Painted wood bead statement necklace

 

 

This craft is super easy and a wonderful outfit accessory. I just love statement necklaces! The only downside is when those necklaces are heavy and can weigh on your neck after awhile but this one is not heavy at all. I had seen a few of these on pinterest and decided to make my own. You can finish it in 30 minutes tops unless you spend forever deciding on what colors to use like I did :)

 

 

 

Painted Striped Wooden Bead Statement Necklace

 

Materials:

- 10 wooden 1 inch beads with the holes drilled through them (found at Michael's in package of 18 and other craft stores)

- 20lb off-white hemp cording (also found at Michael's in the jewelry section)

- craft paint

- painters tape

 

 

Wrap half of each bead in the painter's tape. You have to guide it some to keep it pretty straight on the round bead but it doesn't have to be perfect.

 

Paint the other half in your chosen colors. I stuck with 3 colors but you could use more or less. I used coral, royal blue and yellow. This is a very customizable craft!

 

Wait until the paint is dry and peel off the tape. (I thought it would be like painting a wall where you pull off the tape as soon as you can before the paint dries to get a clean line but that actually made a messier line than waiting for it to dry completely)



 

String on your beads and cut the cord to the desired length. I always like to tie mine and try it on before cutting so I can make an adjustments. I made mine about 25 inches long (plus several inches for the knot part) and it is easy to slip on over my head. Too much smaller and that might have been harder to do.

You could easily make this with smaller wooden beads too especially for kids and if you go with 3/4 inch beads there are 27 in a package instead of 18. The cording comes with enough to make at least 3 necklaces so make one with a friend or for a friend!


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Linking up at some of these fun parties

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, Ladybug Blessings, Try it Tuesday, A Little Birdie Told Me (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, Wassup Wednesday, POWW (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, Frugalicious Friday, FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, FFA Friday, Weekend Wander, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Lamb Around (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop, It's So Very Cheri

Vintage Warehouse

Even prior to our trip down to FL for Christmas, my mom and I were plotting a visit to Vintage Warehouse.

It's a big bare bones warehouse in Lakeland filled with vintage looking furnitures, decor, wall accents, accessories, etc. We absolutely love looking at this kind of stuff.

The seller's have "booths" outlined by blue painters tape on the floor to show where one booth stops and another starts. Some of the sellers were roaming around and will negotiate on an item. We found most things to be very reasonably priced.

I love these old windows as wall decor or over a bed.

Old balance gone funky with some paint and metal bull horns.

Lots of vintage tools and household type items.

Variety of chandelliers.

Most of the furniture was painted. I love the look of mixing wood stained furniture pieces with a few painted furniture pieces in a home to provide interest... too many wood stained pieces make a room feel heavy to me. This painted gray hutch was fabulous! Love the wire for the top cabinet doors.

Vinage jewelry displayed on a two-tier side table.

Some super fun mirrors!

If we were already moved into our new home and I had thought about the design and layout, I GUARANTEE you I would have bought some furniture and wall decor! But since that hasn't happened yet I did not but don't fret... I still came away with 3 awesome items!

This gray bowl was calling my name. I loved the size and shape and how the paint was crackled. And for only $10 it only took a few minutes to decide it was coming home with me.

Let me preface this find by saying I have been wanting a white wooden tray ever since my mom found one just like this at her goodwill for $8. She uses it on her dining table with the dollar store candle holders on it and various other display options. She spotted this in one of the booths and we were in awe... the tray! Finally! And exactly like hers only slightly bigger! only $12 (negotiated down from $14)! Score!

Last but not least I got this lovely turquoise pendant for $6 that I will need to get a chain for. Can't wait to wear this!

My mom picked up this toolbox really cheap.

So if you are ever near Lakeland, this is a great place to visit! They have a facebook page (just search Vintage Warehouse Lakeland) with their address etc.

100 Followers Giveaway!

I have reached 100 FOLLOWERS! Holy Cow!!

That means it is time for my very first.....

Giveaway!

I am so happy to have reached this blog milestone! Wow, just wow! I love blog world and all the fun things it has opened my eyes to. My blog is such a creative outlet and I feel very blessed that I have things to share (that people actually like to read haha). I heart all of my followers and future followers!

I know you are thinking "get on with it! tell us what the giveaway is!"

The winner of the giveaway will receive this homemade pair of double chain drop earrings made by me of course :)  They have blue crystals and pearls. Aren't they pretty? Great to dress up for work or going out or add a bit of pop to casual outfits!

To Enter:
1. You must first be a follower of LaForce Be With You.  Do that by clicking the Follow button on the right sidebar and you can sign up with your google, yahoo, blogger, etc. account to follow publicly.
2. Then just leave a comment below - one entry per person please :)


The winner will be randomly chosen on Feb 16th (no entries after 10pm EST on the 16th please)
My immediate family members are not eligible to win - sorry yall!

Well that is it. Simple right?! Go enter and spread the word around to win some fabulous earrings :) WOOHOO!

