Gift Tags for Men

Not only are men hard to shop for, most giftwrap is too feminine for a guy.  Here's my solution : plain silver paper and bow with a very clean masculine gift tag. Much nicer (IMHO) than something spattered with pipes or fish or hunting themes.  These cool images are from The Graphics Fairy .  I also used one of her decorative images on the back, but didn't get a good picture of it.  What guy wouldn't like a motorcycle or cool car ?  

Ribbon Neckaces

I was delighted to find these large hole cultured pearls at Fire Mountain . The knotted organza ribbon and the pearls make a nice contrast.

The rosettes are aluminum.

The last two are acrylic beads

Birdy Earrings

Continuing on with the mixed media things here are a bunch of bird enhanced earrings.  I think they are cute and found the owls to be particularly effective.  Top two images are from ART chix  and the owl is from The Graphics Fairy .

A few Earrings

These are a few pairs of earrings that I have made. Even though they are very easy, I am not too sure about what is liked in earrings as I don't wear them myself.

Mixed Media Necklaces

It is hard not to get carried away with these.  There are so many pretty images and it is so easy to Mod Podge them on and make some jewelry.

 The top one is on a 1" wooden disc. I ruined bunches of them trying to put in the little upeye. Lesson learned : time to make friends with my drill.

The second and third are slightly different. I had all these beautiful images from Art Chix that were 1 1/2 ".
I found out that poker chips are 1 1/2 " across.  A bit of paint and a bail and you have an attractive pendant.

The last two are using brass pendant trays and of course look the most professional.  They also make great dangles on a bracelet, but the one I made has been given away.

Wrap Bracelets

I saw these gorgeous yet casual bracelets in some upscale jewelry catalogs and figured out how to make them. They are made of leather cord with beads strung between two strands.  At first, I couldn't give them away.  They were pretty, but unfamiliar to the folks around here.  I got a few girls to wear them and then they sold like hotcakes.  The only limiting factor is the hole size of the bead - the needle and thread have to pass through twice.  Seeing how few are left, I am going to make a bunch of new ones for spring.

Valentine Heart Necklaces

This project was a learning experience. I found that trying to manipulate 2mm rhinestones with my fingertip was like trying to move a pebble with a telephone pole. The hotfix crystals are already falling off like leaves in the fall.  Anyway the crystal dangles look good and they are done in time for Valentine's Day.

Party Beads

I'm calling these party beads because they are fun and happy and they are made from gift wrap from my birthday.  I got so wound up in making paper beads that I have about a gallon of them left over.  I will expand on paper beads later. In the meantime there are a lot of instructions out there and a lot of methods. They all are based on winding something flat (like paper) around a small cylinder to create the hole.

Their Majesty's Dish Towels

I love some really bad jokes.  So you see, I had to put these crown images on flour sack dish towels. Can't you just see Queen Elizabeth wearing her crown and cape while drying the dishes ?   Images are from The Graphics Fairy .

Super Easy Little Gift

Every woman needs one : a bottle of hand lotion for her purse. I got the bottles fromAmerican Surplus and Supply.  They usually have a variety of interesting bottles at really good prices.  Then, all there is to do is fill the bottles and glue on nifty labels from The Graphics Fairy .    These labels say they are chocolate, but that shouldn't bother anybody.

Skull Necklace

This is one of my best projects yet. Everything just came together well.  The center piece is an optometrist's lens. The image is from ARTchix.   Believe it or not Mod Podge worked to glue paper to glass with very little distortion.

Key Tags Part 2

These key tags were all made with images from  The Graphics Fairy .