The Mystery Thing Revealed. Tiptoe Through The...

Last time, I posted a Mystery Thing Challenge, asking my readers to guess the identity of the little black tulip-shaped bits on these cute upcycled jewels:

Did you enter a guess?  Were you right?  Let's find out, shall we?

Guess the Mystery Thing: Little Black Tulips.

Callou callay, it's time for a new round of GUESS THE MYSTERY THING!  Anyone can play!  Simply take a gander at my latest upcycled jewelry project, these rings:

..and see if you can figure out the secret ingredient.

If you guess right, you could win one!

Or if you're a necklace person, I made a pendant, too:

What is that black tulip-shaped bit at the base of the flower?  It's from something very specific.  (Hmm, I wonder if you'll get this right away, or if it's a toughie?  To me it looks a bit obvy, but maybe that's only because I know the answer.)

How it works: Leave your guess in the comments.  There will be two winners: first correct guess and one random guess.  That's right, a random winner!  So even if you're stumped, guess anyway - you could still win.

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere.  (You don't even have to be a follower of the blog, although I would lurve it if you were.) 

The one and only rule: 

1.  If your email isn't available in one click from an online profile, be sure to include your email address with your guess.

Ready?  Set?  Guess the Mystery Thing!

UPDATE: THIS  CHALLENGE IS NOW CLOSED.  THANKS FOR PLAYING, YOU GUYS!  CHECK MY NEXT POST FOR THE FUN REVEAL.

Watch It!

Well!  Another day, another upcycled jewelry project.  This time, it's a restyle of sorts.  Do you love the look of wearing a chunky vintage man's watch as a bracelet?  I do!  But sometimes, I want just a touch more.

Watch closely, now...

Whee!  Vintage watchband flower bracelets!

Want to make one?  It's sinfully simple.

Wide World Of Sports, Crocheted Kitsch Edition!

You've heard of extreme sports.  Extreme snowboarding.  Extreme skateboarding.  Extreme BMX.  But my favorite extreme sport gets far less attention than it deserves.

Extreme Cheapskating!

Can you relate?  I know you can!  From now on, it's going to be a brand new category on my blog.  For the inaugural Cheapskating post, take a gander at these (ahem) lovely (ahem) garments:

Crocheted polyester.  A dollar each at a thrift store.  Machine-made in China.

Okay, sports fans!  Apply a bit of careful snippage with small pointy scissors...

She scores!  Crocheted flowers for crafting!

Eighty-eight of them.  (Yes.  I counted.  We Extreme Cheapskaters will do that.)

The pink poncho had obviously been washed several times, and the flowers had floofed out somewhat messily.  You could still craft with a floofy flower.  But on a whim, I tried something weird - and it was so cool I have to share!


Pick one up with tweezers and hold it eight inches above the stove...

Poof!  It will shrink up instantly, becoming darker, prettier and more stable.  (Note: it takes a mere second!  Be quick so it doesn't burn.)  Here's a comparison photo.  Top row floofy, bottom row not floofy:

With the ones on the left, I rather painstakingly picked off all the little connecting threads for a neat and tidy flower.  On the right, I just snipped around the flowers quickly, leaving many connecting threads and saving lots of time.

I like both styles!  In fact, the quicker version is so lacy and pretty, I think it's really my favorite.  Now, what shall we make with these Extreme Cheapskate crocheted flowers?  Here's the first thing I thought of.

Take a needle and thread and just a few minutes, and embellish a warm fall scarf.  Instant replay:

And the crowd goes wild.

These are going to be so much fun to play with!  They'd make great earrings, necklaces, brooches, oh, my!  Let's hear it, people...what would you guys use them for?


In my next post, expect to see these fleurs in a new, fun upcycled jewelry tutorial.  Check back soon!

Annoyed Grunt.

Annoyed grunt?  What kind of a title is that?

If you are a fan of The Simpsons tv series, you are familiar with Homer Simpson's famous catchphrase "D'oh!"  But in teleplay form, it isn't written "D'oh."  It's annoyed grunt.

Perhaps now you begin to understand where this is going...?  A recent yard sale scored me this awesome collection of Play Doh shape cutters.

So cute.  Such fun colors.  Now they are necklaces:

Wanna try?  Here's the super simple DIY.

Shenanigans.

See this cute toy car?  It was a 'pwesent' from my 4-year-old nephew.

It flew home with me from Seattle, and I love it so very much.  (It was one of his favorite things; I tried to suggest he keep it for me until my next visit, but he insisted.  Because it was a pwesent!)

So here's the lighthearted project that has become a new favorite jewel of mine.  Perhaps not for everyone...it will depend on your tolerance for shenanigans in jewelry making.

I threaded a thrift store chain through the natural gaps beside Lightning McQueen's rear axle, like so:

Hee hee!  Hot Wheels necklace!

I know what some of you are thinking.  That looks silly.  Who would wear that?  Clunky.  Not a viable piece of jewelry.

I beg to differ.

If you indulge in similar shenanigans, I think you'll be delighted by how pretty, happy and easy to wear it is!

And - bonus! - you will become instantly irresistible to every male between the ages of zero and forty-seven.

(Thanks for my pwesent, Eli!  Love, Auntie Bah)

Comb One, Comb All.

Dude.  What do you think of these earrings?

 

Kinda cute, right?

Dude.  They're totally made from plastic hair combs.

Just use a large wire cutter, snip your comb into little daggers and begin creating.  Earrings are just the beginning!  These little things make great cha-cha dangles, too.

Intrigued?  Wanna demolish some hair combs?  Here's a simple earring tutorial to get you started.