Bullet Bling

Inspiration for crafts can be found everywhere! And, the gun range is no different. On a recent trip to the shooting range with my family, I couldn't resist filling up my pocket with a few spent bullets.

I didn't want a plain bullet hanging around my neck, so I found some filigree style jewelry findings, bent one of them around the bullet, then glued it on with E6000.

My son, drilled a hole in the end and I inserted a head pin.

 I held the head pin with needle nose pliers close to the bullet, then wrapped the pin to make a loop. I cut off the excess wire with wire cutters.

 I cut the loop & jump ring off of a charm I found at Michael's, then glued it into the open end of the bullet.

I added a jump ring to the loop that I formed with the head pin.

 I found a pretty beaded chain at Michael's & threaded it through the jump ring, then closed it with another jump ring.

 Got bullets? Make jewelry!

Linking To:

Coastal Charm, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Creations By Kara,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Made In A Day, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, The Shabby Nest,  Somewhat Simple,   Live Laugh Rowe, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,   Coastal Charm, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Sugar Bee Crafts,  Nifty Thrifty Things, Cherished Bliss, Mad In Crafts, Flour Me With Love, Not Just A Housewife,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  Homework,  I Gotta Create,  Thrifty 101,  Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home,Cedar Hill Ranch, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, Hope In Every Season, The Foley Fam, Our Home Away From Home,  Remodelaholic, Flamingo Toes,  VMG206,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, French Country Cottage, The Scoop, Stone Gable, Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Our Hopeful Home, The Painted Hinge, Savvy Southern Style, Tattertots & Jello, Yesterday On Tuesday, Rachel Teodoro

Tree Of Life

Create a meaningful work of art that represents the growth of your family with this metal tree of life.Use different color beads to represent the birthstone of family members.

Supplies:

6 inch brass ring

20 gauge brass wire

Beads

Jewelry Pliers

Ruler

Cut the wire so that you are left with 36 pieces that are approximately 10 inches long. If your jewelry pliers do not have wire cutters, scissors will cut the 20 gauge wire.

Place the wire pieces together. Measure up 1 ½ inches from the bottom and begin wrapping the bundle of wire with a shorter piece of wire until you have wrapped 1 inch of the bundle. 

Wrap the 1 ½ inch pieces of wire around the ring to form the roots of the tree. Leave some of the wire unattached to represent deep roots.

For the branches, twist together 2 and 3 pieces of wire. Create bends in the wire so that the branches aren’t straight. Add beads to represent family members. Separate the wires as the branches get closer to the ring. Wrap the branches around the ring twice to secure.

Once all the branches are formed and attached, cut the excess wire at the back side of the ring. Use the pliers to flatten the wire.

Mother's Day will be here before we know it, and this project will make a beautiful and meaningful gift for any mother or grandmother. 

Linking To:

Coastal Charm,  Someday Crafts, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Creations By Kara,  Rae Gun Ramblings,  Seven Thirty Three,  The Shabby Creek Cottage, Seven Alive, Made In A Day, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, The Shabby Nest,  Somewhat Simple,   Live Laugh Rowe, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors,  Tatertots & Jello,   Blissful & Domestic, A Vision To Remember  DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Keeping It Simple, Homemaker On A Dime, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,   Coastal Charm, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Sugar Bee Crafts,  Nifty Thrifty Things, Cherished Bliss, Mad In Crafts, Flour Me With Love, Not Just A Housewife,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  Homework,  I Gotta Create,  Thrifty 101,  Domestically Speaking,  The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home,Cedar Hill Ranch, Flutter Buster, Nap Time Creations, Hope In Every Season, The Foley Fam, Our Home Away From Home,  Remodelaholic, Flamingo Toes,  VMG206,  Finding Silver Pennies, A Stroll Thru Life, Bloom Designs,French Country Cottage, The Scoop, Stone Gable, Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, DIY-Crush, Charm Bracelet Diva,

DIY Computer Jewelry

I love a good challenge!

