Tutorial: How to make studded barrettes with pronged studs!

Crazy about hair accessories? I know I am. I got so crazy, that I bought 20 French barrette blanks from Ebay to add to my collection! Hehe. Previously, my fringe was too short to use a barrette  so I had to use crocodile clips. There are only so many ways to deco your crocodile clip! So as soon as I could use a french barrette, I converted :) So, now when I am going through a "French barrette" phase, I just had to find a way to make more to add on to my collection. Look at this:

From whipped cream barrettes, to rhinestone barrettes to bow barettes! I have them all! HAHA! Every single one of them was handmade by me^^ From felt to real leather to ribbons, I tried to make every one of my barrettes special! Hahaha.

So. I was just thinking about how to make a studded barrette because I bought a packet of studs to stud my top and I had so many leftovers(because I was greedy and bought 100 in a go) They were pronged so I could not just glue them on.

BUT. I found a way, and I am gonna share it today! ^^

This is my first time doing a compiled tutorial! It is much easier:) I did it my way, so ya.

All you need is some felt, pronged studs, hot glue gun(mine is pink<3) a French barette and some studs! I used a 60mm French barette and I cannot remember the size of my studs probably around 12/11mm? Maybe? I used 5 studs per barrette....

Have a insulating something to hold your stud. I used a scrap leather. I went on to make a bow with my leather with this tutorial (bow as shown above)!

 Measure the felt to be a little smaller than your studs.

Add glue to the empty space of the stud to fill it, 3/4 full will do and wait for it to cool and harden a wee bit before  pressing the felt onto the glue.

Prong it.(Is this even how I am supposed to describe the process?!

Continue to the end.

Add glue to the barrette and press it gently to the pronged and glued felt. Do not flatten the glue.

Ta-da! You are done! Wait for it to cool completely before putting it in your hair please. HAHA.

Okay. That is it. Your very own studded barrette! ^^

Okay, That is really all I wanted to share today.

Ciao!

Rebecca :)

Tutorial: Stacky bracelets

Well, as I promised, a tutorial for the bracelets that I made. This bracelet is quite versatile. I think it looks nice my itself or with charms with beads, rhinestones etc etc.

Firstly, you will need these materials:

~ Strands of faux leather/suede strips
~ 1 strand of ball chain/threaded strand of beads
~ 1 lobster clasp or button
~ Embroidery thread
~ Craft Glue
~ Needle

For this tutorial, I will be making a bracelet with seed beads with a clasp^^

My work table

 Firstly, cut the faux leather strand into a shorter strand. I measure my wrists and give it some allowance. I believe it is better to make it a little longer and trim it if need as compared to having it too short to fit your wrist at all.

1st step

 Dab the end of the strand in the craft glue. I find it easier to do it this way instead of pouring glue onto the strand itself to prevent over-pouring. Surprisingly, the glue holds the faux leather very well and you can peel it off with a tug if you made a mistake. I tried using a needle to sew it, but I found that using glue holds it better. Surprise surprise.

Clasp. Pretty right!

Slip the clasp from the non-glued end or before you put on the glue. And glue it like so. I took a picture before the glue dried because it dries clear. Anyway, it will be covered with yarn. Put this aside to let it dry. 

Pretty!

 Thread the beads onto a string. In this case, I used a crochet thread because it is stronger than a normal thread and it does not fray so easily as compared to an embroidery thread. I suggest giving it some allowance before you tie the knot at the end. It makes things easier.

Winding winding. 

Dab the end of the embroidery thread into the glue and stick it onto the joined part. I like winding it for about 0.8cm because it makes things more secure. Remember to attach the thread with the beads at this point. If you are using a ball chain, do not attach it just yet. 

*ignores messy table*

 I use a hair clip to attach it to something for easy winding. I wind the embroidery thread over each seed bead, pushing the bead up with every row. I like to check the back of the bracelet with every few rounds to ensure that the space is even because I am a silly perfectionist. Hehe.

Lalalu

 I enjoy listening to music while crafting and I do sing along sometimes. I think it gives the bracelet a happy one when I feel happy making it and I hope that the person who has the bracelet will be happy when they look at it because I put in effort to make every single one of them. :) Every bracelets has happy vibes. Hahaha.

*shaky picccctureeee*

Sorry for the shaky picture, did not realise it till I edited the picture D: But you know, just dab the other end into the glue and do the same as what you do in the beginning. make a loop and wind the embroidery thread round and round the strand. Hehe. Thread the embroidery thread onto the needle, make a knot underneath and cut off the extra thread. Then use glue to conceal the ends. Yup yup. That's it.

Here's the picture of the finished product and the other variations you can make! :)

with seed beads

with pearls and a button closure

with ball chains

You can add charms. 

