Pantone-Inspired Spring Color Challenge - Linen | Refashioning of the Week

Hmm. Today is Linen in the Pantone-Inspired Colour Challenge hosted by Literate & Stylish and The Modern Austen. Now this one has had me puzzled for the last week. At the moment I'm writing my blog over three seperate computers and on each of these three computers the colour looks really different. My first impression was that this colour was a light, clear rose, then I saw it as a light beige and finally a light orangey peachy pink. I always though that Linen was more of a brown but I'm going to cover all bases here anyway.

My various interpretations of Linen this week

Stockings are the closet thing I have a beige linen in my wardrobe!! I know they don't really count - but they do allow me to wear more of a spring outfit for my Autumn challenge. My band-aid and foundation match the linen beige too. For the pinky linens I'm seeing I think my earrings are good. The gems in my scarf have at least two of the shades of linen I see as well, the pink one and a the more orangey one.

Top: Big W

Skirt: Target (actually refashioned from dress)

Shoes: Target

Earrings: Dressing Your Truth

Band-Aid: Coles

Scarf: Target....mostly..

Yes!!!! You got me!! This is a refashion! Take it away Refashioning of the Week snoop....

Do your remember this black scarf I bought on my $50 shop? Well I did have an ulterior motive for buying this!........ Adding sew-on gems!!!!

This scarf was really wide so I folded in half and sewed the sides together. 

I then folded in half again.

The gems I bought were just from the local craft store, it was a really good packet as it had a mix of all sorts of shapes and colours.

I arranged the gems into a flower pattern. I'm sure any pattern would look great here - flat-back gems look amazing on anything.

After all the gems were in place I proceeded to glue them on with super glue. The one I used here is a new purchase that I'm very excited about. It's called Ultimate Glue by Crafter's Pick and it's a non-toxic, water-soluble superglue. 

Remember to use gloves and work in a ventilated area when you are using stronger glues. 

Once all the gems were glued I proceeded to sew them on (this really in an optional step, if you use enough glue if should hold them well-enough).

It did take a while to sew this (1hr). Just as well I recorded The Voice the other night! Go Celia, Jackie and Harrison!

I actually only had enough gems to do a bit less that half of it - but I don't think it really needs more and sits better by being quite minimal.

This amazing necklace is what  first inspired me to make the scarf. I bought it from Portmans earlier in the year. I originally got the gems with the plan of making a similar necklace. I'm still going to try to make something like this but I thought a scarf is more appropriate for this time of year (Autumn for me). 

Is Linen here? Maybe I should have worn this instead?

Join us this week at the linkup at either Heidi or Maissa's blog. There is still time! And the best colour is yet to come!

Also linking up with

What's That You're Wearing There? | Refashion of the Week - Star Necklace and Disco Buttons

I got this super cute star necklace at Big W this week. I love the charms! I'm finding it a little bit too busy for me though. Time for a refashion!

I removed the charms and created a new bracelet and some earrings for myself. I got to say, I think these will be one of my new favourite pairs of earrings! The chain for the bracelet is one I had before. I also added an extra star charm I had lying about. I wrote a similar DIY/Refashion about this a few weeks back too if you'd like to learn more about how I did this.  Now I'll have to think up a way to use these lovely necklace chains! Too easy!

Here are some disco buttons I bought earlier in the week. Another refashion?

What's That You're Wearing There | Refashion of the Week - From Jewellery to Shoe Clips

REFASHION OF THE WEEK

Up until a couple of months ago I had never heard of shoe clips before. If you haven't either they are basically jewellery for your shoes. I had never seen them in shops and could only find a limited, expensive range of them online. Shoe clip findings were easy to find though! I got these off ebay for a couple of dollars (the packet came with 20). 

They had a really great sale on at the jewellery store this week so I bought an assortment of things I could make some shoe clips with - let's begin refashioning!

