DIY Upcycled Vintage Jewelry Magnets

15 May, 2013 12:57 pm / 5 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been mia the last couple of days. I have been under the weather. But I am back and excited to share this project with you all today! I am going to show you how to make these fun little magnets out of vintage earrings and brooches. These could not be easier to make, and they whip up so fast!

Here’s What You Need:

*Jewelry pieces like earrings, pendants, and brooches

*Heavy duty wire cutters

*E6000

*Round craft magnets (you can find these at any craft store)

Instructions:

These are so easy! The first thing you do is cut off the finding part of your piece. For example if you have an earring, you will need to cut off the ear wire or clip for clip ons. Get as close to the base where it is glued or soldered on and carefully cut away with your pliers. For brooches that have been soldered it can take a few cuts but they will come off. Once you get the finding off you can grind down any sharp spots with a dremmel if you have any that bother you. You can also pick at them with your pliers and that can get most of the metal off that is in the way. So to finish these off, you need to glue the magnet on. So, lay your jewelry piece face down on a flat surface. Now take your magnet and place a large dab of glue onto the back side of the magnet. Carefully squish the glue and magnet onto the back of your jewelry piece. Let dry. Once the glue is cured you are ready to use your magnets.

I absolutely love these magnets! They just couldn’t be any easier to make! You can whip up a batch in under fifteen minutes. The best thing is that they look so nice and special, like something you would find at a boutique. You can find vintage jewelry parts by the bag full at your local flea market or at antique stores and thrift stores. Of course brooches can be really pricey, but you can often pick up broken pieces or mismatched pieces for next to nothing. This would be a fabulous project to use for gifts for birthdays or Christmas as well. So go ahead and dress up your space with some of these fun little magnets! You’ll love them!

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: 1930's, 1940's, 1950's, bee, birthday, brooch, christmas, crafts, decorating, diy, earrings, easy, enamel, flower, fridge, fun, gifts, handmade, holidays, home decor, jewelry, jewelry magnets, lovely, magnet, magnets, mid century, recycled, repurposed, retro, rhinestone, sparkly, style, sweet, turtle, tutorials, upcycled, vintage, vintage brooch

Merry Christmas

25 December, 2012 10:33 am / 3 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you all are having a great Christmas, enjoying good food, and being with the ones you love most! From my family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Posted in: Uncategorized / Tagged: christmas, christmas greeting, holidays, merry christmas, wish

12 Days of Handmade Gifts- Vintage Button Rings and Cufflinks

13 December, 2012 11:51 pm / 2 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hi Everybody! Welcome to day eleven of my 12 Days of Handmade Gifts. Today I have a couple fun diy’s for you that are inexpensive and easy, to make great stocking stuffers. I am going to show you how to make rings and cufflinks out of vintage buttons. Fun right!

Here’s what you need:

*Ring Blanks(Find some Here)

*Cufflink Blanks (Find some Here)

*Vintage Buttons

*Embroidery Floss

*E-6000

Instructions:

The first thing you want to do is thread your buttons. Either with a needle or with your fingers thread the floss through the button a few times and clip the excess threads short in the back of the button. Now place a big dab of glue on your button back and glue onto your cufflink and ring blanks. I placed the cufflinks and rings to dry straight on my thread spools. Let them dry overnight and they are good to go.

These little gifts could totally stand on their own, but they also do make an impressive and inexpensive addition to your holiday stockings! I have several of the rings and I wear them all the time! They are a lot of fun, and with adjustable ring blanks you can always be sure they will fit who you are gifting them to. All the men I know love the cufflinks. I hope some of you will try out these fun and easy little projects! Be sure to tune in tomorrow for my final gift diy of my 12 Days of Handmade Gifts! Until then….

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: anthro inspired, anthropologie, button crafts, button rings, christmas, craft, cuflinks, diy, diy button crafts, handmade gifts, holidays, knock off, stocking stuffers, tutorials, vintage buttons

12 Days of Handmade Gifts- DIY Pet Toys

12 December, 2012 9:47 am / 6 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello there! Welcome to day ten of my 12 Days of Handmade Gifts. Today I am going to show you how to make fantastic gifts for your favorite furry friends. There is a dog toy made from a felted sweater, and kitty toys filled with fragrant catnip. Your pets are sure to love them!

We’ll start with the cat toys:

What You Need:

*Fabric scraps

*Feather boa

*Catnip

First cut your scraps to a size you like. I made mine around 3×4″. Next, with right sides together sew up one long side, long the top, and then back down the other side leaving the bottom open. Turn the piece right side out. Fold in the top into the inside about a half an inch. Fill the little sack with catnip until about an inch from the top. Now cut a length of your boa off and insert one end into the bottom of your catnip filled sack. Then sew the end closed about an eighth inch from the edge. And you are finished. Easy right, and your cat will flip for these. As you can see, our cat Titus couldn’t wait for Christmas for his.