And, Fayette Woman gave me one for January.

Fayette Woman is a local magazine that I have been writing craft articles for since November of 2012. Every month there is a theme. Sometimes it is easy to come up with a craft that fits the theme... other times, not so much!

The theme for January... Reboot.

So, I started thinking about the discarded old computers filling our attic and had my husband bring one down.

Have you ever looked inside a computer? The colors and patterns are quite beautiful. So, I decided to recycle the computer parts into a necklace.

Here are the supplies:

Computer RAM or Other Computer "Guts"

Tin Snips

Sandpaper

Metal Hole Punch

Jump Rings

Need Nose Pliers

Charms

Necklace Chain

I picked a part of the RAM that I wanted to use for my necklace and cut it using tin snips. 

I sanded the edges to make sure they were smooth.

I used a punch that is made for punching holes in metal and added a hole at the top and the bottom of the cut piece of RAM...

I placed a jump ring through each hole.

I added a beaded charm to the bottom jump ring.

I cut the chain to the desired length, added the RAM piece, then closed the chain with another jump ring.

Challenge complete!

Linking To:

  Someday Crafts, Sew Much A Do, Ginger Snap Crafts,  Creations By Kara,  Rae Gun Ramblings, Ivy & Elephants,   Seven Thirty Three,  The Shabby Creek Cottage, Seven Alive,  Bear Rabbit Bear Crafts, Made In A Day, Katherine's Corner, Redoux, Chic On a Shoestring,  Simply Sweet Home, The Shabby Nest,  Momnivore's Dilema, Somewhat Simple,   Live Laugh Rowe, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, Truly Lovely,  The Cottage Market,  Funky Junk Interiors,  Tatertots & Jello,   Blissful & Domestic, A Vision To Remember, Boogieboard Cottage,  DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac,  Under The Table and Dreaming, Keeping It Simple, Homemaker On A Dime, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House,   Coastal Charm, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Sugar Bee Crafts,  Nifty Thrifty Things, Cherished Bliss, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Mad In Crafts, Flour Me With Love, Not Just A Housewife,  Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie,  Homework, Kammy's Korner,  I Gotta Create,  Thrifty 101,  Domestically Speaking,  C.R.A.F.T., The Answer Is Chocolate, Skip To My Lou, The Thrifty Home, Adorned From Above,  Cedar Hill Ranch, Classy Clutter, Flutter Buster, Twelve O Eight, Nap Time Creations, The Shady Porch, JoJo And Eloise, Hope In Every Season, The Foley Fam,  House Of Hoff,  Our Home Away From Home, Living Well Spending Less, Remodelaholic, A Lived In Home, Flamingo Toes,  VMG206,  Finding Silver Pennies, Mad Cap Frenzy,  Gingerly Made,  Pink Heels Pink Truck,  Minnette's Maze,  Made To Be A Momma,  Start At Home,  Lil Mrs Tori,  Homecoming,  The Vintage Farmhouse,  Pink Recipe Box,  Sweet Haute,  Table For Seven,  Be Betsy,  It Happens In A Blink,  One Dog Woof, 4 You With Love, A Stroll Thru Life,  A Bright And Beautiful Life,  Crafty Goodies,  Live Love Create,  The Koenigs Create,  Bloom Designs,French Country Cottage, Daisy Cottage Designs, Orchard Girls, Elizabeth Joan Designs, The Scoop, Stone Gable, Knick Of Time, Lou Lou Girls, Karen's Up On The Hill, Friday's Furniture Fix, DIY-Crush,

Wine Cork Keychains

I have seen quite a few cork key chains on the web and decided I would make some. After all, I have NO shortage of corks.

Most of the ones I have seen just use the cork as is, but I decided to stamp my corks to add a design. 

This would make a perfectly fine key chain, but why stop there when you can add beads & charms to it?

Here are a few I made using beading wire, charms, & beads...

