DIY: Medallion Brooch!

A lot of you really seemed to like the dapper frog brooch that I wore in this OOTD. Some of you also left comments saying that you wanted to see a tutorial. Here it is! The process of figuring out how to make these brooches was harder than it should have been. Mama CP would have been horrified by some of the words that were flying out of my mouth over the course of my first attempt. The dapper frog brooch was sewn, but for the purposes of this tutorial I decided to use fabric glue instead. I figured it might be easier for those of you who don't have access to, or dislike working with sewing machines and/or needles and thread! 

Step One: Assemble Supplies

For this project, you will need:

• Fabric glue
• Ribbon (the thickness of the ribbon is really up to you!)
• Decorative element (you can use anything from pendants to charms to recycled earrings. I chose to use a vintage pin. I simply used a wire cutter to remove the pin back, and filed down the sharp edges.)
• Scissors
• Flat-nosed pliers
• Jump ring
• Pin back
• Awl
• Iron

Step Two: Cut the ribbon!

I don't have any photographs of this step. I just cut length of ribbon that I thought would complement the decorative element. 

Step Three: Iron the ribbon!

Part 1: Fold both ends of the ribbon over a bit, and iron them flat. Fold them over one more time, and iron them again. This will prevent any pesky strings from showing when you're wearing your new brooch. (Image 1)

Part 2: Fold the ribbon in half, bringing the ironed ends together to form a small rectangle. Iron again so that you have a nice, crisp crease. (Image 2)

Part 3: Glue the edges together!

Again, I don't have photos of this part. Because I tend towards the air-headed end of the spectrum, I got preoccupied and forgot to take pictures. Using your fabric glue, glue the two edges of the ribbon together. The glue that I used needs 24 hours to completely set. I left it alone for about 10 minutes before I finished up the rest of the project, and didn't have any problems, though. Just don't wear it until it's had the full 24 hours to set.

Part 4: Fold (for lack of a better term)!

This part is a bit tricky to explain. For this step, you're going to be working with the folded edge of the ribbon -- so not the edges you just glued together. Working one corner at a time, fold the corners in towards the center of the ribbon, and iron them into place once you've achieved the look and shape you're going for. There's really no trick to this... it just requires trial and error, and patience. If you iron both the corners and find that they are uneven, you can always iron the ribbon flat again. This took me a few tries on my first attempt, but I've vaguely gotten the hang out it now. You just kind of have to work with the ribbon, and again, be patient. =) You'll get it!

Part Five: Punch a hole, add a jump ring, and attach your decorative element! 

Part One: Use an awl to punch a hole through the folds of the ribbon. You can see in the top photo precisely where to place your awl. Gently rotate the awl until you have punched appropriately sized holes on both sides of the ribbon. Be gentle with the awl. It's sharp enough that it will do the work for you.

Part Two: Thread the smallest jump ring that will fit through the holes. You can find a more detailed explanation of how to open and close jump rings here. Since you're probably going to be using a fairly small jump ring it will be a tight fit, but that's okay. Just gently work it through the holes you punched with the awl.

Part Three: Using another small jump ring, attach your decorative element to the jump ring you just threaded through the ribbon.

Part Six: Glue on the pin back!

Place two small dots of fabric glue where you'd like you're pin back to go. You're going to want it fairly close to the top of the ribbon. Place your pin back on the glue, and press gently. Again, it will take 24 hours for the glue to cure, so you can't quite wear it yet. What you can do, however, is...

Marvel at your beautiful new bauble!

I think it's important to let the people -- and, sometimes, favored inanimate objects -- know how much you love them, and how special they are. I spent a bit of time telling my new brooch how pretty she is. It turns out that her name is Gladys, she likes kittens, cotton candy, and rainbows, and she loves nothing more than adorning cardigans. I think she and I are a match made in Heaven.

I would love to see photos if you decide to give this project a try! As usual, let me know if anything is unclear. I'd be more than happy to clarify!

Cherries and Lace

There was a squirrel right outside the window eating an acorn. Awwww!

Dress: Forever 21+ (not available online)

Cardigan: August Silk (via Nordstrom Rack)

Tights: Hue (via Macy's)

Shoes: Thrifted

Headband: Target

Necklace: Forever 21

Brooches: All thrifted

By and large, Mr. CP and I are fortunate to have the landlord we have. True, he's impossible to get hold of on the phone. And true, whenever he stops by he likes to talk... and talk... and talk some more. And also true, he's not nearly as handy as he thinks he is. On the flip side, though, he isn't overbearing, he's always polite, and he gets the really important things taken care of quickly and efficiently. So it wasn't at all unusual that when a pipe burst in our bathroom recently, he had a plumber out the next morning at 8 AM, and we had running water again by 9 AM. Our landlord felt so guilty for the inconvenience it caused us, however, that he stopped by a few days later and presented us with a very generous gift card to a local fancy pants restaurant. Mr. CP and I decided to go for lunch rather than dinner, because a) we figured we would be able to enjoy the view more, and b) we just kind of felt like going out for lunch. It was a stunning restaurant -- complete with an indoor waterfall, a bridge, and a running stream -- with a spectacular view of Puget Sound, and an adjacent boat/yacht marina. The food was delicious, too, particularly the trio of miniature creme brulees I ordered for dessert.

