Quick Project Thursday #5~Domino Bracelet

Sometime ago I stopped at a garage sale and found a whole box of old dominoes. The sweet old man had no idea why I wanted all of them, but was glad to see them go. I gave him his $8.00 and walked away with about 300 dominoes....having absolutely no idea what I was going to do with them......but

Recently I decided to try something with them and it quickly became my project for this Thursday..........
The first thing you are going to want to do is to find someone else to drill the holes for you (lol), as this is the most difficult thing about this project. I say that because I used the bakelite dominos and even using a drill press and diamond drill bit, they had a tendancy to crumble. I would say we ruined three to every one we got right. Soooo, with that having been said, I recommend you start out using the wooden dominoes as they are easier to drill and there is no waste.....and you can do it yourself if you have the correct tools. You will still need a drill press to make this project easier and to get the holes perfectly straight through the wood.

Mark your domino approximately 3/8" in on each end and drill straight through approximately six dominoes at each end. If you want your bracelet smaller, use less......larger, use more :)

Use the clear stretch jewelry elastic found at JoAnn's or Michaels.....Hobby Lobby might have it as well, I just don't shop there unless I just have to. Measure around your wrist and cut the length to fit. Because you are going to be knotting the elastic it is okay to cut the actual measurement of your wrist.

Thread the elastic through the first hole of the domino and add a bead of your choice...

Repeat this until all dominoes chosen have been used, making sure there is a bead at the end.

Using your best Girl Scout skills, knot the elastic.....

Repeat on the bottom hole....

Viole'....you're done!

The bracelets are so cool because they can also be turned inside out for a "plain" look......get funky and create your own artwork on the flat sides......sheet music, rub ons, paint....whatever!

Thanks for stopping by....check my sidebar to see the other's playing today and feel free to join us when you can....we'd love to have you!

xo,

jana

Quick Project Thursday #4

Welcome to the fourth Quick Project Thursday where I share, of all things, "quick projects" ;) I found this little "bronzed" (but I actually think it's copper dipped) shoe last week. I had never seen a Mary Jane shoe done this way and fell in love. I thought it would be precious just as it is with paper clips on your desk, but have always loved unusual pincushions as well. The project was very simple and took about 45 minutes to complete. It's a great way to reuse these wonderful little treasures.......even though you never knew the child who once wore the little shoe....here goes......

1. Cut a rectangle piece of fabric for the under layer of your pincushion, sewing up three of the four sides.

2. Stuff the little "pillow" very tightly with fiberfill or cotton working it down into the shoe form with the open side down against the inside sole of the shoe.

3. Poke your finger down in the shoe and up and under the stuffing, pushing it up tightly against the top for a taunt surface for the pins to stick into.

4. Cut a square of lace or overlay sheer fabric to cover the pincushion with and tuck it down over the pincushion pillow into the sides of the shoe, allowing enough inside to be glued in place.

5. Working quickly....run a small bead of hot glue around the edges of the shoe and hold the fabric cushion in place until tightly inside....do this in sections if you like.

6. Adorn the front center of the shoe, if desired, with little millinery flowers or ribbon.

Viola' ....you're done!

And you end up with a precious little one of a kind pincushion.....or even use it for paperclips and such......very easy and "just too cute"!

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to join us next week..
...we'd love to have you.

xo, jana

Quick Project Thursday #1

Welcome to the very first Quick Project Thursday......there aren't many of us yet....and may or may not ever be, but you can still find a project here each and every Thursday that I promise you can complete in only a few hours and has wonderful "bang for the buck" type appeal.

This crochet bag was found at a local thrift store for $2.99. In it's original form (see last pic) you couldn't get past the gold inside lining to see what the purse could really be....but I knew it was the style I was looking for and they are not easy to find. I was able to hand dye some of my cotton laces with nothing other than rit dye in a hot sink bath and dug through my vintage velvets and was delighted to realize I had some wonderful dark green. Tearing the fabric into strips I was able to weave through the crochet bag in various lengths and patterns, alternating with the dyed laces, creating a wonderful random pattern....hiding the ugly gold completely. The weaving is easy to do by simply attaching a safety pin to one end and going in and out of the crochet blocks. When I got to the ends, I tucked them in, or you could easily take a couple of stitches by hand to hold them into place. I added a beautiful matching green millinery rose from my stash for just the girlie look I love, and it was done. I would still like to add some 3" green fringe to the bottom, but haven't found quite what I am looking for yet. With or without the fringe, it has great presence and I love it because it looks like it took hours and great skilll.....yet the project can be completed in under two hours once you have your supplies.....and I promise....finding the bag will be the most challenging part of this project.......

From this.......

I hope you enjoyed the quick project here and that you will try one yourself. I realize there are alot of theme days out there, but if you are the "queen" of quick projects, I invite you to grab my button by pasteing into your blog and joining us for the fun each and every Thursday. We are starting small, and I may end up being the only one, but you are always assured of finding something quick and easy that has wonderful presentation

xojana