More wine charms!

I'm having some nice me-time here at home. I've been bouncing around between laundry, crafting, reading, dishes, and working on the photos for this post all afternoon, ADD-style.

That light box came in handy again today.

I made these a while ago and I love them. Each button is different. But this project required making custom D-rings for most of the buttons- what a pain that was!

This set of four is Christmasy... Yes, I am aware it is june. I can't wait to use them in six months, though!

Here's another set with vintage buttons.

Tomorrow is another day without work! Hopefully I'll be as productive as I was today.

EEK

Button crafts: wine charms

Wine charms!

I'm not really a wine drinker. I'd much prefer a good local beer. But I know plenty of wine drinkers, and I do live in a locale with several wineries. Also a good excuse to make something cute with all these buttons I've got! (Especially since I, uh, bought more last weekend.)

This was my first attempt... I think they came out pretty well! I gave them to my mother and she loved them.

I've got more sets in the works. Hello, Christmas gifts!! Look at you being made almost three months in advance.


A note on making wine charms:

With most projects I try, I usually do a little Pinterest research if I'm not straight up following a specific tutorial. But not with these! I just found the right sized coil of memory wire at a craft store, bought it on a whim, and used pliers, jump rings, and buttons/beads I had on hand to put them together. Afterwards, I did search on Pinterest and found that I don't finish off my charm rings like most other crafters seem to do, with a sort of loop-and-hook. Instead, I made a closed-off loop at each end, like so:

I found this method easy- just pull the end of the wire around with needle-nose pliers to make sort of a c-shape, and pinch shut with regular pliers. The charm goes on to the stem of a glass easily and stays on no problem!

You can purchase wire rings specifically for making wine charms on Etsy and probably most craft supply shops.

Happy crafting!

October + NaBloWriMo + a work in progress!

Hooray, October is here! That means Indian summer is in full swing out here... it's supposed to hit 103 degrees today- yikes! That ALSO means that NaBloWriMo is here. The official prompt is to give yourself an introduction, and I don't have a functioning "about me" page yet, so here are some factoids about me:

• I am a huge D&D playing, Stargate/Star Trek/Star Wars loving, always-reading kind of nerd. 
• I am engaged to the sweetest, handsomest, silliest, nerdiest boy I have ever met.
• I love love love upcycling. Most of my craft projects somehow involve taking old stuff and making it into new stuff... like these cards I made with an old book.
• I have a degree in international relations but I haven't found a "real" job yet, so for now I'm a manager at a small movie theater that serves beer, wine, and real food. And popcorn, too.
• I. LOVE. CATS. I celebrate them every Saturday with my Caturday series. (Don't worry, I don't celebrate Caturday in the "traditional" internet fashion of lolcats.) I wish wish wish I could have a kitty, but our apartment is too small and we'd have to pay pet rent. 
• I prefer to buy things second hand. Good for my wallet, good for the earth, good for what ever non-profit runs the thrift shop!
• I live in the East Bay in CA and I love it!

Seven is enough, right? 

I also want to share one of my current works-in-progress, since I spent all my time crafting last week and poppyrocket suffered a little as a result.

I'm working on a super chunky baubley sort of bracelet with lots of buttons! It's so much fun. I can't wait to finish it... but I'm out of findings so I've got to go shopping today! I had wanted to go over the weekend but there was absolutely no time and not working on it is killing me.

Hope your October 1st is more fall-ish than mine!!

Button bracelet!

Hooray for trying new things!! Today I made some jump rings. I have a huge stash of buttons and have been thinking about button jewelry for ages.

I acquired the wire and pliers when they were left at the library (along with a TON of seed beads after a one-time class last summer. My mom's coworker, Sandy, called the instructor, who said the library could keep them. Maybe she thought she was doing something nice, but the library staff really had no use for them, and no place to put them. Sandy knew I would love the stuff, so she gave it all to me!

I'd never wire wrapped before, but I had so many ideas. I watched videos. I pinned tutorials. And did nothing.

Until today!

Working with wire is, as I had predicted, challenging. After five buttons I needed a break. Well, also I was starving. I was on my way to the fridge when the urge to start this project hit me.

I've definitely caught the jewelry-making bug! I had so much fun, in spite of sore finger tips and a minor flesh wound. I'm going to the craft store tomorrow to scope out what's available! And to get a better pair of wire cutters.