Very stackable

Some tips and tricks:
~ Notice that I do not use jump rings for this project? I feel that jump rings are not really needed so I do not use it because using it means that there is a possibility that the charms or clasp might drop off because I have a bracelet that did that -___- Probably under my tough handling. Haha

~ You can put in charms like I did. I love the way it makes the bracelet look prettier instantly. Just slide the charms in (the right way please) and ta-ta. No jump rings needed.

~ You can make this like a clique bracelet which I am currently doing. Hehe. It would be beyond cool.

Okay. That's all for today. Ciao!

Rebecca:)

Tutorial: Phone cover decoden!!!!

Well! I finally did more decoden after a really long while! My first pretty big project in a while:) So, presenting the phone cover decoden!!! I do see phone shops selling pre-made decoden cases, I am am very unimpressed by their work. Firstly, they tend to use acrylic rhinestones, which does not shine as much as crystals or the ones I am using. I am too poor to afford to deco my cover with swarovski, but I bought these resin rhinestones and cabochons from Sophie and Toffee! Loveee them. I am so happy they are based in Singapore, but their shipping is not that expensive anywayyy. I get 99% of my materials from them.

First, I had to do my shopping! I went online to make my purchases. I wanted something floral-themed, so I bought quite a few cabochons. Okay. This post is gonna be filled with pictures! So here goes:)

 Package arrived in the mailbox! I was so excited to start on my project!

Very nicely wrapped with bubble wrap(popping time!)

After carefully removing all the tape, the package inside! YAY!

This was what I got! Roses, ring blanks and pin blanks! Oh, and one packet of rhinestones, clear.

Working table. Looks neat huh! If you are a complete beginner, go here! This is an old post of the materials on the table. Hope it will be of help to you:) I got a new thingie since then. The triangle tray. It allows me to flip my rhinestones to the correct side for me to pick it up with tweezers. Haha. Amazing stuff.  I used SGP phone cover. I wanted a pink one, and you know it is soooo difficult to get a hard pink quality android phone case! I found this in Sim Lim Square for $8. Totally worth it because the quality is awesome and it is pink! Most of the rhinestones in the box are from Sophie and Toffee, and the box is fully filled. Says a lot about how irresistible the stuff there are. 

Plan where the big guns go! It is important to vaguely know what you want! If not.....your design will look amateur, like mine. I am that bad at sticking with plans-___-. Haha For me, I wanted to make my roses more secure because the surface of the cover was not flat. So I used "industrial strength" E6000 glue and waited for 24 hours before doing the next step.

Add the smaller gems, I decided to use my tear-drop shaped gems to create a heart shape. These are swarovski crystals okay! You can get these from Arab street. They are expensive though. Be prepared to pay a lot if you want to use the crystals.

Added pearls around the flowers to give it an elegant look! Haha. Pearls are also from Sophie and Toffee.  

Started blinging! Haha! I always like the do it inside out because it makes more sense! If you do it outside in, you may not have the rhinestones to cover the space left. UNLESS, you plan carefully. HAHA. 

With the sparkle effect on my camera. SHINY! I decided to create a moon shape at the bottom! I should have thought of the moon earlier, but it just popped in my head AFTER I put on the roses. 

Tra la la. Blinging in progress. I took a span of about three or four days because I had work. Which means only doing the blinging at night. I like doing this though. It is therapeutic. 

Almost done!

It looks so gorgeous even when it is ALMOST done right? Sigh...Cannot believe I did it from scratch <3 Decided to add another rose on the side because it can be ergonomic(??!!) Haha. I use that rose for the finger to ''hook'' on. But the overall look can be made better if only I planned. So ya. PLAN. 

Donedone! A tip? Take your time! Enjoy the process and anticipate the product! Ta-da! Okay I am gonna go out of point for a while. I just went to the toilet and realised I locked myself out of my room. Thank god the my mum was not asleep yet so I asked her for the key. See! Bad point about locking your door... Okay, back to topic!

Really need to get a better camera!

Canyouseethemooncanyouseethemooncanyouseethemoon?  Really love this part of the phone. Me and my obsession with the moon. Haha.

Middle part...

I like the top! 

Sooo, ahem. Posed with my rose ring(also made my moi) and my rose themed manicure from Batam and my rose themed phone cover attached with my phone. OMG. I am girly! Haha.

The front still looks like boring black. But it is okay. The back is shiny enough for the magpie in me. :)

It looks nicer on white background right!

Even nicer on my hand. Haha.

Okay, so that's it for today! I hope you enjoyed this tutorial! If you are interested in decoden, why not look at my other decoden tutorials and start shopping in Sophie and Toffee! Not so many as of yet, but more to come:D Ciao!

Rebecca :D:D:D

Tutorial: How I do Eraser Deco-den

Okay, warning: this post is loaded with pictures from the newly bought Olympus Tough TG-310. The camera has quite a number of functions but it takes quite long to process stuff. My parents bought it because it can take pictures underwater. My father likes snorkeling and diving. Thus, the camera. We have to take pictures of the fishes and corals before global warming bleach all the corals and kill the fishes in the process:/

Okay, back to topic. I will be deco-ing my eraser pen and a pen cover[which I later regretted deco-ing]

Firstly, I planned what design I wanted to do. I laid the rhinestones on my table and see if it looks okay. 

