the project off is of course to pull the ring off the plastic bottle. An easy bit. If managing to push it out of those cap screwing ridges becomes a problem, get a tweezer, a blunt knife, or the edge of a barrette clip to help. Or a jewellery plier that can help bend the bottle a little so you drag the ring out.

You will notice that the ring has protrusions that originally attached them to the bottle cap. Obviously they need to be covered, lest they poke you.

I made earrings from these, threaded ones. It helps that I have such rings around now, because instead of heading to a store for fancy trinklets that cost a fortune, I can simply make a bunch in different colours to go with my clothes.

What you need for the project is:

- an embroidery skein for a start - I chose summery yellow

- a pair of scissors

- a jewellery plier

- fish hooks and jump rings

- plastic or wooden jewellery rings of smaller size or diameter

- rings off the plastic water bottles

- craft glue

- a craft stick to help with the gluing

- optional - a tapestry needle

And you are good to go.

Begin by threading the plastic ring one after the other.

I tried threading two rings together. It does not work unless you run super glue to attach two such rings. Given their easy-bend quality, I gave the idea up.

Leave about four inches of the yellow thread hanging before you start with the rolling of the thread. When you roll the six-thread skein over the ring, the thread tends to sit unevenly. Use your fingers to nudge stray threads towards the stack. In the process, you may find extra thread sitting over an existing layer, making the threaded ring look rough. It's your first effort. So take it easy. Let it be.

Knot the thread from the finishing end with the four-inch piece you had left hanging. When you cut the finishing end off, remember to leave another four inches. Repeat the process with the other ring.

Here is why  you leave the extra bit of thread: these rings vary in width depending on the size of plastic water bottles. The ones I had were fragile and bent easily, which meant that they would not last long on my ears. I needed something sturdier to hold them. The left over piece of skeins I used, to thread the smaller rings that would actually hold these larger ones.

Rolling the thread over on the smaller ring was a tricky effort. You can use the tapestry needle or craft stick to help with the process, by pushing the thread in and out the ring's hollow.

I wanted to avoid using jump rings to attach the small and big rings, which is why the knots with thread. Towards the end, you may tie another knot to finish the threading, and glue it into the rolled thread to seal the thread.

Repeat it with the other set of rings. And let the glue dry for about half an hour. Find jump rings large enough to fit the thickness of the smaller rings that are threaded. Use the jewellery plier to fix the jump rings.

Next, bring out those fish hooks and use the plier again, to insert into the jump rings.

Your pair of summer earrings are ready.

They work fine for casual wear and if you need something funky but simple at work. I would love to wear them for a beach trip, and not worry too much if I lost them. My suggestion is that you do not go buy a plastic water bottle for the sake of making earrings. Pick up a ring from a bottle that got thrust on you at work, or some event.

 

Enjoy the set, or gift away.

 

Who knew a plastic tab could adorn ears!



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Pictures courtesy: Radhika M B

Gorgeous magazine paper beads pendant DIY

The world of jewellery/jewelry is a multi-billion dollar industry. Gold, silver, platinum, precious stones....they all rule the accessories industry while influencing the economy in their own way.

Yet it is something as simple as used paper that can add zing to your neck. Forget the glitz of gold dug up from the earth's underbelly.

The ever innovating Sankgetha Sripathy of Smudgy Trove is on an experiment mode with paper. Her specialty is terracotta and polymer clay jewellery, that she is a master at. Of late though, she has forayed into recycle experiments with paper.

Here is a quick pendant tutorial by her, with used brochures or thick pages of magazines.

The materials:

-- a pair of scissors
-- cord or jewellery rope
-- embellishments
-- magazine sheets
-- a ruler
-- toothpicks
-- a pen
-- paints of your choice of colours (here she has used antique gold paint)
-- Mod Podge

Firstly, cut the magazine sheet into strips of desired width. She used roughly an inch and half. Make sure there is uniformity in the width.

Next on, pick up one strip and roll it into a bead gently using your fingers and the tooth pick or pen to guide you.

Towards the end, use Mod Podge to stick the edge on to the roll. Make a bunch of such beads, all of the same length. One bead, you may make of half their size. Next, stick these beads together with Mod Podge.

