My New Favorite Accessories

This post contains affiliate links and a brand ambassador discount code.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  If you have followed me for a while via social media or my blog, you probably know that I'm a huge fan of pretty, girly things.  Give me all the sparkly accessories and all the cute clothes!!!  And because I know there are a lot of girly girls like me out there, I love sharing my favorite clothes and accessories, whether they're DIY or store-bought.  I normally just share the store-bought stuff on Instagram, but today on the blog I want to share with you my new favorite jewelry brand. I love this brand so much that I've teamed up with them as a brand ambassador.  The brand is Lucy's Inspired, and I think y'all are going to love them as much as I do!  (And if you do, you can get 20% off your purchase by using the code BETHANY20!)

I'm really not even sure how I stumbled upon Lucy's Inspired.  I believe I just happened to see a post from them on Instagram.  I thought their necklaces were beautiful, so I started following them and then realized they were looking for brand ambassadors.  I loved the fact that as a brand ambassador I could get some of their jewelry at a discount and that I could get a discount code for y'all too, so I signed up.  I spent hours one night deciding what necklaces I would order first and finally decided on three.

Use Polymer Clay to Create a Faux Agate Necklace

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all! At the beginning of June, I had the pleasure of guest posting over at Dawn Nicole Designs.  I shared the tutorial for my Faux Agate Polymer Clay Necklace, and today I want to share the tutorial here with you lovely people.  If you've never used polymer clay before, I hope that this tutorial encourages you to give it a try.

Making the agate for the center of the necklace is really easy, and honestly, it's the hardest part of creating the necklace.  Making the rest of the necklace only requires basic jewelry-making techniques that even the beginner jewelry maker can do.  

Embossed Metal & Bead Tassel Necklace

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  I am so excited about today's post because I'm sharing what is probably my favorite jewelry tutorial to date.  I have been seeing tassel jewelry all over the place, and I've wanted a bracelet or a necklace with a tassel.  But since I make jewelry all the time, I hated to buy something without trying to make my own tassel jewelry first.  That's how my Embossed Metal & Bead Tassel Necklace was born.  It's so pretty, and it's surprisingly easy to make.

To make your own tassel necklace, you'll need several tools and supplies, which I'll list below the supply picture.  

Etched Metal-Stamped Monogram Necklace

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  You probably know I'm from the South by now.  (I mean, the "y'all" at the beginning of every post should have given it away, am I right?) In the South, we have lots of loves: sunshine, fishing, sweet tea, country music, and, of course, monograms!  I don't know why we love monograms so much.  I mean, it's not like there's a flurry of people trying to steal our stuff and if it's monogrammed we can put that in the police report to get our goods back faster.  I guess for us monograms are synonymous with times in the past when people had good manners and Southern bells wouldn't be caught dead without their pearls.  This innate love of monograms makes me want to monogram pretty much everything, and when I have an occasion to create a gift to give someone, one of the first things I think of is a monogrammed gift.  When Mother's Day rolled around, I wanted to make my momma a unique gift, so since I love to give handmade jewelry as gifts, it's no surprise I decided to make her a monogrammed necklace: an Etched Metal Monogrammed Necklace.  I'm going to show you how to make your own.  Whether you're from the South or North, a necklace like this is sure to be a unique piece to add to your jewelry collection.

You can make your own Etched Metal Monogrammed Necklace using some basic metal stamping tools and skills, along with your Sizzix BIGkick machine and Vintaj blanks and dies.  

Embossed Metal Statement Necklace

Hey, y'all!  I'm sure by now y'all know that I love any kind of craft or home decor project, but one of my favorite things to make is DIY jewelry.  That could be partly because I love jewelry myself, or maybe it's just because the possibilities are endless when it comes to creating handmade jewelry.  I love making jewelry that looks like it came from a chic boutique in Charleston or Savannah, and the necklace I'm sharing with you today would fit right in.  I'm calling it my Embossed Metal Statement Necklace, and it's easy and inexpensive to make with a Sizzix BIGkick Machine and Vintaj jewelry making supplies.