After lunch, Mr. CP joined me on a quick trip to Goodwill where I recently saw a pin that I loved, but inexplicably didn't buy. Let me just say that we felt ridiculously over-dressed. Ridiculously. It was hilarious. People kept looking at us like we were complete nut-jobs for getting all gussied up for an expedition to Goodwill. I caught myself smothering giggles a few times at the looks we were getting. Oh, and sadly the brooch was long gone. Farewell, sweet brooch. Farewell.

Speaking of brooches, I couldn't decide which one I wanted to wear today, so I pinned on my top three choices. I was initially torn between the bug brooch pictured above, and a bull brooch that I got as a tongue-in-cheek reminder to myself to grab the bull by the horns. True story. I'm hokey that way. I actually really enjoyed wearing multiple brooches today, so I think I'm going to do this sort of "brooch collage," as Mr. CP dubbed it, more often.

DIY: Sweater Clips

Apparently I was in something of a DIY mood this weekend! I absolutely love the sweater clips on Etsy, but I figured that a quick trip to a few local thrift stores, and a dig through my dresser (that's right, dresser) full of crafty stuff would yield the pieces required to put together a few sweater clips. I managed to find a pair of clip on earrings in the dresser, but picked up all the rest in one go. I had forgotten that because yesterday was Labor Day, all the second hand shops were having store-wide 50% off sales, so everything was half price! Hoorah!

I know from looking around the internet that there are already a variety of sweater clip tutorials floating around. I wanted to do something ever-so-slightly different. Below, I've shown you how I put together different sorts of vintage items to create sweater clips. It's really just a matter of figuring out where you can attach the chain, as you'll see. The fact of the matter is, with a little creativity, you can turn just about anything into a sweater clip. It simply depends upon the lengths you're willing to go to make something "clippable." I decided that I didn't want to have to glue pin-backs or clips onto anything, so I restricted myself to clip-on earrings, and pins/brooches. 

Warning: Picture heavy post! I may also have gotten carried away with the Photoshop arrows... ::shifty eyes:: In my defense -- and it's a weak defense -- the black arrows seemed so unnecessarily ordinary that I randomly started choosing other colors. It's only now, looking at the pictures, that I realize black arrows were the way to go. The other colors I chose just don't pop. But ya live and ya learn, right? At any rate, read on!

Step One: Assemble Supplies

I labeled the tools I used in the photo below, but you really don't need any specialized tools for this. I just happened to have these lying around from years of jewelry-making. Any pair of pliers and wire cutter will do, so break out that toolbox if you need to! If you find that you want and/or need to pick up some tools like mine, check out your local craft store or Walmart. They're bound to have what you're looking for.

All this chain... yeah... this is a prime example of all the random craft-related stuff I've acquired over the years. Friends, family, and occasionally perfect strangers like to foist random crafty stuff my way, so I had all sorts of new and vintage and store-bought chain to work with. If you're not a horrid pack-rat like me, though, just head to your local Michael's, Joanne Fabrics, bead store, Walmart, etc. You can pick chain up really cheaply, and you're not going to be using much of it, so one package will be more than enough to work with.

Also, Mr. CP pointed out that this photo is really blurry. Sorry. Um, the cat made me do it.

You're also going to need some open jump rings. You can see in the photo below that the ring has been sawed open. This is how you're going to attach the chain to the earrings/pins/whatever you've chosen for your clips. You should be able to find these wherever you pick up your chain. If not, you can certainly pick them up online.

The best parts of the project: the clip-on earrings and pins/brooches! I thought the pirates were hilarious. I'm not really a fan of pirates in the way some people are (i.e. speaking in "arrrrs" and "mateys," stumbling around on a fake peg-leg, and/or wearing an eye patch) but I do have a deep and abiding appreciation for the random and the, shall we say, off-beat... as you can probably tell from the pieces I chose.

 
Step Two, Take One: Assemble!

I decided to make the pirate sweater clip first. It's far and away the easiest of them all. Also, is it just me, or do these pirates look kind of... Christmas-y?

You can see from the photo below that these pirates are just your basic, run-of-the-mill pins.

I used my wire clippers to cut the chain to the desired length -- I went with just over 5 inches -- and slipped the chain onto the pin. The chain isn't fastened to the pirates per se, but it's still secure, particularly when you're wearing it. 

Step Two, Take Two: Assemble... again!

Next up, the crabs! (Whoa! Flashing back to my middle school Health class!)

