Springtime Gypsy Earrings

This year, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Blogger Networking Event at CHA (hosted by FaveCrafts). This is an opportunity for us bloggers to meet with crafting manufacturers so we can get the word out to you readers about new and awesome products.

One of my favorite products from the event had to be the sweet treasure trove of Swarovski crystals from PrimaBead.com. I am like a magpie -- I adore anything sparkly! I used some of these gorgeous crystal beads to make a pair of gypsy-inspired earrings. These earrings are super-easy to make; if you can open and close a jump ring, you can make these!

Springtime Gypsy Earring Instructions:

1. Start with a chandelier-type earring finding.
2. For outer beads, place 3 bicone beads on a head pin. Create a loop at the top of the head pin and attach to the earring with a jump ring.
3. Attach the rest of the crystals to your earring with jump rings.
4. Attach earring to earwires (I didn’t use a jump ring so that the earring would face forward. If you prefer your earrings to swing sideways, use a jump ring.).

Materials List:

1. Swarovski crystal beads (I used these, these, these, and these.)
2. Chandelier earrings (I got mine at Hobby Lobby -- there are lots of different styles to choose from).
3. Earwires, jump rings, and head pins (Again, I got all my findings at Hobby Lobby).
4. Round-nose jewelry pliers

I would love to see your version of these earrings! If you like these, pin them on Pinterest!

Wearing o' the green!

It's March which means it's time for St. Patrick's Day! It's also National Craft Month so it's also time to make something. So let's go green!

I decided that for this month's Deflecto design team project, my frames needed to wear the green! And I got to decorate my frames with the decorating items that I love most: washi tape, buttons, and (my new favorite) glass stones.

My first frame was already decked out in green; it's one of Deflecto's cool acrylic frames with a color border. Then I just added green-striped washi tape and lots of buttons in all shades of green. 

My second frame was a just clear acrylic frame that got jazzed up by some green glass stones. The best part about these stones? They came from the Dollar Tree! Yep, a big bag of these beauties were only $1. They may have been inexpensive, but they look like a million bucks! They were so easy to attach too; I put a thin line of Beacon Quick Grip adhesive around all four edges and stuck the glass on (the quick grab of this adhesive means this frame was ready to go in about 15 minutes).

But of course, a frame is just a frame without a picture, right? I am especially proud of these photos as they were taken in Ireland. The "Leprechaun Crossing" sign was taken at Killarney National Park in Co. Kerry, Ireland. The photo of my husband and me was taken near Dingle in western Ireland. We are posing with a ogham (pronounced "ohm") stone. An ogham stone is an upright stone inscribed with the lines and notches of the early Irish ogham alphabet. This stone has a hole in it; people would use these stones with holes as a way to make deals. If you touched fingers through the hole in the stone, the was binding until death.

Materials used:

Adhesive: Beacon Adhesive Quick Grip, ThermoWeb Zots

Frames: Deflecto

Washi Tape: Darice

Glass stones: Dollar Tree

Buttons: miscellaneous

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post. As a member of the Deflecto Design Team I have been provided product in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions.