art festival finds

This past weekend was one of my favorite festivals, Patchwork. It's a local art & craft show that brings a bunch of unique and talented individuals along with their creations to the Long Beach Marina for the day. Always accompanied by some awesome food trucks and beautiful weather. I picked up just a few items but I truly love the ones I got! A gold leather wrap bracelet from salvage shop (my mom got an awesome wallet from her too) and a pretty amazing postcard print from courtney oquist. I love being able to support local artists and being inspired by how hard they work.

DIY {gold & beaded bracelet}

Arm parties are all the rage in the fashion world and what better way to add to your collection then making a few gems yourself. I found this beauty online and wanted to try to make one myself. Here's how I made them. 

Here are the materials you need:
4" gold chain, cut in half
2 bead tips
2 jump rings
a lobster claw
seed beads in choice of color
heavy duty string

tools: scissors & needle nose pliers

1. attach lobster claw to one half of the chain with a jump ring, set aside
2. attach bead tip to string by tying a knot and crimping the bead tip
3. string about 20 beads onto the string (or how ever many you'd like, I measure mine to be the width of my wrist)
4. attach the beaded string to the first half of chain with lobster claw, then attach the other bead tip to the end by tying another knot
5. attach the other half of chain to rest of the bracelet with the last jump ring at the end
6. make another one because layering is cute too!

DIY {braided chain tassel necklace}

Alongside baking, my grandma taught me a lot about jewelry. She always said; jewelry is a girl's best friend and I've always felt the same way. In case you haven't figured out, my grandma was a very smart lady. Having a sassy summertime accessory is what I've been looking for lately and I've found exactly that in all the tasseled accessories that have been popping up recently. Mostly these tassel necklaces have been the best inspiration for my swingy centerpiece.

I couldn't help but attempt a my own version of the tassel necklace based on the above madewell necklace with brass ox chain, bronze string and a fun black tassel.

** I wanted to add a step by step DIY for this and still hope to. Unfortunately my camera is out of commission right now and on it's way to get fixed.

(1, 2,)

DIY {hex nut bracelet}

In my experience, kids (and some adults, ahem...me) love friendship bracelets and being able to give and receive something handmade from a close friend. As adults, I feel as though it's more fun to collect them from different places of travel and from friend's different travels. I came across this tutorial a few weeks ago and loved this funky spin on an old classic. And yes those are hex bolts, from the hardware store.

(images 1, 2, 3, 4)

rope battle

Remember the awesome rope necklace DIY from last month... well I wanted to tackle it once more for a contrasting color and completely different look in my opinion. The white is more nautical and organic and the black is rustic and urban. Which one would you pick?

{DIY} rope necklace

I am a big fan of DIY and love the idea behind Erica Domesek's P.S. I made this. I was hoping to acquire the book around the holidays but I didn't and haven't ever since, although I often find myself wandering around her website to see what the newest and coolest project is. As of lately, my favorite that I've come across and wanted to try was this rope necklace 1. because I remember finger weaving as a kid and 2. it looked super easy. Here is her very easy to follow tutorial..

and my not so bad version...

DIY {necklace holder}

As I mentioned before, I recently moved residences and am currently crafting up a ton of fun, and aesthetically pleasing projects for my new home. I am so excited to share my first project, a DIY framed jewelry holder. I got so tired of my boring wood hooks I used to have and wanted to make something new and easy. I've always loved incorporating frames with jewelry holders and this was my opportunity to do so. It was super fun and super simple. I started with some plain wood frames, painted them (my favorite fall color) mustard yellow, removed the glass, framed the fabric, added some hooks I painted black and viola! A lovely little piece to hang all my precious necklaces on.