Now for the doggie toy:

What You Need:

*Old 100% Wool Sweater

*Craft Felt

*squeaker

*Pattern(please excuse the quality, my scanner is broken, so I had to take a pic of the pattern, I’ll update it when I get my new printer next week)

The first thing you want to do is felt your sweater by washing it in hot water. It will shrink a lot and become thick and lose a lot of stretch. Now cut the body of the kitty monster out of the main sweater. Cut strips of the sleeves for arms and legs, and the eyes and nose from your craft felt. Stitch the eyes to the front body piece. You can stitch on the pupils of the eyes or use a permanent pen to mark them. Now stitch the nose down. Beginning at the nose with a small zigzag stitch and stitch a mouth. Now sandwich the squeaker, and the arms and legs in between the top and bottom body pieces and pin all around. Now stitch all the way around your kitty’s shape. Clip the excess threads and you are finished.

These toys are fun to make and a great and special alternative to store bought toys. They are a lot more economical too. I love how easy and fast these work up! I made a bunch in about an hour. And my pets love them! Beauregard couldn’t wait for his toy either. I’m a sucker for my fuzzy babies! I hope some of you try these out for your best pals. Be sure to tune in tomorrow for another fun holiday diy gift idea! until then…

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Beau & Roux, Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: cat toy, catnip, christmas, crafts, diy, diy pet toys, doy toy, felted sweater, funky, handmade gifts, holidays, pet diy, pet gifts, recycled, squeaky toy, sweater, sweet

12 Days of Handmade Gifts- Fun Sharpie Mugs

11 December, 2012 9:45 pm / 16 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hi everyone! Welcome to day nine of my 12 Days of Handmade Gifts! Handmade sharpie mugs have been circulating the web for a while now. You can find a bunch of tutorials on pinterest or google, like the ones Here, Here, Here, and Here. The method is all pretty much the same. You grab a mug draw your design or doodle and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for half an hour letting it cool in the oven.You can use sharpies or sharpie paint markers. I used the paint markers since I have used them in the past and they seem to be more permanent.

These mugs are so incredibly easy, and fun to make! They make a fabulous gift on their own, or fill them with candy or cookies for an extra special treat. They are totally customizable, and with all the fun colors you can go as wild and creative as you like. I am not great with drawing, but I think they still turned out cute. I just decorated them freestyle as I went, but I think they would look more professional if I had used a handmade stencil or transferred the design first. I hope you all go and try some yourselves, you’ll have a blast! Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more holiday fun!

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY / Tagged: christmas, crafts, diy, diy marker mugs, easy, fast diy, fun, handmade, handmade gifts, holidays, kids crafts, mugs, sharpie mugs, sharpie paint pens

12 Days of Handmade- DIY Flannel Heating Packs & Hand Warmers

6 December, 2012 7:30 am / Leave a Comment / My So Called Crafty Life

Hey there! Welcome to day six of my 12 Days of Handmade Gifts! Today I am going to show you how to make heating pads and hand warmers with flannel, feed corn and rice. I have to admit, when I first tried this craft last year, I thought it wouldn’t be much of anything to holler about, but man was I wrong! I LOVE these heating pads! The hand warmers are really nice too! And they are both really easy to make. All you need is 100% cotton fabric and filler.

Instructions:

First you want to cut your fabric to the size you wish. I made mine around 9×18, but you can make it how large or small you like. Cut a front and back for each hot pack. Now, stitch around your fabric wrong sides together and leaving room for turning and filling. Turn your sack right side out. Now insert a funnel into the opening in your sack. You can use rice, corn, or wheat to fill your hot packs. I have used rice and feed corn, and I think corn keeps the heat longer. You can buy it at your local farm supply store. Pour cups of filler into your funnel until it’s about 1/3 to 1/2 full. Stitch a straight seam across the middle of your bag if you like at this point. You can add more seams for partitions so that the corn stays in place better, or you can fill the bag without stitching pockets down and mold the bag more fluidly. I like to put one in the middle so that the corn doesn’t all settle in one spot, but is still really malleable for me to scrunch up. Fill the bag with more corn until it is 2/3rds or so full. Then finish off your bag by stitching the end with the opening closed with a topstitch close to the edge of your fabric. And that’s it. Easy right! To heat up your pack heat in the microwave for a minute at a time until it’s where I like it. To make handwarmers, just make the sacks smaller. I make my handwarmers around 3×4 inches and you just stitch, turn right side out, fill and close up just like the large bags.

