Bent Wire Name Photo Frame



Wire name frame



A little over ten years ago, I had the fabulous opportunity to visit London, England for about a week! It was absolutely fantastic, and I am DYING to go again! One of my favorite memories was of the day we spent exploring Covent Gardens, near the “downtown” area of London, and its surrounding areas.  While I thoroughly enjoyed the shopping and sight-seeing, I LOVED observing the various entertainers and street vendors, from human statues to musicians to CRAFTERS!!!

Human "Statue" at Covent Gardens-One of the MANY amazing entertainers!

Picadilly Circus-so busy yet so fabulous!



My sister and I-typical tourists

One of the street vendors made the coolest name frames, where he used pliers to bend wire into a variety of words. He charged one pound per name, so I quickly wrote down the names of about 12 of my friends and handed over my money. The name frames were a huge hit and an amazing souvenir to own! Ten years later, I have FINALLY taken the time to try this project for myself.  I certainly did not do it at the speed of the street vendor (or even come close, for that matter), and it definitely took me a few tries before I became successful, but I was pretty proud of the end result.  I simply used needle nose pliers to twist wire into my name and made a two triangular shapes behind and below my name to hold a picture. DONE!!!



The artist himself



Slacking for a VERY good cause!

I know, I know...I have really not been good about keeping up with my blog posts this week. I think you will forgive me when I show you my reason why!

And here he is...

Royce Manning Tanner

Born September 22, 2011 at 6:55 AM

7 lbs., 5 oz. 21 inches

Can't get enough of that sweet face!

Mommy (my sister, Kyra) and baby

Proud daddy

Grandma (my mom) and her grandbabies, Camdyn and Royce

So happy my new nephew is HERE!!!

Pop Pop (my dad) holding his grandson

Bib Necklaces

This type of necklace throws a fashionable and cute spin on a typical piece of jewelry. Using a sheet of blue felt, I cut out the bib shape based on necklaces I had seen before (although I am including a cool template that could easily be used). I then glued the end of a piece of 9” gray ribbon to each side of the bib so that the necklace could be tied to wear. Using silver, fabric rosettes I had previously made, I placed the largest rosette in the middle of the bib, the medium sized rosettes on each side of that and the smaller rosettes by edges of the bib. I then embellished the remaining sections of the bib with gray, glass pearls and placed a gray pearl in the middle of each rosette. Now to find the perfect outfit to compliment this necklace!

Here is a template you can use to create an adorable bib necklace for yourself!

 

Simple, Inexpensive Earring Holder

Handmade MULTI-earring holder



Between the earrings I buy and the earrings I make, it is safe to say that I have a PLETHORA of earrings in my collection. The trouble I have had is storing them. Jewelry boxes don’t have enough room and force the jewelry to get tangled and earring holders are often more than I wish to spend for the small amount of earrings they hold. As a result, I found myself scouring my local craft stores for some way to fashion something that will stand on its own and hold LOTS of earrings. After almost an hour in the store, I decided on an embroidery ring and a large sheet of plastic, embroidery canvas. I used a glue gun to place glue on the inside of the embroidery ring. I then rolled the canvas into a cylinder and placed the bottom of the cylinder into the embroidery ring, so that the bottom edge of the canvas attached to the glue inside the ring. I then placed a line of glue along the area in which the plastic canvas overlapped itself along the side of the cylinder and VOILA!!! I have not counted how many earrings I could potentially place on my new holder, but I think it is safe to say I now have a reason to make many, many additional pairs.













Flower Pen Centerpiece/Favors

Looking for some “not your average centerpiece” centerpieces? I created these flower pen bouquets for a bridal shower, not only to serve as cute décor, but also to assist guests in participating in shower games, as each flower is actually a functional pen. Simply wrap floral tape around each pen from just above the pen point to the top so that it is completely covered. Next, take the tops of fake flowers off of their stems and use hot glue to adhere them to the top of each taped pen. Cut a piece floral foam to fit the container that will be holding the pens and place it into the container (I used some really cute, filigreed, bright green Chinese takeout boxes for these particular centerpieces!). The pens can then be stuck into the floral foam and arranged into an adorable centerpiece!