Hair Jewelry

My daughter is just getting ready to graduate from Paul Mitchell the School so I thought I would create some hair jewelry for her. She can either keep them for herself or sell them to her customers.

I had these plain bobby pins with pads in my stash so the first bobby pins I made were these cute little paper rose ones. I liked how these turned out so much that I started looking to see what else I can turn into hair jewelry.
 


I decided to glue some findings onto the pad. I used Judkins Diamond Glaze to adhere the finding and added a firepolished bead for some color.

Then I glued some buttons together and made those into cute little bobby pins too.

They were a quick and easy project and something a little bit different to wear in your hair.

Have fun experimenting!

Ladder Shield Earrings

It's been a while since I had the time to make anything. My oldest just left the nest so I've been busy trying to make sure she has all the things she needs to live on her own. I wish someone bought everything for me when I moved out! I remember sitting on the floor and having one all purpose pot to cook with. When I finally got furniture, it was something a co-worker didn't want so it wasn't pretty. I furnished the whole apartment with everyone's cast offs and was grateful for them.

Once things settled down it was great to finally get a little time for myself so I could make something. As usual, these didn't turn out exactly as I had envisioned. As much planning as I do, you really can't be sure something is going to work out like you think they will until you sit down and make them. Originally, these were going to be hoops which they still are but just not the way I planned them. The rolled hoops at the top of the piece were going to be the fulcrum and the catch. Once I made the earrings, I discovered they were too close together and I didn't like proportions when I made a long hoop to accommodate the narrowness.  I had the circle hoops on my bench in smaller size and thread them through and like the way those looked better. So I decided to make them larger and in a heftier 18ga to go better with the earrings.

I also cheated a little bit on the glass bead. I riveted a small dome that perfectly fit the bead. I cut small rectangular pieces that I was going to criss cross underneath the dome that I could bring up and use as prongs to set the bead. Once I had them cut and pierced, I laid them out and thought they added too much bulk to that area so I cheated and epoxied the bead into the cup. These days I don't think there's that much stigma attached to glued pieces as there used to be.

I think I'm going to keep these for myself.

3 Pieces Combined to Make a Unique Focal for a Necklace

This layering idea uses only 3 pieces. I would use epoxy resin to glue the medallion onto the base piece and wire wrap the top part on.

Brass Filigree Layering Idea to Create a Unique Medallion Style Necklace Focal

This next layering idea is made up of 4 pieces but I think they combine well and create something really different. The base is domed and so is the smaller medallion with the rings so it's has some depth when you put them altogether. You could keep the rings on the smaller medallion or you can clip them off.

I would use epoxy resin to keep the layers together and either drill a hole in the base, or use large jump rings inserted on either side of the medallion to create a necklace.

Have a great weekend!
-Sue

Welcome to my new blog!

Happy New Year and welcome to my new blog!!!

I am still trying to get everything posted into my new shop LuxeOrnaments.Etsy.com but have tons of ideas that I'll be posting here. It's hard to figure out from a picture what items go well together so I'll be posting some "layering ideas" of various components to show you some unique pieces that you can use. If there is space, some of the listings in my shop will have these "layering ideas" too.

Here's an example of what I mean by "layering idea"

To the left is what the layered piece looks like and the right shows which components were used with stock numbers so you can search my store.

My first priority is going to be getting the rest of my inventory items into my shop. I still have fabulous filigree items and more vintage glass rhinestones to post.

I am also toying with the idea of adding some hand patinaed pieces to offer for sale which the customer can buff to bring out highlights to their preference.

- Sue