Holy Crafts, Batman! Jewelry Edition

My son is on a serious superhero streak.  His favorites are Spider-Man and Batman.  He even loves the Batman tv show from the 60s with Adam West--hence the title of this post....  Although to be fair, I've loved superhero movies for years now.  Hancock, Unbreakable, Hellboy, Van Helsing, Ghost Rider are all favorites, in addition to the more recent Batman movies starring Christian Bale and the completely awesome Despicable Me.  Have you seen Despicable Me?  You should!  It's BOOGIE!!

Oh, wait, this is supposed to be about crafts...  First up is jewelry.  I've been on a real jewelry streak lately.

I have had this sterling silver bead necklace most of my adult life, and it's my version of a good strand of pearls.  The beads are about 7mm in size.  The problem is that it's way too small for me now.  I prefer 24" chains now, and this one is 18" at most.  My solution is the current trend of combining 2 or more necklaces with a bow or brooch as an accent.  I had the perfect "gunmetal" chain and flower brooch, so I don't even have to polish the beads anymore--woot!

I made this multi-chain bracelet using a tutorial from Flamingo Toes for a Chain and Pearl Multi-Row Bracelet.  I love her tutorials, and her taste in jewelry too!
The chain with the red bead in the center is another sterling silver piece I've had since 1999.  It was a choker back then, and I wore it maybe one time before deciding that only pets need collars ;P  The large chain on the bottom row is from Eve's Addiction, and it too used to be a necklace--and it was h-e-a-v-y!  The other 2 chains are nothing special, from the jewelry section of Michael's or Hobby Lobby.

I wanted to wear this bracelet all the time, yet be able to take it off for baths and dishes, etc.  I discovered that I could use a lever-back earring as a clasp, and it is working perfectly!  I've worn the chain every day for more than 3 weeks, and it's never fallen off--I love everything about it!

(pretend you can't see the pile of flowers in the background)

These cuffs are a work-in-progress.  I've used the Anthropologie Inspired Vintage Cuff Tutorial from Pink Lemonade for these, which I've had on my Jewelry Inspiration list for a looooong time now.  But I'm not happy with them.  In fact, I stopped in the middle of making them, hoping inspiration will strike me.  My main problem is with how they close; I may need to add a bead on one side and a loop on the other.  I love the ribbons, but it's impossible to tie a pretty ribbon with one hand.  So these are hanging out with my other supplies for now.

This next necklace is probably the easiest piece I've ever made: a blinged-out rhinestone button attached to the chain using jump rings; the most difficult part was in choosing which kind of chain to use!

I've made some Scrabble tile pendants using scrapbook paper and rhinestones and beads or buttons.  Excuse the messy background of this photo, but since I didn't take a lot of pictures, it's all I have to work with.

I used a Sharpie to color the edges, glued the scrapbook paper onto the tile with Mod Podge, then Jewel-It for the accents.  Last was the Dimensional Magic, which I love!

Did you see the new Mod Podge products that came out this week?  They have Dimensional Magic with silver or gold now--plus some new formulas of Mod Podge and tools too, like a brayer and silicon fingertips that glue doesn't stick to.  Cool!

I've also done a few experiments.  I love the "wax seal" pendants and thought I would try to create my own with tin foil and wood shapes.  It worked...kind of.  The foil looks great, and I put about 3 layers of glue / Mod Podge / Dimensional Magic on them, so I'm fairly confident the foil will stick to the shape.  The problem is that they're so lightweight they don't work as pendants at all.  Maybe a bunch of them on a charm bracelet would work...hmmmm.

I've seen these 3-ring necklaces on Etsy.  The best ones appear to be soldered together, so all 3 look like they've always been together such as this.  My version looks more like the Olympic Rings...which I didn't realize until my husband said "Oh cool, in honor of the Olympics this year!" when he saw it.  The Olympics are this year?  LOL - It looks like Mickey Mouse ears to me, so it was already destined for the "better luck next time" pile.

There's more, but I'm going to wrap it up now.  Look for crafts in my next post!