Plaited Heart Bracelet

I was inspired to make this bracelet after seeing a wire heart bracelet tutorial on pinterest so I decided to put my own twist on it by making the heart a clasp and literally adding a twisted braid.

So without further adieu, this is how you make it!

What you need:

1. To start off I made the braid, this is really easy to do, just crimp together three threads of cord and and attach a calotte and close it, then thread one colour on to all three threads. Then thread on a calotte followed by a crimp and close. Do this three times so that you have three different colours.

3.Then attach all of the callottes at one end onto a jumpring and plait it joining the other end onto a jump ring.

4. To make the heart clasp all you need to do its get some thick wire and bend it into a heart shape using pliers. Cut it down to a suitable size and wrap one end around the other. With the other end bend it into a circle so that you can attach it to the plait. Then make the hook end by folding about a 20cm piece of wire in half like this:

Then fold it over again like this:

Twist the short end around the other end and then make a circle for the braid like this:

5. Then you just need to attach the circles on the jump rings on the end of the plait and that’s it! Simples.

Mosaic Twist Necklace

So whilst I am stuck to the television watching the Olympics, I decided to use my inherent feminine skill of multitasking to make a new necklace. I have been wearing quite a bit of white recently so I love the boldness of the blues and blacks. 

Its pretty simple to make and didn’t take me too long (I paused a few times to scream ‘COME ON TEAM GB!!’ a few times so it probably took me longer than normal!) All you need is shown in the photo, except I forgot to include a end finding. I bought the big mosaic beads from http://www.the-beadshop.co.uk/.

I started by threading a crimp bead onto the cord and then thread on a calotte and closing it round the crimp. I then thread on the mosaic and other beads in a sequence and then thread on a calotte again followed by the crimp bead and crushed the crimp and closed the calotte over the top.  This makes the main part of the necklace

To make the braided twist you need three pieces of cord (As long as you want the necklace). Crimp them all together at one end and thread on a calotte and close it. Then thread on three different kinds of beads on each of the three threads, then plait it. Close it by attaching a calotte and a crimp and close off. Repeat this for the other side.

Then attach a jump ring from the calottes on the main moasic bead part and the callots on the end of the braids. Then attach a clasp on the calottes on the other end of the twists and you are done!

Musical Gift Bag

I went to Newcastle over the weekend to visit my Mum’s cousin and her family. Mum left me a note before heading off to work a few days before asking me to get her a present of a pound of pineapple chunks (the sweets). So I went of the local confectionery shop and asked for a pound of chunks. She replied asking whether I meant a pound in weight or a pound in money… I wasn’t exactly sure and having calculated in my head that a pound was about 400g I thought she must have meant a pound in money. 
Anyway afterwards I called mum to ask her if that was right to which she replied “No, I meant a pound in weight! Because when she was younger she ate a whole pound of them and was sick afterwards!” Haha.. I don’t think I could manage a whole pound of sweets!!

Anyway I decided to make a nice gift bag for them to go in after getting some inspiration from something I saw on pinterest…

Here is the link to the original. It is in vietnamese but you can get by on just using the pictures! They used newspaper but I liked the look of music sheet more!

http://kenh14.vn/c34/201253185722405/goi-qua-de-thuong-chi-trong-5.chn