You'll need a few supplies to get started making your own necklace.  I was sent free product from Sizzix to create my necklace, but you can find the supplies online using the links below.

DIY Etched Metal Songbird Necklace

Hey, y'all!  I recently received a new jewelry tool from Sizzix: the Vintaj BIGkick.  The machine can etch and emboss metal blanks, and I couldn't wait to try it out.  Y'all know how much I love to make jewelry!  For my very first jewelry piece using the BIGkick, I made an Etched Songbird Necklace, and I can't wait to show you how to make your own.

To create the necklace, I used several supplies sent to me by Sizzix and a few other supplies as well.

Supply List:

• Sizzix Vintaj BIGkick
• Sizzix DecoEtch Die (I used Tulip Garden by Vintaj.)
• Vintaj Natural Brass Blank-Songbird
• Vintaj Natural Brass Chain
• Vintaj Brass Findings--Lobster & Eye Clasp
• Vintaj Natural Brass Findings--Head Pin
• Brass Jump Rings
• Beads
• Metal Punch
• Jewelry Pliers (Round & Needle Nose)

To begin making my necklace, I selected the Tulip Garden DecoEtch Die to use with the BigKick.

I chose the Songbird Blank to etch.  Using the machine is very easy.  You simply place the blank on the area of the design you'd like etched onto your metal.

Sandwich the blank and etching die between the cutting pads and feed them through the BigKick following the manufacture's directions.

When you remove the pieces from the machine, you'll have an etched metal blank.

Since I knew I wanted my songbird to hang between chain instead of from a chain, I used a metal punch to punch a hole opposite the hole that was already pre-punched.  (I could have done this step before etching the blank, but when I make jewelry, I'm normally a "fly by the seat of my pants" designer, so I didn't think about punching the hole until this point of the process.)  Once my songbird was how I wanted it, I decided to make a dangly (that's a word, right?) charm to hang from it.

I threaded a pearl and a Swarovski crystal onto an head pin.

I bent the excess head pin at a 90 degree angle and cut off a little more than half of it.  I used my round nose pliers to bend the rest of the head pin into a loop.  Once my dangly charm was finished, it was time to put together my necklace using chain, my songbird charm, my dangly charm, four jump rings, and a lobster clasp.

I cut a piece of chain the length I wanted my necklace to be, and then I cut that length in half.

I attached the songbird to each piece of chain using a jump ring.  I attached my dangly charm to the jump ring on the head of the songbird.

I then attached a jump ring to one end of the chain and a jump ring and the lobster clasp to the other end of the chain, completing my necklace.

I love the way my necklace turned out.

The etched metal has such a cool look to it.

It gives my Songbird Necklace subtle texture that makes it a really unique piece.  I can't wait to combine an etched metal blank with a stamped blank for a totally new unique piece of jewelry, so, of course, this isn't the last you'll see of my new BIGkick on the blog. Thank you Sizzix for adding a new jewelry making tool to my arsenal!!!

Hand Stamped Monogram Necklace

Hey, y'all!  I think you know by now that I just love monograms.  (I mean, it would be un-Southern of me not to love monograms!)  When I was making Christmas presents for family members in December, my love of monograms inspired me to create hand stamped monogram necklaces for a couple of my cousins.  The necklaces were so easy to make, and of course I'm going to show you how to make one yourself!

To create your own stamped monogram necklace, you'll need a few basic metal stamping supplies and jewelry making supplies.  (Many of my stamping supplies were sent to me a few months ago by GoodyBeads.) Supplies:

• Two-Ring Circular Brass Stamping Blank
• Brass Metal Stamping Hammer
• Stamp Straight Tape
• Bench Block
• Lower Case Metal Stamp Set
• Upper Case Metal Stamp Set--I bought this set from Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon.
• Black Permanent Marker
• Alcohol
• Polishing Pad (not pictured)
• Chain
• Jump rings (4)
• Lobster Clasp
• Metal Cutter
• Jewelry Making Pliers

Begin by taping the blank to the bench block.  Make evenly spaced marks on the tape so that you space out your monogram correctly.  Stamp the middle letter (the last name initial) first with an upper case stamp.  Then stamp the two outside letters with the lowercase stamps.  (Of course, the first letter will be the first name initial, and the last letter will be the middle name initial.  

