Wire beaded bracelet - simple sofa beading

I still had the leftover beads from my shoe project the other day, so decided to do a simple wire bracelet. The colours of the photos are a bit darker than they should be because of the horrible rainy day we have here. All the more reason to do something crafty. 

You will need some thin beading wire. A selection of beads, smaller ones work best, and sparkly ones even better. And you'll need a clasp. 

Firstly, don't cut the wire from the reel. Just thread on a random selection of beads. I ended up with around 40 cm string of beads on the reel. Then leave a tail at the end and take the first bead, fold over the wire and twist. Now none of your beads will fall off. Leaving around a 2" gap on the wire, take your next bead and repeat the bend and twist. Do this for the full string of beads. 

Once done you can leave a tail after the last bead and cut from the reel. 

With the length I had, I folded the length in half, and in half again. Then from one end, start twisting the strands together. Once twisted, I folded in half again, and added another length of wire to the fold, securely twisting. You will need a tail of wire at both ends of your bracelet, so depending on how you fold yours, you might need to add a new tail. Once you're happy with your twists, you can add your clasp. I put a split ring on each end and folded the tail and wrapped the wire round to secure. Snip off the tail and tuck in the ends. A mini clip on the split rings finished it off. 

This method is great for many things. It can be used to make tiaras, clips and hair combs, a necklace or choker, embellishing clothing and shoes and not to mention home decor. I love this method, it's therapeutic and has little mess so can be done on the comfort of the sofa. 

Plain to pretty - beading shoes

This is a great mini project, using up some leftover beads you might have lying around. 

A plain pair of peep to shoes transformed with little effort. And the best thing is, it's as long term or as temporary as you want. No glue involved. 

Begin by tying and wrapping some thin cord around the shoe, preferably the same colour so it is camouflaged. And secure the cord by tying off. 

Then choose a centre piece to start your design. I chose a lucite flower with a stardust silver bead, and used flexible copper plated silver wire. The wire I used was 0.2mm so I doubled it over for some extra strength, but still keeping the flexibility. 

Secure your centre piece on the wrapped cord with the wire and wrap several times behind the flower. Now for the next step. 

Using a new length of thin wire, secure it to a strand of cord, then add your first bead. Selecting a good mix of beads in complimenting shades gives a good result. Alternate beads as you secure to the cord between each one you add. When the length of wire starts to get short, wrap it behind and around the centre a few times to secure. Then begin another, until you can see no more cord. 

Finish the design by using monofilament or thin fishing line to add smaller beads and help hide any wire that might be visible. Make sure you tie it securely and just randomly thread it through the gaps as you add more beads. When your done, just tie it off and put your shoes on. 

If you want to go back the original shoe or fancy trying a new design, simply snip the cord from the underside and your good to go. No mess, no marks and no fuss. 

Mint & Tea Tree Soap

That was a long night! Couldn't wait to get my log of soap out of the mould. I had forgotten all about the soap ball embeds until I made the first cut. It was a nice surprise from me to me!

So here it is all cut and smelling lush! 

The balls were made from a previous batch of cp soap, off cuts from cookie cutter experimenting. I had visions of it being too hard to cut or the balls falling out or not holding in the rest of the mix, but they're there to stay. I heated the balls in the oven before putting them into the fresh soap mix, so I think this helped with them sticking in place. 

There's not as much info on cp soap embeds, melt and pour appears to be the norm. This isn't an avenue I wish to go down, so I expect more experimenting on the horizon. 

 

Getting to know my soap

I thought I'd share the soaps I've made over the last few weeks. Experimenting with colours, additives, scents and soap moulds. I think I might need a bigger storage and curing system. 

I couldn't resist trying out a cupcake soap, using silicone cupcake cases. The bottom is cookie dough scent with no added colour. Miraculously it turned out looking the same colour as a cupcake. The icing was a bit tricky, firstly with the mess of getting the mix in the piping bag, then with the mix being too runny to pipe, (you really need a thick batter), a sprinkling of sugar crystals finished it off. 

I made some almond milk soap and added ground cinnamon, cloves and star anise. These gave the soap a dark speckled colour, and there is a faint scent of spices. I tested out a cookie cutter on a slice of soap and it worked great. Star shaped soap! 

Previously I've used recycled juice cartons and food boxes lined with freezer paper, and they worked great, but aren't really reusable. I managed to get a click lock Tupperware tub which was a perfect size for my tea tree and mint soap. It's still in the tub hardening up, but I'm dying to get it out and cut it! I'm having my first go at soap ball embeds, so hopefully it'll turn out alright, because this soap smells amazing! I made it with mint and camomile tea, and peppermint & tea tree essential oils, topped off with home dried mint leaves. If the soap balls work, this is going to be my favourite so far. 

Just go for it

It was a gruesome episode of Bones that sparked my interest in soap making. After a little research online, I just had to try it. I didn't have any colour or scents, but that didn't matter. I couldn't believe I could turn oil into soap, at home, in my kitchen. But I did! 

I used what I had available to attempt to colour the soap naturally. Oat bran, poppy seeds and dried parsley all went into my separated mixture. An epic experiment it was. After turning the batch out I instantly realised I needed some scents and colours. 

It wasn't long before batch 2 arrived,  divided into 3 different kinds : Black Orchid, Banoffee Pie and Lavender Forrest. What a difference some colour and scent makes. At this point I realised I was hooked and continued experimenting with other ingredients, pouring methods and moulds. My next experiment is going to be making and using embeds in my cold process soap. 

Before I began making soap I was very apprehensive about using caustic soda. Needless to say it scared me. But with the right safety equipment and a good bit of research, there was nothing to worry about. If you fancy trying something new, go for it. Don't be the one who wished they'd tried it. Be the one who says they've done it. 

Getting it wrong

It has taken a bit of time to get my blogger app to work. Now finally, signed in and ready to go, but being the newbie that I am, I have no idea how it works. So my blog appears to be called "first post". This was not intended as I'm sure you could guess. Teething problems :-/ 

I've been viewing a lot of blogs for inspiration on cold process soap making, which I've recently starting doing. Previous crafts have included jewellery making and making handbags amongst other things, but I always go back to the main two every so often. 

It does mean that I sometimes abandon a project to begin another when the inspiration bug bites. :-) I just can't help it!