dramatic statement necklace with handmade ornaments

ohhh...i totally had a crush on this necklace, the second i saw this necklace somewhere on the net...i had to have one of those...and luckily it wasn't just an advert or a picture...no a tutorial...lucky me.

http://honestlywtf.com/diy/diy-proenza-schouler-scroll-necklace/

looking at the tutorial, i learnt the inspiration for this beautiful necklace is a desinger necklace from proenza schouler...okay...i can live with that.

this necklace is a gift for my sister-in-law...but of course i had to do one for myself and learnt a few things from the making of it.

first of all...no need to be extra careful, when it comes to drilling the ornaments...do not drill from the backside of the ornaments, as it is difficult to find the exact position...

second...try to drill the hole as close to edges as you can...otherwise you have to live with huge jump rings, which do not look that elegant and are also difficult to get.

third...no need to spray-paint the ornaments from the back...the colour might come off...yes, this happened to me.

fourth...check if  the finished necklace is assembled in the right way, before you take the picture and give the necklace away....yes...i made a mistake with the small upper parts and luckliy i figured it out just before the gift wrapping.

other than that...this necklace is really easy to make, it took a bit of time to make the ornaments, but it was so worth it.

i hope you enjoy the tutorial...best regards...silke

this is what you need

- ornament moulds

- fine ceramic casting powder

- water

- measuring cups

- silicone bowl or any other container, you are willing to through away afterwards

- drill

- fine drill bit

- pliers

- spray-paint

- an inexpensive necklace

- jumps rings

this is what you have to do

- pour one part of water into your mixing bowl

- slowly sprinkle in three parts of the casting powder

- in order to avoid lumps leave to stand for one minute and do not stir

- then stir the mixture for a minute in the same direction

- pour 1/3 of the prepared casting compound into the relief moulds

- distribute the mixture evenly

- fill the form completely 

- the drying process takes about 30 minutes

- to remove the relief figures lay the mould upside down on a flat and firm surface

- carefully lift the moulds on all sides

- they come out really easy

- spread out your ornaments 

- spray-paint the relief ornaments, you might have to repeat this a couple of times

- get the ornaments ready and choose the position of each ornament within your necklace and mark the position for the holes

- carefully drill your holes

- attach all ornaments to each other using your jump rings

- attach your purchased necklace to your ornaments using your pliers

- if you like, you can spray-paint the pendants of the purchased necklace and add to you ornaments, too

homemade fruit leather roll ups

...such a beautiful and delicious way to preserve and enjoy fruit.

you can just do single-fruited leather or you can do some fruit cocktail mixes, you can add some sweetener, extracts, spices, coconut flakes, chopped nuts and so on and so on..they are all yummy.

so far i tried strawberry and vanilla, a berry mix with cinnamon, a kiwi-pineapple-grape-lemon-mix and an orange-clementine-limette-apple-mix and for sure i am going to try a lot more.

this is what you need

- 2 1/2 to 3 cups ripe and diced fruit per baking sheet

- sweetener like honey, agave syrup or sugar (optional)

- seasonings, extracts to taste (optional)

this is what you have to do

- wash or peel your fruit

- place the fruit in you food processor blend until you reach a smooth puree

- taste the puree and add sweetener or extract to your taste

- if your puree is too thick to pour, add a little liquid (juice or water)

   - it should be thin enough to pour and thick enough to stay put where you spread it

- gently spread the fruit mixture onto a baking pan, which is lined with parchment paper

    - a silicone mat or even strong and durable plastic foil are a good alternative

- smooth out any wrinkles

- keep the puree away from the edges

- place the tray in the oven and let the fruit puree dry at the lowest temperature 

- this might take 6 to 8 hours to dry

- you fruit leather is ready, whenever it is pliable 

- carefully remove the fruit leather from the parchment paper

- cut it into stripes and roll them up individually

- the fruit leather roll ups should be stored in an air-tight container

the original recipe can be found here:

http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/09/how-to-make-homemade-fruit-roll-ups/

i hope you got a little inspired to...best regards...silke

the one with the heart, the strings and the nails

a perfect mother's day "card" and quite impressive ... especially if the gift itself is rather small.

...it does not require any special skills and the needed supply might be found just somewhere around the house.

to make it look a little bit more like mother's day and not so much like valentine's day ... i added a wooden decorative flower and some sequins to the red string heart.

as my mom loves trail mixes, i made one myself with a selection of exclusive nuts and homemade dried fruit.

the recipe for dehydrating fruits can be found here:

http://silkerudat.blogspot.de/2014/04/dehydrated-fruit-chips.html

this is what you need

- rustic wooden board

- nails

- hammer

- yarn

- sequins

- glue

- wooden deco flower

- heart-shaped paper template

- pencil

this is what you have to do

- mark the spots for the nails along the edge of the paper heart, leaving around one or two inches between the spots

- fold the heart in half along the centre

- punch holes with your pencil through both layers to save some time 

- lay the paper shape in the centre of the wooden board

- nail around the outline of the paper heart

- once all your nails are in

- remove the paper

- and the wooden board could look like this

- get your yarn and tie a knot around the head of one of the nails

- wrap the yarn around each nail

- keep going back and forth until your heart is covered with strings

- once you are done

- outline the entire heart to make the heart shape pop out

- go back to the start and and tie a knot using the excess string from the first tie

- cut the ends short and hide them under the rest of the strings

- get your sequins ready

- ooops...and some glue, too

- optional add some more decoration

- et voila... ready

and this is what insipired me:

http://greenweddingshoes.com/diy-string-heart/

happy mother's day everyone and best regards...silke