I used the paper from here

After deciding what design I wanna do for my eraser, I put the glue onto my eraser pen with the glue shown below and a toothpick[also shown]. In this project, I used 5mm half pearls, 2mm clear flatback and 5mm hot pink flatback. All the rhinestones in this project were from Sophie and Toffee. 

After that, using a tweezer or magical pick[which I have not bought] put the rhinestones/pearls in the order shown below. Usually, I will put on the larger rhinestones first. However, in this case, I found that putting on the smaller rhinestones would be easier because it fits perfectly. Make sure that the rhinestones and pearls touch each other so that it has a less''gappy'' look to it. I used Uniball E knock eraser . It is perfect for deco-den because it has a straight body[and it is pink] I started pasting the rhinestones from the clippy thingie. It is easier to ensure that you arrange the rhinestones straight that way.

I was fiddling with the camera when I found this function---sparkle. It is very useful in making things sparkle. It is great because somehow when you take pictures of deco-den, it appears much duller than it is. I tried it out on my half finished eraser.

                           

Shiny right? It made me quite happy. to see it ''shine''. After that few moments of awe, I went back to deco-ing....Lalala. Okay, from here on, glue, rhinestones, arrange, let it dry, glue, rhinestones, arrange, let it dry x100 times. Well, practice makes perfect and I am still practicing too.

3 hours later....

All done and ready to show off! Oh...you see the pen on the background? It is the one I regretted deco-ing because I could have used the rhinestones there to finish up my eraser. At first, I only wanted to deco part of the eraser. But after I deco-ed the pen cover I changed my mind an went back to the eraser. After happily doing some more, I realized....I had not enough pink crystals:'( Darn. I was like-____-||| REGRET! You see, the pen cover was not straight so it turn out from this

Nice part

To this....

Do you see how the rhinestones do not fit so well anymore? It became crooked. I was like....WHY??? :'( Oh well. this just gives me a chance to log onto Sophie and Toffee to buy more rhinestones. They are looking for ambassadors now, but due to my busy schedule and lack of readers, I cannot go for it. Oh well. One day when I am rich and famous.... Oh. I put a row of heart pearls into the middle because the 5mm rhinestones could not fit into it. It sort of made a nice effect though:)

I hope to finish this soon. In case you are wondering why I deco my eraser, it is because I like to doodle and I use this [my favourite] eraser to erase minute details that a normal [fat] eraser would ruin.

By the way, this is another one of the ways I do to cheer myself up. At least there is something I am relatively good at!

Yupyup, That's a very long post/not really tutorial. Ciao!

Rebecca:)

Tutorial: How I do my deco-den:]

This is how I do my deco-den for a compact mirror.

Step one: Set up my table to get started. From left, I have a scrap piece of paper to put the glue on(I use deco glue that dries in about half hour, but you can also use epoxy glue. Please make sure it dries in the amount of time you need to put the stuff on!) , toothpicks to spread the glue with, the actual deco glue, cabochons displayed to decide on a design, variety of rhinestone bits to tell me what I can use and at the foreground, on the left, the previous mirror I made and on the right, the one I will be making. I lay pieces of paper to cover my table to 1) find the gems easily and 2) to prevent getting glue on the table. Opps, I forgot to display my tweezers, but it is in the bag over there.

Step two: Decide how I want my mirror to look like, determine the theme and the main colour. In this case, I am choosing desserts and  pink respectively as the mirror is for a friend of mine who is giving it to his sister as a birthday present:] Put the large cabochons first. I purchased mine from Sophie and toffee and Daiso.

Step three: Next, put the large gems. I wanted a border for my mirror, so I taped the sides to ensure that I do not dirty the sides with glue. *I started on the corner before I remembered to take a picture;] Tip: Use more big gems to make your mirror more striking (and save a lot of eye power to put in tiny gems)

Step four: Starting from the border, apply glue with toothpick, put on the rhinestones with a tweezers. I use those with a curved tip, but I guess you can use whatever suits you:] Tip: Apply a little glue on a small area at a time. This prevents the glue from getting dry before you actually get to the area. As you can see, I was slowly inching to the centre.

Step five: After doing the mirror for about five hours(not counting the breaks in between) I have to admire my handiwork:) Good job I must say, I think it is nicer the the one I made for myself. I put up both to show the difference. I am not sure if you can see it, but the newly made one is definitely more dense and some of the cabochons I used are of higher quality.

One more zoomed in shot of the mirror! Well...I know the picture quality is not good, but it not bad considering that it is taken from a Sony Ericsson W995. We definitely need a new camera at home!!!

Rebecca:)