Personalised Jewellery Gift Box Tutorial

Hello everyone. This post is a little late, I have had a bunch of uni assessments due all at once so it took over my life for a short period of time. I am trying to organise my time better so I can craft and blog more often, those assessment just sneak up on you sometimes though, not to mention the many adventures that life throws your way, especially with 2 kiddies at home.

Today I am going to show you how I made a personalised jewellery gift box. I used it to hold some gorgeous little earrings that a friend of mine made that I gave to my mum for mother's day. In my next post I will show you how I made a simple insert to hold the earrings inside the box nicely. The friend I was talking about is the designer at Janey Jewels, they specialise in handmade jewellery featuring one-off and custom designs. I highly recommend that you go and check out the gorgeous designs while you wait for my next post. Personally I love the Lauren earrings so much, I'm sure you'll love them too!!! Here is the Facebook page for Janey Jewels and here is the etsy shop link. Let me know what you think  :)

You can use a variety of different materials to make this box and change the design however you like, just think about what coordinating colours you want to use and either hit your local craft store, jump on ebay or search through your stash. My partner accompanied me to the craft shop to buy the items for this project and he actually picked out the bling sticker and paper flowers, he has a good eye that's for sure, I love the way they all look together.


Materials

• Small box
• Acrylic paint 
• Thin ribbon
• Bling letter sticker
• Paper flower
• Craft glue
• Scissors
• Paint brush

Directions
1. Paint the box with acrylic paint in your choice of colour. You will need to use 2 coats all over and make sure the paint dries between each coat.
TIP: Use a plastic covering to put over the surface you are working on, if you put your painted items down to dry on newspaper they will stick and be difficult to remove. If this does happen try using sandpaper to remove the bits stuck in the dried paint, you may need to repaint that side or area.

2. When completely dry, glue some ribbon around the rim of the lid. Use glue sparingly and spread it lightly across the ribbon with a paddle pop stick, spare paint brush or your finger to prevent the glue from seeping out once you stick it on and smooth it down. Put aside to let the glue set.

3. Arrange the decorative items on the top of the lid to get an idea of where you want them all to sit. Next, peel the backing off the bling sticker and carefully stick it in place. Smooth down to ensure it is stuck on properly.

4. Place a small dab of craft glue in the centre of the back of the paper flower. Wait about 30 seconds to a minute then place it on the lid of the box next to the letter. Put aside to let the glue set.

This part is all done now. If you want you can use it to put a small gift in, but please remember to check in soon for my tutorial on the earring insert to go inside this box. It is super simple and quick.

Thanks for reading, let me know what you think by leaving a comment below  :)

This post was featured HERE.

Tutorial: How To Make Bangles From Soft Drink Bottles - Upcycling

I have finally gotten around to posting this, sorry for the delay, I had so much uni work to catch up on so blogging took a back seat for a little bit.

As I stated in my last post I seen a picture on Facebook which inspired me to have a go at making these for myself. The original post can be found on fashion blog but my bangles were made slightly different. I have added some tips about things I learnt along the way to make them easier to create.

Why not give this project a go, I found it so fun and easy.

Materials

• Small soft drink bottle (I used a Pepsi bottle)
• Duct tape and masking tape
• Stanley knife and scissors
• T-shirt or other material
• Craft glue (or a hot glue gun and hot glue sticks)
• Any decorations you may wish to add

Directions

1. Stick a ring of tape around the bottle, ensuring that it is as straight as you can get it and that the ends meet up seamlessly. This can be tricky so take the tape off and start again as many times as you need to (I had to try a few times with the duct tape).

I fit one ring of masking tape and one ring of duct tape on my bottle, leaving a few millimetres of space in between. I used both masking tape and duct tape as I thought it would be nice to create bangles of different widths.

TIP: I found the masking tape to be easier to cut along using a Stanley knife, the duct tape didn't help with the guiding of the blade so it was not perfectly along the straight line, but that's ok as the thickness of the materials masks up these imperfections anyway

2. Now cut closely along the edges of the tape with a Stanley knife. Go slowly and pay careful attention to keeping to the line of the tape, it is much harder to trim precisely with scissors afterwards and you don't want any big dents out of your bangle. It's ok if you have small imperfections, these shouldn't show up in the end as you will wrap the bangle with fabric of some sort.

Once you have cut out one side it will be harder to cut the open side (please do not try to support the open end of the bottle with your hand, it is dangerous).

TIP: I have used a jar to place inside to keep the bottle firm while I cut, otherwise you might find it quite difficult and possibly even cut yourself.

If you need to you can trim the edges with scissors now.

3. For the duct tape bangle get out an old t-shirt. I used one that didn't fit my son anymore, it was pretty much brand new. You could visit your local second hand store to find something nice and colourful or do a clean out of the family's wardrobes to see if there is anything suitable that doesn't fit anymore.

Measure around the bottom of your shirt with a tape measure. If your shirt measures smaller than about a metre around, you will need to use more than one strip of fabric to cover the bangle.

Cut the hem off the t-shirt and measure a 6 cm wide strip (starting from the bottom of the shirt after the hem is gone), marking it with a lead pencil or special fabric marking pencils/textas. If you need more than one strip mark another right on top of the same width. Cut the strip (or strips) along the line with sharp scissors (preferably fabric scissors).

Cut the side of the shirt along one of the side seams (if you have not done so already) and remove any tags.

4. Glue along the end of one strip and fold the edges of two sides (about half a centimetre each side) onto the middle of the strip. 

Place the glued end into the inside of the bangle on a bit of an angle. Hold it in place until the glue has dried to prevent it from moving whilst you are wrapping.

5. Now start winding the fabric through and around the bangle on a slight angle. Pull the fabric firmly as you go so that it curls behind leaving you with a nice edge. You don't need to glue the fabric down along the way but you can if you want to. If you do, be sure to glue inside the bracelet not the outside as the glue may seep through the fabric and be visible which you don't want.

When you reach the end trim the fabric to ensure it fits inside the bangle but won't be hanging out at all. Glue along the edge and hold until dried. 

If your fabric strip was not long enough to finish the bangle, be sure to trim the fabric and glue the end inside the bangle to finish that strip off. Glue a new strip just on top of the that inside the bangle and continue wrapping it around til the end.

If your fabric strip has a seam make sure it sits inside the bangle so that you can't see it from the outside (unless you want this that is). If it doesn't then you can cut the strip and start a new strip inside the bangle so that the outside looks more seamless.

Now you have a finished bangle to wear or give as a gift. Here is my daughter modelling the finished product. She loves them so much!

You can add further decoration if you like but I think these ones are quite nice the way they are. Use materials that have a nice pop of colour to make a statement.

I then used the thinner bangle from masking tape and wrapped hot pink satin ribbon around it which was 2.5 cm in width. I used about a metre in length. I did put a small blob of glue on every second or third wrap of the ribbon just to make sure that it was secure and that it sat perfectly. I then glued a scrap of black lace on the edge and a lace bow which complimented it wonderfully.

You really can make so many different variations with these, just play around with different materials and decorations and have fun with it.

I have some cute and easy mother's day projects coming up soon so be sure to check back soon. I will be posting tutorials on hand made items that are inexpensive and thoughtful, projects that are great to do with the kids.

Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you think  :)