**For more detailed directions on how to stamp metal, check out this post and this post.**

Once your design is stamped, color over the letters with a Sharpie.  Wipe off the excess with alcohol and shine your piece with a polishing pad.  Then it's time to put together your necklace.

Using the wire cutters, cut a piece of chain the desired length of your necklace.  Find the center point of the chain and cut it in half.  Use jump rings to attach the two sides of the stamped blank to the two pieces of chain.  Attach the lobster clasp to one end of the chain with a jump ring.  Attach the remaining jump ring to the other end of the chain.  And that's it.

I love the simplicity of the necklace.

It would be even prettier with a smaller, daintier chain.

My cousins loved their monogrammed necklaces, and I love that they were a great inexpensive handmade gift.  Now I just need to make one for myself.

RELATED POSTS:

 Create a Monogrammed T-shirt with your Silhouette

Monogrammed Makeup Case

{DIY Winter Princess Pearl Necklace}

Hey, y'all!  We are soooo close to Christmas!  I have most of my shopping done, but I will admit there are a few people I still need to buy gifts.  One of the perks of being a crafter, though, is that I can makes gifts for some of the people on my Christmas list.  I love making gifts for people when possible because I feel like I get more "bang for my buck."  I can make something beautiful that doesn't cost a lot of money.  At Christmastime, saving money when possible is AWESOME!  So today I want to share a tutorial for a necklace that really couldn't be easier to make, and if you'll stay with me until the end of the post, I'll be sharing projects from #MyFavoriteBloggers as well!  Without further ado, here's my DIY Winter Princess Pearl Necklace.

When I go to the craft store, I like to wander down the bead aisle for pretty baubles.  Recently I was at Michaels, and the beads were on sale.  These pretty beauties caught my eye.

To make your own Winter Princess Necklace, you will need a strand of each of the beads above, the rhinestone toggle closure, beading wire, crimp beads, and a crimp tool.

Begin by cutting a length of beading wire the desired length of your necklace plus several inches.  Thread a crimp bead on the end of the wire, and then thread the wire through one piece of your toggle closure.  Loop the end of the wire back through your crimp bead and use your crimp tool to close the crimp bead.  (If you're a jewelry making beginner, you can find tutorials online for using a crimp tool and crimp bead if you need extra help.)

 Then you simply thread your beads on the wire.  When you finish threading your beads, you repeat the process you used at the beginning to attach the other piece of the toggle closure to the end of your necklace.  Once you've done that, your necklace is finished.  (I told you it was really easy to make one of these!)

The pearls and the rhinestones look so lovely together.

I have the perfect person in mind to give this necklace, and I know she's going to love it!  If you need more easy-to-make jewelry inspiration, check out my other jewelry tutorials {HERE}. Now onto #MyFavoriteBloggers…

These lovely ladies are some of my favorite people!  They are from left to right, top to bottom: Sky from Creative Capital B, Adrianne from Happy Hour Projects, Melanie from It Happens in a Blink, Amy from One Artsy Mama, ChiWei from 1 Dog Woof, Sarah from Repeat Crafter Me, Kadie from Seven Alive, Me, Kara from Happy Go Lucky, Lauren from Thinking Closet, Tara from Suburble, Nancy from Do Small Things with Love, Meredith Wait Til Your Father Gets Home, and Kirsten from One Tough Mother This month we've teamed up to bring you fourteen winter crafts and recipes.

Peppermint Sugar Cookie Snowman, Zippered Snowflake Pouch, Crocheted Winter Gnome, Crocheted Snowflake Pattern, Winter Princess Pearl Necklace, Safety Pin Ice Skates, 15 Winter Boredom Busters for Kids, Winter Party Favors, Gold-Brushed Pine Cone Ornaments, Winter Gift in a Jar, Candy Swirl Winter Centerpiece, Egg Nog Cookies, Easy Beaded Snowflakes, DIY Christmas Trees I hope you'll check out some of the awesome inspiration above, especially since many of the crafts and recipes can be made after the Christmas holiday.  (That's great since Christmas is less than a week away!)  Happy crafting, friends!