For my shoe clip refashion I chose some studs and a few different rings to work with. First I removed the posts from the studs by cutting them back with jewellery pliers. The remaining bit just pulled off easily - I'm sure you could sand it back too if it doesn't.

I decided to spray paint the grey of the gem flowers but keep the crystals white. By pulling back on the metal encasing, the crystals came out easily. I only needed to use a finger nail for this but normally I'd use jewellery pliers. 

I removed the rings with some heavy duty pliers.They came off pretty easily too. One did break but I can glue that back later.

Black spray paint is what I chose to refashion the jewels. I did two coats on top and one underneath. I left these to dry for most of the day. I think the spray paint should stay on well - if not a coat of clear nail polish I'm sure would do the trick.

Before attaching the clips I put the white gems back into the flowers. They look so much better now!

I've never made shoe clips before but I've read that it helps to attach felt between the jewellery and finding. I just used a glue gun for this and it seems to have stuck really well. I didn't position the clips too well though! The black and white flower clipped best so I'd say copy the position of that one.

Here they are, my shoes all glamed up with some lovely, new shoe clips! These turned out so much better than I'd expected!

Here as you'd hoped - THE PHOTOSHOOT

Tops - long sleeve Big W, garbage bag Pantry

Pants - Jeans West (Discontinued Style)

Earrings - Hey I made these ones! (exact)

Sunglasses - Target

Gum Boots - Mum's

Gloves - Coles

Mask - Shiploads

What's That You're Wearing There? | Refashion of the Week - Yellow Earrings

REFASHION OF THE WEEK

Here are a pair of neon yellow earrings I bought earlier in the week! I absolutely love the colour. The design is nice - but I'm thinking I might like them more after a bit of a change up. Here, I'll get refashioning.

First I broke the earrings apart using jewellery pliers. The rectangle bits are my favourite so I'll choose them to make a simple drop earring. As there are two loops on these pieces, I'll need to cut one off. Breaking metal on fashion jewellery is way too easy - a simple pinch with jewellery pliers is all you'll need here. All I do to finish is add a couple of sterling silver hooks. Too easy! Oh I like these so much more now!

For information about using jewellery pliers and attaching hooks see my previous post.

If you'd like to change the colour of the gem or metal backing all you need to do is pull back the metal bits of the frame with some pliers (or even your nails can be ok). Be careful with the metal as it isn't overly strong. Spray paint or nail polish are both good for colouring - the under colour of this gem is white anyway!

Here's another quick refashion I did this week. 

I bought these lovely earrings from Diva. They are huge! They are heavy too - much heavier than is normally comfortable for me to wear. No problem! I changed the hooks to my sterling silver clip-ons and now they are as comfortable as any other of my earrings. See my previous post about quality clip-on findings if you're curious. They should be better than most clip-ons you've used before.

Here, by no demand at all - The ANIMATED GIF

How to: Convert Lever Backs to Sterling Silver

Here's another post about how to convert cheap fashion earrings to better quality metals. Sterling silver, gold or surgical steel hooks are all easily available for this.

This method is a bit longer than my last few ones as you need to adjust the direction of the hook's loop so that the earring will face the right way. Here it goes.

You'll need: Cheap lever backs, quality metal hooks, jewellery pliers, about 5minutes.
For more information about types of hooks and use of jewellery pliers see this previous post.

1. The curved part of metal at the top of the lever back is what we'll use to create a loop for the hook.

2. Open the lever back.

3. Cut off the hinge part with jewellery pliers. This can leave a bit of a sharp piece of metal so you might want to sand it back.

4. Lever back without the hinge.

5. Cut wire in half, leaving about 1cm of metal to bend at top.

6. Lever back ready to bend.

7. Grab the end of the metal with the jewellery pliers.

8. Begin creating a loop by gently curling metal back. Be slow and gentle - the metal wire in cheaper earrings is generally weaker than most craft jewellery wire. Some metals can be quite firm and require a bit of strength to bend.

