DIY Dino-mite Ring Holder

This tutorial is for all you dinosaur lovers out there, and it's just as quick as it is cute & quirky. Insert the 2 plastic toy dinosaurs I mentioned in a previous post, mix in a little spray paint and decorations of your choosing, and you've got your very own one-of-a-kind dino-mite ring holder :)

Here's how I made mine:

Supplies:

• Plastic toy dinosaur(s)
• I purchased mine from the Dollar Tree because they can be quite pricey at typical craft stores
• Spray Paint
• I had gold on hand, but you could use any color you prefer
• (optional) Decorations of your choice (beads, glitter, etc.)

Step 1: Take your plastic dinosaurs into a well-ventilated area and spray paint them & then let them dry.

Step 2: Leave them as they are, or get creative with it and decorate them! (I haven't decided how I want to decorate mine yet, so for now I will leave them as they are - They're pretty either way!)

Step 3: Adorn with rings & enjoy :)

 -xquitecreativex

DIY Gemstone Necklace

Don't ask me why, but for some reason I've been really obsessed with anything gemstone-related lately. For instance, I've been itching for some moonstone jewelry & happened to come across a BEAUTIFUL moonstone ring at TJ Maxx a few weeks ago and I thought it was fate - until I realized they only had one, and that it was about two sizes to small for my chubby fingers. go-figure (*eyeroll*)! 

So, I did what any sensible (crazy) person would do, and I turned to Etsy in search of gemstones with plans to make my own jewelry (that would actually fit ;)!). I had a gift card left over from Christmas, and ended up purchasing a few different gemstone connectors (moonstone, labradorite, and lemon topaz) from the seller Jewelersparadise:

Since I was still a little butt-hurt over the whole ring-of-my-dreams-not-fitting debacle, I decided to make a moonstone necklace to boost my spirits :) 

Here's how I did it:

Supplies

• Gold jewelry chain 
• I purchased mine from Joann's & used a coupon
• 4 gold jump rings (3 small and one medium-sized)
• 1 gold lobster clasp closure
• I think mine came in the package with my chain
• Gemstone connector
• (3-In-1) Jewelry Pliers
• I got mine from Walmart

Step 1: Open one of the small jump rings and use it to attach the gemstone connector to the chain & then close it, like this:


 
                                        

Step 2: Using another small jump ring, Repeat step 1 to attach the the other side of the gemstone connector & chain together. By now it should look like this:

Step 3: Place the "center" of your chain between the cutting part of your 3-in-1 jewelry pliers & squeeze down to cut the chain into two, like this:

Step 4: Open your last small jump ring & use it to attach your lobster clap to one side of the chain & then close it, like this:

Then attach your medium-sized jump ring to the other half of the chain:

And that's a wrap, you're done! :)

-xquitecreativex

DIY Glitter Coasters

Here's the deal - I'm a lover of crafting, but, let's be honest: as much fun as it is to experiment and make things - purchasing supplies at your local craft store can add up pretty quickly and become quite expensive (even with coupons)! This is where my love for the Dollar Tree began. It's no secret that the dollar tree he is holy grail of crafting, specifically, cheap crafting!

Today I happened to visit a Dollar Tree, and not only did I find a few useful items I actually needed (including a USB car charger for my iPhone 6!), I also found some items that inspired me to create, namely: two plastic toy dinosaurs, and a pack of plastic coasters.

Confused yet? Well, we'll talk more about the plastic dinosaurs later, but for now - the coasters! Today I'm going to show you how I took these drab looking cork and plastic coasters, and made them glittery and fun -all for about $4!
take a look: 

Here's how I did it:

Supplies:

• Coasters 
• Glitter of your choice
• Mod Podge
• A foam brush
• I already had the Mod Podge and foam brush and purchased the coasters and glitter from the Dollar Tree, however, Dollar Tree had ALL of these items when I was there (including mini bottles of mod podge!)

*The instructions only show one of the coasters being made, but I would recommend making them all at once (just remember to change up the glitter if you want more than one color!) to save time.

Step 1: Using your foam brush, coat the cork with a thin layer of mod podge, being careful not to get it on the plastic edges, like this:

• If you do happen to accidentally get some mod podge on the plastic edge (like I did - oops :)) just take a q-tip and wipe it off.

Step 2: Sprinkle glitter of your choice onto the mod podge, like zis:

Until the podge' is completely covered, like so:

Step 3: Shake off any excess glitter. Pictured is my feeble & ultimately failed attempt to get it back into the container...

Step 4: At this point, it would be wise to let the first layer of mod podge/glitter dry - but who has the patience for that?! 

If you're impatient like me, continue full steam ahead! Apply a second thin coat of the podge' over the glitter (just make sure to use a gentle hand, so you don't completely destroy the first glitter podge' layer) By now, it should look like this:

• As you can see, the q-tips once again did a fine job cleaning up my mess :)

Step 5: Sprinkle another layer of the glitter onto the mod podge

Then apply one more layer of the mod podge to "seal it" , and then muster up all of your patience and WAIT. 

and continue to WAIT. because these suckers take about 24 hours to dry completely.