After I made a few, I thought of an easier way. Instead of using wire and crimp beads, why not use stretchy cord?

So, I gave it a try. It went much quicker!

To get started, you first need to stamp the cork.

I found that the easiest way is to lay the cork down and roll the stamp across it.

 Next, you will add an eye screw to each end. I screwed the eye screw in part way, then unscrewed it, and added a little super glue and screwed it all the way in. It may be fine without the glue but I'm being overly cautious.

Then you will add a split ring to one end.

Next, cut a piece of the cord approximately 8 inches long. Take the stretchy cord and fold it in half to form a loop...

Push the loop through the eye screw that does not have the split ring attached...

Take the loose ends and pull them through the loop to form a knot...

Tie a knot in each cord about a half inch or so down from the

eye screw...

Add beads and charms and tie a knot to secure them...

Use a toothpick and add super glue to all the knots.

When the super glue is dry, trim the excess cord.

 I love this cork stamped with music notes...

This cork had a cute owl on it and I had some owl charms so I didn't feel I needed to stamp the cork with a design...

If you are not a wine drinker, you can buy corks at beer and wine making supply stores. They have plain ones as well as some that have pretty designs already on them.

But, hopefully you have a friend who isn't crafty and will be happy to save their corks for you!

Linking To:

Savvy Southern Style,  Someday Crafts, Sew Much A Do, Yesterday On Tuesday, Fabric Bows & More, Ginger Snap Crafts, Beyond The Picket Fence, Primitive & Proper, Creations By Kara,  Primp, Rae Gun Ramblings, Adventures In Dinner, Ivy & Elephants, The Artsy Girl Connection,  Seven Thirty Three, Southern Lovely, Delightful Order, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Seven Alive,  Bear Rabbit Bear Crafts, Made In A Day, Katherine's Corner, Redoux, Happy Hour Projects, Joyful Stamper, Chic On a Shoestring, Miss Mustard Seed, Blissful Bucket List, Ladybird Lane, Simply Sweet Home, One Artsy Mama, The Shabby Nest, Craft Junkie Too, A Little Knick Knack, The Vintage Farmhouse, House of Hepworths, Momnivore's Dilema, Somewhat Simple,   Live Laugh Rowe, Have A Daily Cup Of Mrs Olson, Simply Designing, Truly Lovely, Create Craft Love, The Cottage Market, Country Momma Cooks, Funky Junk Interiors, Six Sisters' Stuff, Bowdabra, Addicted 2 Decorating, Tatertots & Jello, Young & Crafty, Sassy Sites, Blissful & Domestic, Nap Time Crafters, Love Notes By Lauryn, Cherished Treasures, A Vision To Remember, Craft Envy, Petite Hermine, To Sew With Love, Boogieboard Cottage, Lovely Crafty Home, DIY Showoff, Craft-O-Maniac, Etcetorize, DIY Home Sweet Home, Under The Table and Dreaming, Keeping It Simple, Homemaker On A Dime, I Should Be Mopping The Floor, The Dedicated House, Pinkapotamus, Lines Across, Coastal Charm, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Sugar Bee Crafts, Chef In Training, The Farmhouse Porch, Nifty Thrifty Things, Cherished Bliss, Natural Mothers Network, A Bowl Full Of Lemons, Me & My Boys, Mad In Crafts, Alderberry Hill, Flour Me With Love, Not Just A Housewife,  Lil' Luna, Today's Creative Blog, Tip Junkie, The Trendy Treehouse, Homework, Kammy's Korner,  I Gotta Create,  Thrifty 101, Craftionary,

5 Days 5 Ways,  Lamb Around,  Domestically Speaking, Tales Of A Trophy Wife, The Kurtz Corner, Fine Craft Guild,  Katies Nesting Spot, Hubby Made Me, The Thriftiness Miss, Homespun Happenings,  Curb Alert,   It's Overflowing, C.R.A.F.T., The Sasse Life, Finding Fabulous, The Answer Is Chocolate,