9. Leave a small gap in loop for attaching hook.

10. Grab a couple of hooks. The loops will need to be opened and straightened out.

11. Hooks with straightened loops. Simply use pliers to do this - you can get specific pliers to straighten metal (nylon jaw pliers), but basic jewellery pliers will work just fine here.

12. Form a loop in the opposite direction and close. 

13. Insert hooks onto former lever backs. 

14. Close loop.

Here we are!

Would love to hear your thoughts and experience :)

How to: Pendant Charm Earrings

This is such a fun way to make earrings. Pendant Charm Necklaces tend to have really unique and lovely pieces on them. The next time you come across one you like, or one on sale, buy two! and end up with lots of one-of-a-kind earrings!

You will need: 2 identical (or not) pendant charm necklaces, lots of earring hooks, preferably 2 pairs of jewellery pliers (but can work out just fine with 1 pair)
For more information regarding jewellery hooks and pliers see my previous post.

Click image to enlarge

1. Using jewellery pliers open headpin loops
2. Remove charms, leave loops open
3. Using a second pair of jewellery pliers, open any of the jump/split rings. Jump rings are easier to open using two pairs of pliers. If you only have one pair you can press the rings back into the charms and they should open fine - or just cut them open!
4. Remove all remaining charms.
Add hooks and it's good to go!

For more information about attaching hooks see my previous post.

I bought these necklaces from Kmart for $9 each. Including the cost of hooks, that's 12 pairs of earrings for around $20!

As the charms aren't designed to be worn as earrings, some of them may be facing the wrong way for the hook or be too thick to fit through it. You can work around this by manipulating the size or direction of the hook's loop. Simply straighten out the wire at the end up the hook using the jewellery pliers. It doesn't have to be perfectly straight to look ok. There are specific pliers you can get for straightening metal called nylon jaw pliers. I don't have a pair myself. To change the direction of the loop, simply grab metal at the end and bend to one side. To make a larger loop you need to remove any of the beads or coils from the base of the hook and curl the wire back to form the desired size. If the top of the charm is still too large you can always insert a jump ring before attaching the hook.

A few more ideas:

Combining 2 or more of the charms - or combine with other beads.

Selecting some of the charms to create your own unique necklace design.

Make a bracelet using some of the charms. I made this by linking black beads on head pins then attaching the charm with a jump ring. See this post to learn more about looping beads.

So many possibilities here!

Solutions for large and heavy earring discomfort.

I love larger earrings but their weight can hurt my ears. Occasionally catching them in things also scares me that I might loose an earlobe. For quite some time I avoided them altogether until recently I discovered a good solution to the issue.

These are sterling silver clip-on findings. They are really good quality and much gentler than the majority of other clip-ons. They have a firm, solid grip but don't hurt my ears or make them look red while I'm wearing them. I wear them to work for periods over 7 hours and forget I have them on! When I take them off I will have a slightly pink dent where the clip-on has been which usually lasts about half an hour - sometimes a bit of a weird feeling too as my earlobe returns to shape. I'm in Australia and I purchased them from Over The Rainbow online for $20 (these are the ones pictured). Here is the exact page. I only need one pair to share between all my earrings as it's so simple to change them (for information about how to change earring findings over see my previous post) I have also seen them at Fire Mountain Gems and Beads which is a US site. Remember silver plated is not the same quality as sterling silver though.

I am yet to discover a pair of good quality gold clip-ons. I imagine they are out there, probably fairly pricey but would definitely be worth a shot. You can always try painting the outside of the silver with gold/brass nail polish - this has worked well for me.

It's also easy to find basic clip-on earring findings in all colours at craft stores and online jewellery sites. These will be much cheaper but my experience with these has been a little more painful. There are pads available that can soften a clip-on's pinch. The Earring Doctor is a great online resource for all sorts of things that can aid earring issues. I don't think you can purchase sterling silver clip-ons there though. For solely weight issues they sell small pads that you stick to the back of your earlobes to distribute the weight more evenly. These are probably great - I think a simple band-aid could achieve a similar result if you're up for experimenting - but I say "Use clip-ons! Please don't hurt your earlobes!"