{DIY Christmas Pendant with Dimensional Magic}

Hey, y'all!  I have a fun, festive craft to share with y'all today!  I recently participated in a handmade gift exchange, and when I asked my partner to tell me some things about herself, she told me that she LOVES Christmas.  I made her some pretty ornaments, but I wanted to make her a little something else special too.  I came up with this Christmas pendant to send her.  It's really simple to make, and it's the perfect addition to a holiday party outfit.

To make your own pendant, you need these supplies.

You'll need a blank pendant tray, any beads or cabochons you'd like to add to your pendant, a gemstone charm (not pictured), two jump rings (not pictured), micro beads, Mod Podge Dimensional Magic, and fine glitter.  

To begin creating your pendant, squeeze a very thin layer of Dimensional Magic in your tray.  (I always begin squeezing the DM on a piece of paper to make sure bubbles don't come out first.  Bubbles are your enemy!)  Pour in some of the micro beads.  Sprinkle a little glitter on top and press your cabochons in the wet Dimensional Magic.  Squeeze a very thin, final layer of DM on the top of the glitter and micro beads--not on top of the cabochons.  (If you accidentally ended up with a few bubbles, you can try to pop them with a straight pin, but that's really hard to do.  It's better just to avoid the bubbles altogether if humanly possible!)  Let that dry completely according to the directions on the Dimensional Magic bottle.

If your pendant tray has a loop on the bottom like mine does, you can use a jump ring to attach a pretty jewel as a finishing touch.  You'll need to attach a jump ring to the top of the pendant so that you can hang it on a chain.  I made a chain myself, but  you can buy one or use one you already have if you don't feel like making one.

The finished pendant is so pretty and festive.

It would look so pretty with your favorite Christmas-colored sweater--the perfect way to dress up your outfit for a Christmas party!  The lovely thing about this tutorial is that you could use it to create different pendants for different occasions simply by changing the color scheme.  What color scheme would you use if you made your own pendant?

{Neon Statement Necklace}

Hey, y'all!  You know I LOVE jewelry, and I find myself making more and more of it lately.  I really love statement necklaces, so I decided to make my own utilizing a supply that's found at the hardware store.

Over a year ago, I was browsing the hardware section of Walmart to find something to inspire me to make jewelry.  I found a bag of cotter pins of various sizes.

I used them to make a pair of earrings that you can find {HERE}.  Since then, I've had the leftover cotter pins in a jar in my craft room, waiting patiently until I thought of another way to make them beautiful.  Recently, inspiration struck!  I knew I could use them to make a statement necklace--a NEON statement necklace.  I gathered a bunch of them of different sizes and Krylon's Fluorescent spray paint to begin the process of making them beautiful.

You can see my technical spray painting set up above.  ;)  I spread the cotter pins out on a wire that I stuck in the ground, and then I just sprayed them with a few coats of the spray paint.  It wouldn't hurt to spray them with a few coats of clear spray paint as well, but I wasn't patient enough to do that.

I matched the sprayed cotter pins up by size, and then I put them together in a "V" pattern.  I had to make something for them to hang on, and I decided gold would look great with the neon pink.

I cut a piece of chain 20" long.  (The type of chain I used will allow me to shorten it if I want.)  I attached a jump ring to one end.  Then I carefully threaded the cotter pins on and attached the clasp and second jump ring to the other end of the chain.  Immediate neon statement necklace awesomeness ensued!

You can't really grasp the fluorescence of the neon in the photos.  It's pretty darn bright.

I love the gold with the neon pink.

And I love the way it fans out when I wear it.  Do you love the statement necklace trend or do you prefer more "subtle" necklaces? You can find more of my DIY necklace tutorials {HERE}.