The Almost DIY: Honeycomb Necklace

I like the hexagonal shape of hex nuts and thought I could form interesting shapes with them to create a pendant. And I did…but it also didn’t quite work the way I wanted it to. [Sigh.]

DIY: Hex Nut Beads

I thought I create jewelry using hex nuts as beads. The easiest way is just to use the hex nuts as is and not paint them, but paint them if you want a pop of color.

DIY: Wire Rope Necklace

While at a hardware store I came across some wire rope that I thought was an interesting material and thought I could create jewelry with it.

I got 10 feet of 1/16 inch size wire rope at 26 cents a foot to experiment with. Regular cutters didn’t work on this wire rope, so I had to get special wire rope cutters (which weren’t particularly cheap), but they cut through the wire rope easily.

Still Waiting for Autumn

I’m willing (and do) pay full price for items that I really want or need. However, I like getting a good deal on things if I can, which is one of the reasons I like thrift shopping.

Here are three items I got in the last couple of months at different thrift shops. I somehow ended up with warmer pieces because I think people were doing some spring cleaning to their closets in anticipation of the summer.

Congrats! Birthday Card

A couple of months ago I bought this flying pig finger puppet with a magnetic nose that I thought my brother would like as part of his birthday present. It’s perhaps a bit of an odd gift but I like things that are somewhat unexpected.

The night before his birthday I thought I should make a birthday card for him. Last year I made him a You’re #2 birthday card, and I decided to somehow combine that same sentiment with the flying pig puppet.

Waiting for Autumn

I dropped by a thrift shop the other day on impulse; I had been there fairly recently but felt like checking it out again—and I’m glad I did. I didn’t really expect to find anything and wasn’t looking for anything in particular (which often tends to be the easiest way to shop.)

An Excuse to Shop

I’m used to overcast skies, sporadic (and yet still constant) rain and cool temperatures, so when summer officially begins with its heat, it tends to be a bit of a shock to me. Late last week summer finally began in full force, jumping from temperatures in the 70’s to the 90’s, which was hard for me to get adjusted to (because anything above 85 degrees melts any appreciation I might have for summer).

Cute Bias Tape

I’ve been meaning to make bias tape for a while. I’ve used packaged bias tape on projects, and while it’s been fine to use when I needed bias tape immediately and just wanted to use a basic color, I can’t say that I’ve ever been particularly excited to use it. The packaged bias tape is just so limiting in the color and fabric options available, and seeing how simple it seemed to be online to make your own bias tape, I was motivated to try.

So I bought a bias tape maker with the intention of making bias tape and I also bought cute patterned fabric specifically for making this bias tape. [Pause.] And then both my bias tape maker and fabric sat in a drawer for months. [Sigh.]

I’m not sure what exactly I was waiting for, but I finally got around to making my own bias tape. The fabric I bought was $3 a yard and I used about a half a yard of it to make a little over 15 yards of double folded bias tape that’s ¼ inch wide. So in the end this tape didn’t cost much to make, but it did take some time to make. And even though it was my first time making it, it was pretty simple and easy to get a hang of and I didn’t run into any glaring problems.

I’m infinitely happier with my own bias tape; I like the freedom that comes with creating your own bias tape. And I’m sure once I get around to using this bias tape, I’ll be happy with the extra bit of specialness it’ll bring to a project.