Love wearing your big earrings!

PS: Earrings in photo are some I made - and they aren't actually heavy! I wear them with the clip-ons due to their size. I made them using plastic white beads and a simple chandelier finding I got at Spotlight. I'll write a blog about how to make similar earrings in coming weeks.

Converting Cheap Studs to Sterling Silver - The Hook Method

Here is one method of converting cheap studs to better quality metals. This method is really simple but only works well for spherical or cube studs.

You will need: Cheap studs, quality earring hooks, jewellery pliers, about 2 minutes (for information about jewellery hooks and pliers see my previous post on basic techniques for changing hooks around.)

1. The idea is to bend the metal from stud to create a loop for the hook.

2. Bend the metal back to a 90 degree angle or so.

3. Trim post if necessary. Grab the end of the metal with the jewellery pliers.

4. Gently work the metal around the pliers to begin forming a loop.

5. Keep moving the metal around - be gentle as some cheaper metals can be a little weak.

6. Leave a small space in loop for attaching hook.

7. Slide on hook.

8. Close the loop.

Your done.

Would love to hear from you. Leave your comments or ideas below, send in examples of your own conversions too - would be happy to feature them here.

How to Change Earring Hooks to Sterling Silver

I love cheap earrings but they irritate my ears. Replacing earring hooks with sterling silver, gold or surgical steel hooks is super easy. If your choice of earrings has been limited because of metal allergies this technique really opens up the possibilities. Its not only dead simple but super cheap too.

You will need : cheap, irritating earrings, quality earring hooks, jewellery pliers, less than a minute.

Click image to enlarge

1. Open loop. Grab end of hook with pliers. 

2. Pull outwards (I've seen people also bend it sideways)

3. Separate pieces. Discard horrible earring hook.

4. Get silver hook and open like previous hook.

5. Join pieces.

6. Gently close the loop. Make sure it closes completely so earring doesn't fall off.

7. Love them. 

If you want to see this technique being done there are some videos on Youtube too.

You could use strong tweezers, even fingernails (don’t). Jewellery pliers cost about $10 from a craft store. I like using a 4-in-1 set of pliers as I find it gives me more control, but round-nose, chain nose, and flat nose pliers would all be fine.

Buying hooks is easy. You can usually get them in bulk. Online jewellery stores are a great place to get them. There are some links for jewellery finding suppliers in my links tab. Ebay can be good too. I would be careful buying them from China – the prices are amazing but you may not necessarily be buying the real thing. There are warnings on ebay about this. 

I’m in Australia and I buy them from the Beading Store on ebay (http://stores.ebay.com.au/BeadingStore). I’ve had great experience from them. Also polyermerclay.com.au is a really great store too. Sterling silver hooks usually work out to be about $2 a pair. Gold filled or gold plated sterling silver are about $3 a pair. Surgical steel is about 30cents a pair. There is also niobium which is another completely hypoallergenic metal for about $1.50 a pair. Niobium comes in lots of fun colours. Basic earring hooks stated as silver or gold plated with no further information are not the real thing and will be irritating to a lot of people. I like to buy in bulk – a pair for each of my earrings. It is so easy and quick to change hooks though that you really don’t need that many. Buying kidney hooks, which slide off can make it even faster to change.

These sites also sell clip on earring findings which you can attach using the same technique. I’ve bought good quality sterling silver clip-ons to use for my heavier earrings and they’ve been great.

Another way of dealing with earring sensitivity is to use a hypoallergenic metal coating. It will look like a clear nail polish and is painted onto an irritating metal to form a barrier  to your skin. I have never seen these in shops but you can get them online. Try the Earring Doctor. Apparently clear nail polish can work fairly well too.

If anyone has any thoughts or experience with this would be great to hear from you.