DIY necklace hanger

After struggling to find a way to organize my delicate necklaces without having them get tied together and spending forever undoing the knots, I came up with this super simple DIY necklace hanger. It's an easy way to keep your jewelry untangled and serves as a eye-catching display (and yes, I have not one, but two serotonin molecule necklaces).

Materials:

- Wooden plank (I bought mine from Michael's for about $3)

- Nails (as many as you think you'll need; 1 per necklace and an extra to hang the product)

- Hammer

- Acrylic paint(s) of your choice (I also used a paint pen for the cheetah spots)

- Mod podge to use as a gloss

- Twine or yarn

I started with painting a base on the wood. After it dried, I went back over it and painted ombre cheetah spots for an eye-catching design. Although I painted the spots after I hammered in the nails, I would recommend finishing painting completely before you proceed with the nails. I hammered the nails a bit haphazardly and randomly for some variation. Lastly, I went back and outlined the cheetah spots with a black paint pen to make the design pop out more. To create a glossly look, I recommend going over the final product with Mod Podge (but only after the acrylic paint has completely dried so you don't smear it!)

I hammered a nail on the top back of the wood and used twine to create a loop so that all I would need would be a push pin to hang the final product. After everything dries, your necklaces will be ready to store and display without getting tangled!

DIY necklace hanger

Friday, November 16, 2018

DIY clay jewelry trays: mother's day edition

Although Mother's Day was a couple weekends ago, this jewelry tray can be gifted for any occasion for a special lady in your life, or even be used for yourself! I didn't start using jewelry trays until recently. Before, I would just keep all of my jewelry in a little box. It wasn't til I bought a tray on a whim that I  realized how much of my jewelry I wasn't wearing because it was tucked away in a box- out of sight, out of mind. Now I like to keep some things I'm wearing for the week on the tray, and rotate pieces out weekly so that I get good wear out of all my jewelry. 

This DIY clay jewelry tray is so easy to make and is so useful. I got the idea from here, and made one big change- I freehanded the shape of my tray (as I think you can embarrassingly tell, it's a little imperfect). I opted for air drying clay because I didn't want to mess around with baking it in an oven, and risking overbaking it. Also, the idea of just leaving it out for 2 days to air dry while I did nothing seemed really appealing.

Here's the materials I used to make 2 trays:
- 2.2 lb white block of DAS air hardening modeling clay
- Small rubber stamps to create a personalized message (optional)
- Acrylic paint + paintbrushes
- Glossy Mod Podge 

I started out by shaping the trays. While most tutorials I saw used cookie cutters (which I highly recommend and wish I had used), I got cocky with my "skills" (or lack thereof) and freehanded a leaf shape. It turns out clay is a way harder medium to use than I was anticipating. I then used tiny rubber stamps to stamp out a message in the trays, and set the trays on my desk to dry for 2 days. After day 1 I flipped the trays over to ensure the backsides dried properly.

After the drying came my favorite part- painting! I used acrylic paints and small paintbrushes to paint a light blue base with one of my all time favorite designs, flowers with leaves. I think they're perfect for Mother's Day! After the acrylic paint dried, I painted on 3 layers of glossy Mod Podge (with letting each layer dry for about 20 minutes before painting on the next layer) to give the trays some shine. And that was it!

I used some of my ink and nibs from the modern calligraphy class I took in December to make a matching Mother's Day card (note the recurring flowers theme). I initially lettered the words in black ink and went back over the right sides of the wording with gold ink for a special effect. I added watercolor flowers using my new Winsor & Newton water colors and outlined them in black ink.

I always think handmade gifts are the most special, especially when I still have the time before residency starts!

DIY clay jewelry trays: mother's day edition

Friday, May 20, 2016