You're going to take two jump rings, and twist them open so they look like the picture below. Do not try to pull the jump ring apart in opposite directions. Not only will it be considerably more difficult to open the ring this way, it will also bend it in all sorts of unsightly and unfortunate ways. To open the ring properly, grasp either side of the ring with the pliers so that the split part is in the center. At the same time you're moving one hand away from you, move the other hand toward you. Once you've done this, you should have a ring that looks like the one below! To close the ring back up, just do the same thing again.

Note: I used a gold jump ring as an example in the photo below simply because it popped more against the grey background. I did, however, use silver jump rings for the crabs.

As I mentioned above, part of the trick is figuring out where to thread your jump ring and the chain. I had initially planned on putting the jump ring somewhere on the back of the crab, but that didn't quite work. I found that looping it through the little guy's legs did the trick quite well, though. You can see in the photos below where I put the jump ring.

 
Step Two, Take Three: Assemble more

The giraffe and the rooster are up next. It perhaps goes without saying that this pairing is further evidence of my proclivity for randomness. These two guys were pretty easy to join together. I just had to find two different places on them where the ring and chain would fit.

  

Step Two, Take Four: Assemble... still.

I saved the relatively trickier one for last. Clip-on earrings, at least as far as I'm concerned, are perhaps best suited to being transformed into sweater clips. The downside to using clip-ons instead of pins, of course, is that they're more liable to pop off your cardigan. A friend of mine has a sweater clip made of clip-ons and she's never had any problems at all with the clips falling off, though, so I highly doubt I (or you, if you decide to make these) will have any problems.

Like all the other pieces I assembled, I had to figure out where the jump rings would fit best. I ultimately settled on feeding the ring through part of the clip-back itself. You can see in the pictures below where the rings ended up going.

 
Step Three (Finally): Bow before the majesty of your new sweater clips

At this point, you can do several things. If you're completely unlike me, you'll put your new sweater clips away until you're ready to wear them. If you're anything like me, you'll clip/pin them onto whatever you happen to be wearing -- all at once, mind you, none of this "one at a time" business -- and marvel at your beautiful new accessories in the mirror. I happened to be wearing multi-colored reindeer pajama pants and a plain old, eye-searingly bright magenta tank top, so I pinched some fabric and clipped on those earrings, slipped the pins on opposite sides of my shirt, and took a turn through the house modeling my new clips for... well, the cats. And Mr. CP.

Speaking of Mr. CP, it's a testament to how much he loves me -- or how strange I am, I haven't decided which -- that he barely registered that anything was out of the ordinary. He simply remarked upon how lovely I looked. I haven't yet decided whether he was mocking me or not.

Also, is it just me, or does the giraffe look like he's menacing the pirate? And isn't my random purple arrow pointing at the giraffe completely necessary, and appropriately used? ;)

Thanks for reading! I would love to see any clips you decide to make. Let me know if my tendency for tangential ramblings made the instructions difficult or confusing to follow. I'm always more than happy to clarify.

Etsy Loves: Brooches

It hasn't been too long since my last post, but I'm still feeling as though I've been neglecting my poor, sweet blog. I initially promised myself I would post every day, but that's proving to be a bit ambitious. Things have been crazy around here recently. I decided at the beginning of the summer that it was a wise idea to take a Political Science course for fun. I know. Brilliant idea, right? At this point, you're either a) laughing mockingly at me, b) scowling derisively at your computer screen trying to figure out why the hell I ever thought that was a good idea, c) frantically trying to navigate away from my blog for fear that my crazy is somehow technologically contagious, or d) doing some awkward combination of the three. Like you, I'm not sure why I thought it was a good idea. I mean, God/Odin/Thor/Flying Spaghetti Monster knows I've spent more than my fair share of time in a classroom setting, but this is just one of those many, many ideas that I'll file away under "It seemed like a good idea at the time." In any case, I'm in the midst of "studying" for my final exam, by which I mean I've been browsing Etsy. I composed a list of wonderful whimsies for you to admire. Behold my most recent obsession: brooches!

Literary Book Flower Brooch

Cameo Brooch

Literary Quote Brooch

Wooden Hot Air Balloon

Porcelain Kiwi Brooch

Dapper Owl Brooch

Bunny in the Bathtub Brooch

I've also ordered a few suitably ridiculous, masculine brooches for Mr. CP to wear on his pea coats, vests, cardigans, and other assorted clothing items once Fall rolls around. I may or may not have also picked up and/or ordered a couple for myself as well, though one of them is a vintage piece that I can't seem to get a decent shot of, and another is a custom order I've placed with Catrabbit that is still in the development stages. I'll be sure to post an OOTD pic with the vintage brooch soon, and another with the Catrabbit brooch just as soon as it arrives. As for Mr. CP's brooches, you can see the ones I chose below! I'm planning a special DIY surprise brooch for him at some point, too, so I may well post a tutorial for that.

Elizabeth Pawle Illustration

Alaska Laser Maid

Captain Santiago Dunbar's Steampunk Surplus