Earring Necklace Tutorial (DIY)

Sometimes I get my hands on cheap stuff that I really like, but find alternate uses for said items. I recently bought some spider earrings that were cute, but I couldn't see myself using them as earrings. So! Today, I set out to alter them into a more suitable form.

End result.

This was the earring before I changed anything.

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But wait! This spider doesn't have a tattoo on it's butt! Well, I did it myself. I'm gonna show you how I did that too. Let me begin by saying that I don't know anything about making jewelry- I have no real tools and just use whatever I have around the house, and so should you! Here's the stuff you'll need:

The earring, needle nose pliers, a white out pen, a fine black marker, a safety pin, and red nail polish.

First things first, your earring must dangle. Meaning, the part that goes in your ear must look like this:

That wire is your best friend. Use your needle nose pliers and start to bend that wire into a loop.

After looping it, wrap the wire around the bottom where the loop begins and squeeze any sharp bits down. It should look like this.

All you have to do from this point on is slip a chain or ribbon through that loop and voila! A necklace! I did say I would show you how I put that hourglass on my spider though, here it is.

Use the white out pen to make a hour glass on the butt of your spider. It's okay if it's bulky or kind of messy, we'll fix that in a bit.

So as you can see, my hourglass shape is kind of bulky. Take your safety pin (or razor blade, anything sharp and small) and use it to shape the hourglass on your spider.

When you think it looks pretty good, take your fine tip black marker and color over the edges. If there was any left over white out on the spider showing, this will cover it all up and make it look pretty neat.

Once that's all dried and cleaned up, take out your nail polish and color over the white with the red polish.

A brighter color is best. It's just a small splash of color, so a dark red will just get lost in your little spider friend. After it dries, use the safety pin to shape the color and color the edges so it looks a little cleaner, and voila!

Your spider friend is now ready for a walk! I turned this one into a necklace and the other into a hair flower, it's so nice when my spiders join me for a walk.

I put red paint on the edges and topped it off with red glitter nail polish. It gives it that fresh blood sparkle I love so much. :3 <3!

Corset boning

I am a great admirer of corsets, but I don't know too much about them. One thing I know for certain though- I HATE plastic boning! I'm all steel all the way.

Ahh, steel...

Now this is a corset. Look at it! It doesn't need you, it laughs at that thought. It can support itself. Why? Because it's as tough as steel. Hell, it can stand up straight as you would if you were wearing this thing. Thus why I hate plastic boning.

Plastic warps, it bends, it pokes, it wounds my sides, and it doesn't last very long at all. I find full steel corset bones to be more comfortable than this plastic Barbie hell digging itself into my spleen. I did a little research (very little research) and found out some things about different types of steel boning.

Spiral steel bones:
Spiral steel bones are a universal style bone used in many theaters and ballet companies. They support the garment but allow great mobility creating corsets that can be danced in and are comfortable to wear. If using these for bridal or in a white bodice, make sure they are well encased to avoid a shadow effect since the bones are gray.
 http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/6mm-1-4-Spiral-Steel-Bones-Several-Lengths.html

Spiral bones have the most flexibility of all bones, being able to move both forwards and backwards and side to side. They are the best choice for a bodice that requires boning but is going to be worn for dance or other motion activities. They are not a good choice for front panels of bodices/corsets for women who wear a c-cup or more. Spiral bones are the most flexible and least supportive.
https://www.farthingalescorsetmakingsupplies.com/bones.php

Spring steel bones:
The white steel boning, a.k.a. spring steel, flexes only forward and backward, not side to side, and are appropriate for the center backs of corsets where support is needed on either side of the grommets.
http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/White-Spring-Steel-Bones-and-Spiral-Bones

Spring Steel Bones are also known as "white" bones, this is for the obvious reason; they are white. The white however is only a plastic like nylon coating that protects the steel and inhibits rust. Spring steel bones should be quite rigid; able to flex but not easily bent. They flex only forward and back not from side to side. The thickness of the bone is very important, more so than the width *giggle*. Spring steel should be used down center back of all corsets.
https://www.farthingalescorsetmakingsupplies.com/bones.php


Spring steel bones are the good stuff. Sturdy, long lasting, and dipped in a plastic coat so they are washable and won't get all rusty (like the spiral steel bones *leers*).

There are also some other special bones called Lacing Bones:

Basically, you put these suckers down the center back of your corset to reinforce your grommets. If you ever had a grommet that popped out of alignment of your corset, lo and behold your saviour! These are great support for long term lacing or "tight lacing". http://www.farthingalesla.com/lacing_bones.html

And last and most certainly least, plastic boning:
Designed for flexible support, rust resistant, very flexible, not suitable for "waist reducing" corsets but, rather, is used to keep garments from rolling up. These bones cannot be sewn into curver channels, but are great if you live in a high voltage area.
http://store.corsetmaking.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PLASTICBONE&Store_Code=CMS

Hope this has helped, happy lacing! <3!