I can’t even begin to express how fantastic these are! I use the one’s I have all the time. I never use my heating pad any more. I just pop one of these packs in the microwave and I’m good to go. I have tmj and these are so nice on my jaw when it’s really tight. They are fantastic for muscle aches, and icy cold toes at night. You can also put them in the freezer for cold packs as well. For an extra treat add a few drops of essential oils to make your pack smell divine! I hope I have inspired some of you to try some of these easy little handmade gifts! Be sure to tune in tomorrow for another fun holiday handmade gift project!

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: christmas, christmas gifts, corn heating pad, crafts, diy, diy heating pad, gifts, hand wamers, handmade gifts, handmade holidays, heating packs, holidays, rice heating pad

12 Days of Handmade Gifts- Vintage Feedsack Sachets

5 December, 2012 2:10 pm / Leave a Comment / My So Called Crafty Life

Hi everybody! Welcome to my day 4 post of my 12 days of handmade gifts guide. I know it’s a day late, but thankfully it made it up today! So, today I am going to show you how to make lovely sachets for all of your favorite gals. Sachets are so easy to make and they smell divine! All you need is fabric, flax seeds, and essential oils, and a sewing machine.

The first thing you want to do is add fragrance to your flax seeds. Spread your seeds out in a pan on some tin foil or wax paper and add your oils. You can use pure essential oils, dried lavender , or lavender aromatherapy spray. I used the spray from whole foods since it was half the price of a tiny bottle of lavender. It is not quite as fragrant, so I did have to use more of it. Whole foods is a good place to get flax seeds too since you can buy them in bulk so much cheaper. Spread your seeds around so that they are all evenly coated with the lavender. Now you are ready to make your pouch. Cut shapes from fabric the way you want your sachet to look. I cut scalloped circles for my sachets. Cut a front and a back for each sachet. Put front and back pieces together wrong sides facing and stitch a 1/4″ seam allowance around your sachet, leaving a little less than an inch open for filling. Now grab a funnel. Insert your funnel into the opening of the sachet. Scoop seeds and drop into the funnel. Fill the bags about 2/3 full. Stitch the opening closed and you are done. Easy right!

I love sachets! They are so easy and economical to make, and I love the way they smell. They are great to put in your dressers, closets, bathroom, etc. You can also fill them with herbs like camomile, and mint for a soothing sent and keep under your pillow or next to the bed to help you get to sleep. I used feedsack scraps for my bags which are about 3.5″ wide. I think feedsacks are charming, but you could use any kind of fabric scraps, or even vintage hankies would be cute! These little sachets make wonderful gifts for friends, teens, teachers, and co workers. You can even fill them with manly scents and give them to your favorite guys! I hope you all have enjoyed this easy little diy handmade gift. Stay tuned, I’ll be posting day five in just a few…

Happy Crafting!

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Posted in: Crafting, DIY, Tutorials / Tagged: christmas, crafts, diy, feedsacks, flour sacks, fun easy, gifts for girls, holidays, lavender, lovely, retro, sachets, tutorials, vintage, vintage fabric

12 Days of Handmade Gifts- Revamped Canisters

5 December, 2012 2:06 pm / Leave a Comment / My So Called Crafty Life

Welcome to day 3 of my 12 Days of Handmade Gifts. It is actually day five, but I had some nasty virus on my computer that has prevented me from posting, so today I’ll have three projects for you. My first handmade gift diy is revamped canisters. These canisters were just fine on their own, but now they are super cute and ready for whatever I decided to store in them. This craft couldn’t be simpler! All you need is a canister or two, knob(s), and paint. The first thing you do is drill a hole in your lid the same size as your knob bolt. If drilling through ceramic masonry bits you use for tile work well. You can then choose to paint the lid or leave it plain. Insert your knob and tighten it down. You can cut off the excess with a dremmel fitted with the saw or grinder attachment. And that’s it! I love how these canisters turned out! They are so fun! This gift would be fantastic for your favorite foodie filled with a tasty gourmet treat. Or, fill it with yarn or craft supplies and gift it to your favorite crafter. There are so many things you could use inside, the sky is the limit. I hope you all enjoyed this fun and easy diy! I’ll be posting more in just a little bit. Until then….

Happy Crafting!