Fabric Rosette Necklace

I decided that for our Clemson Reunion in October I needed a really fun accessory without breaking the bank. I have seen these rolled rosettes all over the place. In fact they are also in the Burlap Wreath. So I made a rosette necklace :) I have also seen some that have a bunch more rosettes/embellishments called bib necklaces.

Soooo... here is what I did. I found some cute orange polka dot fabric at Hob Lob and used a coupon. I just love polka dots... I mean what girl doesn't. I also grabbed some Liquid Stitch and felt and I already had some beads and ribbon.

First you make however many rosettes you want on your necklace. Honestly there are a million tutorial in blogland on this so you could just google it. I cut my fabric strips around 1 1/2 inches going parallel to where they cut the fabric. Then I folded my strip in half the "hotdog" way and glued with Liquid stitch so no fabric underside was showing.

Anchor one end with something (like an old check box) and twist the other end of the fabric until it is as twisted as you want. Then start rolling at that end while gluing with dabs of liquid stitch along the way. I have seen people use a hot glue gun too but I think this was better and spares burned fingers. Just keep gluing and rolling until your rosette is the desired size.  I did 1 larger and 2 slightly smaller ones.

I glued them with a glue gun onto felt exactly how I wanted them placed for the necklace. Then I trimmed the felt. Afterwards, I realized it would have been easier to cut the felt and then glue since I did not have the best pair of scissors and trimming took awhile.

Next attach whatever ribbon you want with a glue gun. I added knots at each end and a matching bead for a little pizazz!

Glue an identical piece of felt over your ribbon to hide it and for sturdiness. That completes the rosette necklace!!

Here is what it looks like on. I am also wearing it in a bunch of pictures in the Clemson Reunion post. LOVE IT LOVE IT! I cannot tell you how many people complimented this necklace! I paired it with simple orange 1 bead earrings I made. It was the perfect accessory and of course Clemson colors :)

*This tutorial is for personal use only please.

Linking up to these parties:

(M) Motivate Me Monday, Making the World Cuter Mondays, Making Monday Marvelous, Just Something I Whipped Up, The DIY Showoff, Mad Skills, (T) Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Tip Me Tuesday, (W) Whatever Goes Wednesday, Spotlight Yourself @ It's So Very Cheri, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, We Did It Wednesday, (Th) Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple, Get Your Craft On  Thursday, (F) Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge, (S) Weekend Wrap Up Party, Weekend Wander, (Su) Sunday Showcase Party, Sundae Scoop

Beaded Teardrop Earrings

I have only recently gotten into different types of crafty projects. Originally I was all about making jewelry - mainly earrings but I've done necklaces too. My mom and I took a 1 hour class one summer while I was in college on how to make simple dangle earrings (basically how to do a wrap) and after that we just learned by trial and error to make all sorts of different earrings and share ideas on stuff we tried. I am going to start highlighting some of the jewelry I have made on my blog :)

This is one of my favorite new earring types I have made - beaded teardrops!

Here is what you need:
-beads - I use seed beads from walmart/michaels that come in a big pack
-beading wire - I use Beadalon .018"
-2 crimp beads
-2 metal teardrop things with holes in the bottom (pkg says cable thimble sleeves)
-2 earring hooks
-crimper tool
-flat nose jewelry tool
-jewelry wire cutters

Count out as many beads as you want for each of your teardrops and string them onto the wire. You can try out different amounts and bend the wire to see what it would look like. Cut the wire leaving space at both ends. Hold the 2 ends together so it looks like the teardrop shape and feed the 2 ends into the same end of the crimp bead. Take your little metal teardrop and feed only one of the wire ends up through the metal teardrop and back down into the crimp bead.

Feeding the wire up one side of the cable thimble - next you go back down the other hole and into crimp bead

At this point you really have 3 metal wires in the crimp bead. Pull the wire tight so you have a very small loop -this part can be a bit tricky (one end will be sticking out of the top of the crimp bead and the other end will be sticking out of the bottom). Use your crimp tool to clamp down tightly on the crimp bead until it is crimped. Trim the 2 ends of wire as close as you can with wire cutters.

Attach an earring hook by opening the loop at the bottom of the hook with the flat nose pliers and hooking the metal teardrop onto the now open loop. Now close the loop back with the pliers. TA-DA! Wonderful teardrop earrings. Actually you have to repeat these steps so you get 2 earrings :)

I made mine orange for Clemson games of course! These make great gifts as well especially since you can personalize them in whatever colors and size you desire.

Linking up here:
Making the World Cuter Mondays, The DIY Showoff, Today's Creative Blog, All Thingz Related, Spotlight Yourself @ It's So Very Cheri, Creations by Kara, Blue Cricket Design, Hooking up w/HoH, Somewhat Simple,  Remodelaholics Anonymous, JAG Show and Share Day, Frugalicious Friday,  FrouFrouDecor, Fingerprints on the Fridge,  Weekend Wrap Up Party, Sunday Showcase Party