But the wait is worth it, because once they're dry you'll end up with these glitzy beauties:

enjoy. :)

-xquitecreativex

DIY Gypsy-Esque Statement Ring

So, I found myself browsing the jewelry section at Joann's the other day (surprise, surprise...) but only because they were offering a coupon over the weekend that was just too good to pass up (60% off a single regularly priced item!) and came across this beautiful set of beads I just had to have:

                can you believe these are the SAME beads, how pretty is that?!

I already made a tutorial on how to make DIY Stud Earrings out of beads, but did you know you can also easily make rings using the same method?! I thought that the middle bead was the perfect size/shape to make a beautiful bohemian, gypsy-esque statement ring - so that's exactly what I did!

Here's how I did it:

Supplies:

• E6000 glue
• A bead of your choice (must have a flat back)
•  An adjustable ring blank
• * all items can be found at most craft stores: Joann, Michaels, Hobby Lobby, etc.

Step 1: Put a small dab of glue on the top of the ring blank, like this:

Step 2: Press the ring post firmly against the center of the back of your bead 

(I used a little too much glue and it seeped out the sides a little, so I used a q-tip to gently wipe away any excess.) 

If you have some extra beads that happen to match (like I did), feel free to make yourself a matching pair of earrings while you're at it!

Step 3: Now, just let these beauties dry for about 24 hours....

And then show them off! :)

P.S. - Stay tuned to find out how I made the glitter coasters shown in the last photo! ;)

-xquitecreativex

DIY Customizable Wreath Tutorial

Here are the instructions for how I made this customizable wreath for only about $15!!!

Step 1: Gather Supplies

• Scissors
• Wire wreath frame 
• I got mine in-store from Walmart for $2.00, but can also be found at Michaels & Hobby Lobby
• 2 rolls of burlap garland (color: natural)
• I also got these in-store from Walmart for $3.49 each, but can also be found at Michaels & Hobby Lobby
• 1 roll of burlap garland (color: chocolate)
• I purchased mine from Hobby Lobby for about $3.00, but can also be found at Michaels
• 3 artificial sunflowers (or artificial flowers of your choice)
• I bought these from the Dollar Tree for $1.00 each, but I'm sure you could find something similar at most craft stores
• Chenille stems/pipe-cleaners (color: light brown)
• (I found mine at Hobby Lobby for $.87)

Step 2: Start by tying the end of the light-colored burlap onto the inside of the wire wreath frame, like this:

Step 3: This step is going to be a little confusing, even though the process is super simple once you get the hang of it! I'm hoping the pictures will make it easier to understand.

 Heading towards the outer-most ring on the wreath frame, begin to weave the burlap over the middle two wires of the frame, and push about a 1 inch section of the burlap under the outer-most wire of the wreath frame. 

Now, head the other direction (towards the inside-most ring of the frame), weave over the middle two wires again (leave some slack so you don't pull out the 1 inch section you just pushed under), and push about a 1 inch section under the inner-most wire of the wreath frame.

Twist the burlap randomly as you move along, like this:

Continue to repeat this process, making sure to pack the burlap tightly as you make your way around the wreath frame.

I ran out of my first roll of burlap about halfway around the frame, and at this point it should look similar to this:

When you get to this point, tuck in/tie off the end of this roll of burlap, and start on your second roll, completing the same process until you make it all around the wreath frame, and then tuck in/tie off the ends.

Step 4: Flip the wreath frame over and begin "fluffing" the burlap by "opening up" and pieces of burlap that are folded in half, like this:

Continue to "fluff" the burlap all the way around the frame, making sure to "open them up" so that the pieces of burlap begin to cover the green wire frame from sight. For example - in this picture, the bottom half of the wreath has been "fluffed", while the top half has not:

(This picture is just for reference. At this point, the entire wreath frame should be covered in burlap.)

After you're done "fluffing" it should look like this:

Step 5: At this point, I watched this simple tutorial on youtube which walked me through the steps on how to make a beautiful burlap bow (out of the chocolate colored burlap garland)

Step 6: After making my bow, I played around a little bit with how I wanted to position the items on my wreath, and ended up liking this the best:

 Then I attached my pipe-cleaners to my items (super easy, since the sunflowers already had clips attached to them!)

And I just slipped a pipe-cleaner through the back of my ribbon, like this:

Then I just attached my items by wrapping the pipe-cleaners around the wreath to hold them in place, like this:

Now, just flip the wreath over - and there you have it - your very own customizable wreath! :)

Sit back and take a minute to admire your creation. Isn't it beautiful?! :)

And remember, you can easily just untwist the pipe-cleaners to mix and match, or add entirely different items to create a "new" wreath!

Enjoy!

-xquitecreativex