30 Days of DIY: Day 2 ~ Safety Pins n Chains

Hey I'm 2 for 2!  If you're a loyal follower of my blog, you know I'm pretty much obsessed with safety pins.  And chains.  Combining the two is a win win in my book.  I started fiddling around, and this is the end result!  I can't quite say that it's a so-and-so inspired blah-blah-blah, because it's not.  This my friends, is a Lia original. 

Materials:

• Thin gold chain
• Gold chain a little thicker than the thin chain
• 1 inch gold safety pins
• Gold jump rings
• Lobster clasp
• Earring hooks
• Jewelry pliers

Cut the thicker gold chain into 5 pieces about 3-4 inches long.

Apply a jump ring to the end of one piece of chain, attaching a safety pin to that.  Then attach another jump ring to the other end of the safety pin, with another piece of chain.  Repeat this leaving one really long "chain" with jump rings on either end.  Attach the lobster clasp to one of the jump rings.  

So this next part I really did not take pictures of. Cut the thinner gold chain into roughly 3 inch long pieces.  Several of them.  I randomly placed 3 jump rings in the two side sectionss of thicker chain, in between safety pins, and four jump rings in the center section.  I then attached a safety pin to each jump ring.

I took another jump ring and added three of the thinner chain cuttings to it, adding that all to the bottom of the safety pins attached to the main chain, as described above.

This should be what you have now.  When it's worn, it really has kind of a funky, tribal look to it.  Then you look closer, and it's a more punkish look.  Love.

I attached a safety pin to an earring hook.

 

Then I attached a jump ring, followed by another safety pin to it.

Finally, I attached a jump ring with three strands of thin chain to that.  I repeated to make another earring.  

I hope you all love this set!  It's extremely 'me', and I think it really is a great display of my style and taste.  Stay tuned for Day 3's DIY tomorrow!

xxooxoxo

Lia

Charmed, I'm sure

This is probably one of the easiest DIYs yet, I did it with things I had on hand. {I tend to obsessively stock up on things, especially when they are on sale, and use them all later.  This was the case}

I took each charm and attached it to a jump ring.  The kilt pin with charm hangers as well as the octopus charm I got for 50 cents each I believe at Joann's.  The other charms are from etsy.  With the handcuff and angel wing charms, I wanted one to hang lower than the other, so I attached one's jump ring to the other's.

I decided to have some multilength chains hanging down behind the octopus so it looked more jumbled.  I cut three different lengths of chain, and attached the ends to a jump ring, which was connected to the kilt pin.

 I used bigger chain for the actual chain part.  The beauty of this necklace is that it requires no clasp; the pin IS the clasp.  Open the pin, slide on/off the chain, close the pin.  Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

I love this wooden mini dress form. It's so shabby chic, which usually isn't me, but I fell in love with it.  It was a couple of dollars, scored on my recent thrifting spree. 
I really love this necklace and have worn it probably 5 times in the last 2 weeks.  I love the mood it has to it, especially with the angel wings.  It kind of contradicts the darkness of the octopus and the implied badness of the handcuffs.  I'm all about contradiction :)
xxooxoxo
Lia

Inspired DIYs by My Fave DIYers Part 1

There are some amazing DIYs that I come across where I literally stop in my tracks and have to put everything else I am working on on hold.  These are the first two!

The first one I initially saw on Honestly... WTF and was instantly smitten.  I knew I had to make it.

Then I saw Stripes and Sequins version, where instead of a bracelet she made a necklace.  That was my stop dead in my tracks moment.  

  

This is my version :)  I have this envelope clutch I bought a while ago that came with a chain handle which I removed and have been holding on to, waiting to do something amazing with.  I bought two skeins each of five different bright colors of embroidery floss and made 10 strands.  I made each strand 5 times the length of the chain so that I could make the extra into a tassel on the end.  Other than that, I followed the instructions perfectly.  Here are some closer up views...

 Close up of the tassel, didn't come out too bad.

So the next obsession was one of the thousands I've found while perusing the amazingly talented and always inspiring (not to mention girl crush worthy!) ...love Maegan.  I'm a little obsessed with safety pins so when I saw this, I stopped dead in my tracks and started drooling. (She also shows you how to style it like a necklace as well, and it could easily be made into a choker and matching cuff....)

Seriously, how amazing is that belt???  Here's my version:

The only difference is that I used 1-1/2" elastic and 2" safety pins.  I still need to sew down the velcro to reinforce it so that it doesn't un-stick.

Close up.  Love safety pins.  So much.

So there you have it!  And if you haven't checked out their blogs, you are seriously missing out!  They are always inspiring and absolutely amazing women!

xxooxoxo

Lia