Beaded Friendship Bracelet

Materials

• Beading wire
• Beads
• 2 crimp beads
• 1 magnetic clasp

Tools

• Wire cutters
• Bead board or towel
• Crimping pliers

Directions

1. Decide how long you want your bracelet to be and add 6″. Cut your wire, making a knot close to the end of the wire on one side to act as the bead stopper.
2. Using your bead board or towel, lay out beads in the pattern you want for your bracelet. String all your beads onto the beading wire.



3. To attach the clasp, string on a crimp bead and half of the clasp. Turn your wire to push it back through the crimp bead. Check the fit of your bracelet and add/remove beads as needed.



4. Using your fingers, grip and bend the beading wire at the clasp and push the crimp bead up against the clasp, but not too tightly. You want the clasp to move freely once it is secure. Continue to push the wire through the next 2 or 3 beads, trim wire to leave no tail, and push all beads snug against the crimp bead.



5. Using the “tooth” of the crimp pliers, press the crimp bead to flatten the crimp and crease the center. Move the bead to the next hole in pliers and gently press to fold and round the flattened crimp. Your wire is now secured.



6. At knotted end of wire, use wire cutters to clip off the knot. Repeat the crimp and clasp process.



7. Do not bend the beading wire at the clasp until you have pulled the wire through the next two or three beads and pulled the wire snug with the remaining bracelet beads, eliminating any excess wire in the length of the bracelet. This time you will have a tail outside the second or third bead from pulling the wire tight. When you have secured the clasp, use wire cutters or fine point scissors, if you wish, to remove wire tail.



Congratulations on your new creation!

How to Make Beaded Earrings

Materials

• Two head pins
• Beads and bead caps
• Two ear wires

Tools

• Round nose pliers
• Wire cutters

Directions

1. Thread beads and bead caps onto head pin.



2. Use round nose pliers to press pin down at right angle over top bead, then use end of pliers to make loop and cut off excess pin with wire cutters.



3. Open hanging loop of ear wire and attach beaded dangle. As you close ear wire loop, add some pressure to push the ends toward each other. Push the ends past each other a tiny bit and back again until they align perfectly (so there is no gap).



4. Repeat to make second earring.

How to Make Upcycled Display Stands from Old Cups and Saucers

Materials

• Plates, saucers, cups, bowls, and vases (Check out your local thrift store.)
• Glue (I suggest Weldbond or E-6000.)
• 1 can of spray paint (I used Krylon Dual Spray Paint’s Watermelon.)

Tools

• Large piece of cardboard (to protect your work surface)

Directions

1. To start, you will want to go to your local thrift store, and pick out a selection of plates, saucers, cups, and vases. Take the time to stack them on top of each other in different ways, to determine height and size of each piece. You also want to make sure the pieces fit together and won’t be top heavy. I purchased 8 saucers and 8 different cups for less than $5 at my local Value Village (secondhand store). Once you get them home, wash them well, and remove any price tags or grease pencil marks. Then allow them to dry completely.



2. When everything is dry, it is time to start gluing the pieces together. Again, remember to make sure none are top heavy and that the bottoms of the plates and the glassware fit together well. To glue my plates and glasses together, I used a glue called Weldbond. You can find it at most hardware stores. (To be honest, if I make more of these, I would use E-6000 because I found out the the dry time on the Weldbond is 24+ hours and so that made my project take longer!) With Weldbond, you need to put a coat of glue on both pieces of the display stand and let it sit for about 5 minutes BEFORE you press the two pieces together.



3. The more glue you use, the longer it will take it to dry, but a soft bond is formed after about 5-6 hours. It will be totally dry after 24-36 hours depending on how much glue you used. Putting glue on both pieces first and letting them sit a minute creates a stronger bond.



(I hope you have another project to work on—of course you do!—because it is going to be a whole 24-36 hours before the Weldbond dries. Set the pieces in a place where they won’t have to be moved, so the seal isn’t interrupted during the dry time. Be patient and don’t rush it. When the Weldbond is clear, then it is dry and you can move on to the next step.)

4. Now that the glue is dry, it’s time to take your stands outside and set them in a flat place with some cardboard below to protect your grass/driveway/patio from the spray paint. The fun part is about to begin!



5. Using short, small bursts, cover the display stands with a thin coat of paint. Don’t hold the spray nozzle down for an extended period of time or the paint will begin to run and drip. A thin coat will probably not cover any designs on the plates or cups, so plan to put 2-3 coats of paint on them. Also remember that you need to get both sides (top and bottom) of the displays, so you will have to flip them over. Be sure to let the coats dry or you will have fingerprints in the paint!



6. Once your displays are dry to the touch, move them back inside (I hope I didn’t need to say this before, but don’t spray paint inside!) and let them sit for about 24 hours so that the tackiness goes away and the smell of the paint goes away. Once you have totally dry displays, you are ready to set them up and show off your product!

How to Turn an Old Frame Into an Earring Display

Materials

• wooden frame
• window screen

Tools

• staple gun
• masking tape
• scissors

Directions

Note: If you want to paint, stain, or decorate your wooden frame, do so before any of the following steps.

1. Lay frame face down on flat surface. Place screen over back of frame and trim screen to roughly the same size as frame.

2. Staple the screen to the interior lip of frame.

3. Tape loose edges of screen to frame with masking tape.

4. Place frame on wall and hang earrings on screen.