Starbucks Cups to Earrings? Sure, Why Not?

About a month ago, I received a text from my brother.  It read, "Guess we are going to have some upcycled stuff at our house soon."  My twelve year old niece, Mikayala, was visiting him and wanted to do a project...a surprise project.  So the first place she looked for ideas was MY blog.  This was a proud day indeed!  My first familial convert, another dumpster diver in family.  The project that she picked was my most popular post to date, How to Make a Soup Can Herb Garden:

Not too shabby, eh? She used a power drill and everything to complete her project!  Proud. Day. In. Deed.  So this week, when she suggested that the design on her Starbucks cup would make for a cute pair of heart shaped earrings, I said "OK! Let's do it."  AND, "Let's make a video tutorial while we're at it."

We made quite a few pairs of these earrings in both heart and star shapes and they ranged in difficulty level from, "so easy a 5 year old could do 'em" to "okay, an adult could wear these too."  Here are a couple:

I hope you'll swing by my YouTube channel to see how we made these and show a little love to Mikayla for her YouTube debut!  After all, she did do her nails for you! :)

How I Love a Happy Accident

For the longest time, I've cursed my beading wire every time I finished a bracelet or a necklace.  All too often I'd pull it quite tight and end up coiling the leftover wire like a piece of Christmas ribbon rendering it useless.  There is usually enough leftover for a bracelet and I typically cast it aside...until recently.  I stopped fighting it, that's a hard thing for me to do seeing as I'm a typical Scorpio and quite stubborn (er...determined!).  Anyway, here's some of the new pieces that I've made with the INTENTIONALLY coiled beading wire.  I'm actually loving this curly effect now that I've decided to go with the flow!

Newspaper Bead Necklaces

Map Paper Bead Bracelet

Newspaper Bead Bracelet

Memory Bracelet

A few months back, I headed out to San Francisco for work and while there I stayed with my brother and his fiance.  My soon to be sister-in-law was kind enough to send me home with some bits of trash that I could use in my crafting.  She also gave me a handful of Australian coins from her childhood that she held on to.  When she asked if I could make something from them for her, I gladly accepted the challenge!  Well, I just returned from another trip to San Francisco yesterday and here is what I left with her:

The bracelet was ready to wear and was a perfect fit.  I also made a pendant for her to wear on her favorite chain.  Did I intend to take an action shot with her wearing the pieces?  Of course!  Did I? Of course not!  So, for now this picture will have to do. 

She can wear her bracelet on a fancy night out with the Queen adorning her wrist.  OR if she's feeling a bit spunky, she can flip it over and take a walk on the wild side:

Beautiful new bracelet and pendant using a few old coins and lots of great childhood memories! 

Plastic Ring Necklaces

So, I done did it now!  I went and broadcast myself on YouTube.  Check out my very first video tute, give it a thumbs up and a kind comment.  While you're there pull out some of those pesky plastic rings that are left behind on the neck of your soda bottles and some scrap fabric and join me in making a necklace.  This is great project for adults but can be easily simplified for a child as well.  Enjoy!