Creative Dawn

BEFORE AFTER On 1/27/2011, I posted a lamp that I repainted.  This is that same lamp now updated again.  Sometimes an idea comes along and it is better than the original.  This is inspired from a Pinterest posting that used old jewelry.  Well, that can get expensive so this is made from wooden beads that are painted gold.  The beads came from a thrift store and cost 3.50 for the bag.  I still have some leftover for a future project.  The beads are just glued onto the lamp and painted over with gold and pearl acrylic paint.  I got some jewel-like buttons and added them for accent.  The perfect lampshade was on another lamp in the house, so I just switched them up. How much did this cost?  The lamp was 1.49 originally, the beads 3.50, jewel buttons about 5.00.  What a bargain for a one of a kind home accent!

Well, had to do it, I got another idea for beaded jewelry.  This one is a large pendant necklace.  As with the other beaded items felt was used for the base but this time there is a piece of thin cardboard in the center.  Since the design is hollowed out in the middle I wanted to be sure that it wouldn't be too flimsy so the cardboard gave it a bit more weight.   It is fun and funky and definitely a statement piece not everyone would wear.  Ok, so I promise to try to branch out more for the last month.  There are few charity events coming up so that will force me to do other projects.  But, there still may be one or two more beading items.  Just sayin!

I lied, sorry, here is another beading post, but it is really cool!  The bib style necklaces are currently very popular so I had to make my own version in black and white.  This one is not as large as many of the ones sold in stores but with all of the beading, larger would be too much.  This is definitely a special occasion necklace.  

It seem like I have become a bit accessory obsessed lately.  Part of it may be a time issue because these things are easy to make in a few hours.  Tomorrow I don't have to work, it is supposed to be REALLY hot so my plan is to paint a few things.  Hopefully that will mix up the types of posts.  This post is about a bracelet that is made with felt, buttons and a few beads.  It is just two strips of felt sewn together with an assortment of colorful buttons and some beads for accent.  The 'clasp' is a piece of Velcro.  While making it I was thinking about a friend that cannot normally wear much for jewelry due to an allergy with metal.  This would be a perfect gift for her except it is really small because it is fit for me and I am a small person.  Oh gee, guess I might have to make another one for her!  

I am in a vegging mood right now so my post will be short and sweet today. A few days ago my post was about a frame made from trim off of a shirt.  There was A LOT of pieces left over so, I strung them together and made them into a necklace.  In my box of miscellanious I had the necklace strand and just sewed the new 'bauble' onto it.  A headband decoration may be the next thing that is made with the extra trim pieces. 

It has been a while for a jewelry post and this one wasn't really planned.  I decided to stop at the Goodwill and see  what they had, it is 1.49 Tuesday!  I got a few things to paint, one of them being a long wooden plaque with a heart at the top.  As with most things like this I took it apart and started painting.  My original plan was to do the plaque and set aside the heart but soon an idea came to me.  Digging through my miscellaneous box I came across this empty cord and decided to make the heart into a necklace.  After coating it in black the designs were added in gold and cream.  Both sides are painted with different designs so it is reversible, two necklaces in one!  The heart is really thick so it makes a fun chunky necklace.  

Since the puzzle piece necklaces are so popular, I decided to try something else.  My collection of can tabs has been growing and figured that they could easily be made into jewelry.  The backs of the tabs can be sharp so I ended up using two of them back to back to avoid scratching your neck.  This was such a fast project it took about 35 minutes to make.  The gold rings are a larger size and are perfect for the openings in the tabs.  I used gold because I didn't have any silver, but the color contrast is really nice.  I love it that now you can mix and match different metals, anything goes!  Along with the cut out designs, jewelry making has become another new thing that I am enjoying working on.  This blog has really inspired me go beyond painting, drawing and crafting.  There are definitely more ideas for jewelry to come, wait and see!

I made a necklace a while ago with pieces of a Peter Maxx puzzle.  That particular post is viewed a lot and every time I wear the necklace, people comment on it.  Because of that, I decided to do another one.  The pieces on this one are a bit smaller so more difficult to work with.  It's a good thing that this puzzle had a lot of pieces because a few of them tore.  Here is a helpful hint, apply a coat of nail polish to the backs, they become more sturdy and also have a smooth texture.  The design was more complex so it took a few hours to complete.  This is one of those puzzles that had a lot of small pictures to make the larger picture.  I really liked the shades of blue it gives it a turquoise like effect. There are so many options with the puzzles that if I perfected the technique they would be marketable.  But for now it is too time consuming to make very many and my hands got sore after making all of the tiny holes for the ju...

I was just relaxing and watching TV the other day when an idea struck me.  It was partially inspired by that awesome craft book from the library, but my final project is much much cooler!  The book had used puzzle pieces to make jewelry.  I thought that the idea itself was good, but the end result was too cheesy for my taste.  I still had left over pieces from a past project, the Peter Maxx frame and puzzle.  Since his artwork is so colorful the pieces were perfect.  I grabbed the jewelry findings that I had and went to work.  It was really easy and didn't take very long at all.  I poked holes into the parts that I liked and used jump rings to attach the pieces together.  The chain was from a necklace that I haven't worn in a while.  With the star design and the fun bright colors it really makes for cool jewelry.  Now to find a place to wear it. 

  The project for today came from a few places.  In my youth, I remember going to a friend's house and her Grandmother showed me a Christmas decoration that she had made, it was in a small frame.  It was red velvet fabric and old jewelry and was in the shape of a Christmas tree.  Then, a month or so ago I was watching the Nate Berkus Show.  He has great ideas and is from Minnesota like me!  He was showing what to do with things that you think are trash or not useful.  Kind of like the things I do in my blog.  So anyways, he had old jewelry and frames.  Here is where the light bulb went off in my head.  I had purchased a painted canvas at the Goodwill for a few dollars and was going to paint on it, but the canvas was torn.  I ended up removing the canvas and using the frame.  I stapled on some muslin and topped it off with an old shear embroidered curtain.  Then dug through all of my jewelry and buttons and started to deco...