She stuck them all in a row, and fixed the smallest of the lot on one end.

She let this set dry. Sankgetha then used some Mod Podge, to apply over the wavy surface, and let it dry. This is to help the paint stick better to the otherwise smooth surface of the magazine paper.

The next step is to paint the surface using your desired colours. Here is where you can experiment a great deal.

She used the antique gold finish paint. And embellished it.

The pendant is ready. You only need to cord it with jewellery cord and adorn it.

Use a bead for the cord if needed, to string it better.

Here is the finished pendant necklace.

This pendant is useful, as work accessory, as well as for an ethnic do. If you want to keep it funky, do not paint. Simply string it and wear.

It is one of those school projects that you can do with your child, or spend time to make it an innovative conversation starter just ahead of a get-together. It reminds you, that looking good need not be expensive at all. You certainly do not need that yellow metal to charm your way.


Pictures courtesy: Sankgetha Sripathy

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Simple pendant with air dry clay:DIY

Terracotta jewellery/jewelry is a rage in India today, just as paper-quilling has taken the DIY world by storm.

Buy a gorgeous Anarkali or saree and you can get a custom-made set of necklace, earrings and bangles or bracelets to go with it. Design has taken such a happy dimension in making clay accessories, that you can get simple work-wear sets too. Social media is abuzz with home-based entrepreneurs  giving wings to their creativity.

For the uninitiated though, making terracotta jewellery can be intimidating, mainly because of the baking complication involved. For the experts, it is a matter of getting their hands dirty and thriving on the technique.

Uma Karthik and Sankgetha Sripathy of Smudgy Trove and Mann-made Jewels are such terracotta jewellery artists who can turn a handful of clay into grab-worthy treasures. They give an easy-peasy method to get you started with the beautiful art. You do not need an OTG oven for this, because you can choose the alternative available -- air-dry clay, that does not need baking.

Here they are, materials required for the DIY pendant:

-- air-dry clay
-- a roller to flatten the clay
-- a flat surface on which you may roll it
-- nose plier
-- knife
-- cutting plier, the jewellery cutting kind
-- Nichrome wire, 26 gauge
-- cookie cutters or any cutter that will give your clay the right shape
-- acrylic paints of two colours
-- paint brush
-- black thread to string the pendant
-- an extra bead with a larger hole, to fit two strings of the black thread

Roll a little ball of clay from your air-dry clay stash. Place it on a flat surface and roll it.

You will get an irregular circle. Use the cookie cutter or other clay cutters to get a flat disc.

You may use your creativity, and give any shape to the pendant on the wet clay.

Use a knife to etch some simple design on the flat clay disc that is ready. Next, it is time to fix a little bead to the disc, to make the pendant's dangler. 

For this, get a half inch piece of the Nichrome wire from the wire role using the cutting pliers and make a bit. You can use this to loop to make a `U' shape and fix the hanging mini-bead.

Use another such U-shaped piece, to insert into the opposite end of the hanging bead.

After the disc is ready, go ahead and dry the piece in the sun, for about half a day. If you have a terracotta piece, you will need to bake it in a little clay pot with some charcoal. 

Time to paint the piece. Uma Karthik has used black paint for a start. And added some gold and red to it. A single coat is sufficient for air-dry variety of clay. You will need to let the paint dry though.

Once the painting part is done, it is time to string the black thread into the loop that you made. You can choose the length based on your preference of how it must hang. 

Use both the ends and insert them into another bead and knot. This is to help partly adjust its height when you wear it on a daily basis. 

Optionally, you can make some beads, air dry them and paint them too, to string into either sides of the pendant loop. They added a pair of earrings to the beautiful pendant and sent a picture of the elegant set.

Is the set not gorgeous! Wear your pendant for that casual do, to work, a dinner or a fun day. 

Do not get intimidated by the idea of making clay jewellery. It is all about shedding those doubts in your head about how your piece may turn out and dive right into making it. 

A big shout out to the girls for sharing the done-in-a-jiffy project steps.

PICTURES AND METHOD COURTESY: Uma Karthik and Sankgetha Sripathy of Mann-made Jewels and Smudgy Trove

Check their Facebook pages for more details.

Copyrights to the pictures rest with Smudgy Trove and Mann-made Jewels.

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