Aug 5, 2009 | DIY
Love the necklace. Yes, love. And $45 isn’t really that bad a price. It supports an up-and-coming designer, fosters cottage industry, stimulates the economy, yada yada yada. But, I just happened to have a whole bunch of wooden beads laying around…and some ribbon…and a little paint… So, you guessed it, I DIY’d my own. Sorry Adia! Here’s how…
You will need:
-27 beads in small, medium, and large sizes (I used wood because that’s what I had, and I painted them white, oyster, marigold yellow, and charcoal gray, and then sealed them with gloss Mod-Podge…though in retrospect, spray-painting would have been easier and made the color more uniform)
-2 yd double-face matte ribbon (I had single-faced, and that means that the underside of the necklace is more obvious than if the 2 sides were the same. I also used shiny satin, which I like; the designer version uses matte.)
-thread, same color as your ribbon (I used black and it’s a little obvious)
-fabric glue
-needle
How To:
Start by triple-knotting a double-length of thread onto your needle. Push needle into center of ribbon about 8″ from one end. String on a small bead on the UNDERSIDE of your ribbon. This will create a little hump underneath the ribbon. Push needle into center of ribbon just beyond that bead, and bring to front.
Thread next bead on, and so and so forth, alternating beads. You can also go in and out with the needle a few times to anchor your beginning bead strongly at the the top of the necklace.
Once you’ve added all the beads on, alternating sizes, anchor your last bead in, and knot and cut your thread. Then apply fabric glue to about 1/2″ of the front of the ribbon, right at that thread knot at both the beginning and the end of your threaded beads. Fold ribbon over (we’re trying to disguise that thread, just to explain), press, and allow to set. I also hand-stitched under that fold to make sure it was secure, on both sides.
Cut the ends of your ribbon to the length you want, glue together and then fold over to disguise the ends in a similar manner. Hand-stitch again, to secure.
I really love the design of this – it’s elegant and simple. (Hub says it looks like I’m getting married in Hawaii at a traditional-style wedding….They place a similarly-threaded kukui nut-and-ribbon necklace on the groom instead of a flower lei in some situations. Well, I’m not getting married in Hawaii…we got married in Hawaii!! 5 years ago! Hello??!!…and Hub was not adorned with said kukui nut necklace. Well, now I’ve made him one, apparently – we can have a do-over.)
Happy DIY’ing!
xoxox
Carly
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Aug 3, 2009 | Life
Just to let all of my lovely readers know, I’m going on vacation to Japan for the next 3 and a half weeks. I’ll be in Tokyo most of the time, and hopefully I’ll be able to post some shopping/cool stuff updates while I’m gone. I probably won’t be able to respond to many comments, but I am checking and keeping this site updated. I’m so thrilled…one of my favorite things to do is to shop and check out new brands and stores, and Tokyo is probably the best place in the world to do that! Can’t wait to let all of you in on the fabulosity that is there!:-)
I hope all of you enjoy the rest of your summers!
-Carly
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Aug 3, 2009 | Score!
The entry period for the ChickDowntown & Chic Steals Wildfox Couture I Dream of Ice Cream T-Shirt is now closed. With 53 entries (but only 46 that correctly followed the entry instructions), this giveaway resulted in more than a few disqualified entries! So sorry to all who entered incorrectly…but reading the entry method instructions is a must! A big THANK YOU! to all of our entrants…so now, without further ado, the winner according to Random.org is:
The winner will be contacted shortly to get shipping information.
Thank you again for entering, sending your friends, and for reading…and we’ll be hosting another giveaway in September, so stay tuned either as a Follower of Chic Steals on our RSS or our Twitter feed!
Congratulations Erica!
xoxox
Carly
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Aug 2, 2009 | Fashion
(handmade dress from Dockers men’s shirt, Ebay DIY clutch, DIY silver necklace, jelly flats, Jeans Warehouse sunglasses)Hub says my new hat makes me look like a Columbian druglord (no offense to druglords intended LOL:-). I made this dress out of an old shirt of Said Detractor…I posted the step-by-step tutorial (along with my crappy illustrations) here. The dress has hidden straps that I can wear tied as a halter, tucked down and hidden, or as regular spaghetti straps.
The clutch I bought on Ebay after I had seen a similarly shell-adorned Lulu Guinness clutch (above) at Neiman Marcus…it was on sale for $75 I think, but I didn’t buying it and ended up kicking myself for awhile…so I bought a half-moon straw clutch on Ebay (turned out a little more orange than I expected, haha) and sewed on some little conch shells and added a raffia tie to the zipper pull, as well as some raffia braid around the edge of the bag. I kind of like how it turned out, even though it is Oompa-Loompa-colored!! LOL.
The necklace I’m wearing is my DIY version of the
Elsa Peretti Tiffany Bean Necklace…I couldn’t justify spending the $95 for the real one (I am such a cheapskate!!) so I formed one out of Art Clay Silver and fired it. (If you haven’t heard of
Art Clay Silver, it’s the precursor to Precious Metal Clay that’s available more widely in the U.S…you can mold it like clay but then when you fire it over a gas burner or with a little creme brulee kitchen torch (or in a mini-kiln…sure we all have one of those, don’t we???) the paper binder and water is burned off and you’re left with 99.7% pure silver. So you can make pendants, silver components for jewelry, rings, and even small sculptures. It’s really easy to work with and the results are beautiful. Gordon K. Uyehara is an Art Clay Silver artist I adore (happens to be from Hawaii); his work is spectacular – you can view it
at this link if you’re interested. If you guys are interested in the DIY tutorial for ACS stuff, I’ll definitely put it up, just let me know!
And remember jelly flats? I has a pair of them when I was 7 that I wore for 3 months straight until they literally fell to pieces. Well they’ve come back in style again, and some brands are offering styles for adults…so I opted for this spiderwebby-looking pair (that was $7 from my local Fred Meyer – shhh! Don’t tell anyone:-) They’re the spitting image of the
Melissa Compana Corallo Jelly Ballet Flats (sold at Saks 5th for $60 hahaha)…and they’re so cheap they don’t even have a brand imprinted on their soles. Love at first sight!
xoxox
Carly J. Cais
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