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Holiday Gift Guide 2012- Gifts for Kids

22 November, 2012 12:09 am / 3 Comments / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello everyone! It’s time for my next holiday gift guide! This one is for all the kiddos out there. All of my picks are handmade and from wonderful Etsy shops! I am a big advocate for buying hand made whenever you can. The quality is better, you get a mor unique product, and you are supporting artists who pour their hearts into their work. I don’t have any little ones to buy for, but I love looking through children’s toys and plushies, they are so fun! Here are some of my favorite gift ideas for your little ones:

I am a huge stuffed animal lover so a lot of my picks are plush. Take a look at my faves:

Check out this fantastic Alix the reindeer plush toy rattle from Bling France Here

Check out this adorable Plush Named Marins from Tulinki Here

Check out these fabulous mini rag doll plushies from Jess Quinn Small Art Here

Check out this funky Red Fox Plush from To Tootse Here

Check out this sweet Penny the Polar Bear Plush from Patty Dear Here

Check out this fantastic Alphonze the Llama from Toxic Noodle Here

Check out this adorable Hugo the Dog Lambswool Plush from Sara Carr Here

Check out these sweet little Mini Plush Wee Owlies from KraKra Craft Here

Here are some of my other favorite toys for children:

Check out these awesome All Natural Kitty Egg Crayons from Kitty Baby Love Here

Check out this Wooden Ninja Toy Skittles Game from Indie Bambinos Here

Check out this awesome City Wood Blocks and Puzzle from Fidoodle Here

Check out this Make a Match Toddler – Zoo Edition from Mama May I Here

Check out this sweet Kid’s Lace Ruffle Play Tent from Teepee and Play Tent Here

Check out this fun Doorway Puppet Theater from Striped Coast Here

Check out this funky Superhero Tutu Costume from Jessica Kertel Here

Aren’t they all just fantastic! I love them! Obviously I am smitten with all of the plushies! I love the wooden toys and the cool kitty crayons too! Go check out these fabulous Etsy shops and see all the amazing goodies you can get for your little ones this year! Be sure to tune in next week for my next Holiday Gift Guide. Until then darlings…

Happy Shopping!

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Posted in: Holiday Gift Guides / Tagged: bears, blcks, bunnies, children's gifts, christmas shopping, dolls, etsy, hand made, holiday gift guide, holidays, kids gift guide, plush, stuffed animals, toys

Vintage Inspired Christmas Pine Cone Elves

19 November, 2012 11:07 am / 1 Comment / My So Called Crafty Life

Hello Everyone! Today I have a cute vintage inspired craft to share with you, Pine cone Elves. You can find the vintage version at flea markets, or online at places like Etsy and Ebay. Most of the time they are more than I can afford, so I decided to make some of my own. I don’t know how I did it, but I seem to have completely lost my tutorial pictures, so I will have to take you through the steps without pictures. So, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. These little guys are so much fun to make, and they’d be a great family craft to do with your kids.

Here’s What You Need:

*Small Pinecones

*Round Wood Balls 1″ size

*White Craft Paint

*Red Puff Paint

*Micron or fine point sharpie

*Felt

*Pipe Cleaners

*Mini trees, mushrooms, etc…

*Wood disks

*Hot Glue

*Bandsaw or Handsaw

Step 1: Prep Pine cones- The first thing you want to do is cut down your pine cones. My hubby cut the bottoms off with his band saw, but if you don’t have access to power tools, you can use a handsaw. Cut the pinecones down so that they are 2-3 inches tall. You can spray them with fake snow if you like. The tip of the pine cone is going to be the bottom of the elf, and the top where you cut down is going to have a ball glued to it for the head.

Step 2: Make the head- Paint the wood balls white. When the paint is dry, you can draw in the eyes with your pen and paint a drop of red puff paint for the nose. To make the hats, cut a triangle with a rounded bottom. I folded the felt corner in half to a point and cut down about 1.5 inches. Glue the sides of the felt together to form a cone. To make a beard, cut strips of the fuzzy pipe cleaners and glue to the head. Then glue the hat to the head.

Step 3: Finish the Elf- To make the arms cut a strip of pipe cleaner. Bend a little bit in the middle and hot glue to the back of the head, so that the ends bend around to form arms. You can bend the ends out a little to form hands. Hot glue your accessory(tree, candy cane, etc..) to the hand where you like it best. To make the feet bend a loop then bend another so you end up with a kind of heart shape. Snip any excess pipe cleaner off. Glue feet to the bottom of your pine cone. Glue the elf to a wooden disk. And that’s it, easy peasy!

I love these little guys! They are a bit different from their vintage counterparts, but I still think they are charming! You can make one or make a whole village of them! You can change-up the way they look with the way you draw the faces, and the color felt and pipe cleaners. Make them your own. They add a fun and sweet little ambiance to your holiday decor. I hope you will try these out, you will have a blast! I made these with my mom, and we had so much fun making them together! Overall a fun, inexpensive, and adorable project for the holidays! Be sure to tune in tomorrow for more holiday tutorials!

Happy Crafting!