Achieving the Layered Pendant Look

Hey everyone, I hope you're all having a great week. I'm super busy gearing up my annual craft show next month,  which means working way into the night building stock. One of the looks that is very "In" right now is the layered pendant look. It's easy, easy, easy!

I'm going to show you one of my latest creations, but you can use any charms or beads that you like. I've made a lot of domed pendants for the market and I love using them with the layered look.

You will need:

Chain, charms (and/or beads) and jump rings!

With this necklace I used a circle charm as my starting point and added the other charms onto it. I used a short link of chain to extend one charm so that it hangs lower than the others (just for fun). 

Its that easy!

This is what the necklace looks like when its worn - very pretty, don't you think?

Here are a few more layered designs I have up my sleeve for the craft show

I hope you've been inspired to give this method a go. So striking and so easy!

Take care

xxx

Girl's Swim Bag

I shared this at Inspiration Cafe in August for our "Kidding Around" series.

This is the easiest and quickest project ever! Okay maybe not "ever".. but pretty close!

This project was a great collaboration between my 5 year old and me. 

She desperately needed a new swim bag as her old plastic Dora one was literally held together by a few threads. And the fact that she is nearly 6 and Dora is sooooo 3 years ago, she wanted to choose something more her own style.

A trip to Spotlight was in order and she chose all the components (I had another idea in my head but this time I let her have artistic reign).

What you need for your very own bag:

Stencil, fabric pens and a bag 

(we chose a calico craft bag for approx $6)

The whole project cost $17.

 I placed a sheet of thick cardboard into the bag first just in case the pen came through the fabric, which it didn't, much to my surprise! 

Position the stencil where you want to draw, I didnt measure, which I think you probably should do.

Once you have drawn your design on using fabric markers, iron the bag to set the ink.

I love it and Payton is thrilled with her new bag.

I only drew one flower onto the back of the bag, so it wasn't too plain.

 Payton has it all packed and ready for her next swim class!

Take care

 xxx

 

Linking up to these great Parties:

Cheat's Lasagne Pasta Bake

Hey Everyone,

Who doesn't LOVE Lasagne? My family does, in fact its the one meal the kids actually ask for, that doesn't include nuggets, fish fingers or chips. 

But making Lasagne is time consuming and expensive and there's never enough for everyone, the next night. So, after the kids asked for lasagne one night and when I said I didn't have lasagne sheets, they asked for Macaroni and cheese. Now anyone who knows me well, will know I don't like Mac n Cheese (not at all!), but I decided to kind of combine the two and see what happened.

Disclaimer: While I totally made this out of my head, I don't doubt that this has been dreamt up by others and called a variety of other names. I have not discovered this recipe on the web or pinterest, but it may be there ;-)

Ingredients:

1 Cup (or more) Bolognaise sauce ( I used left over savory minced beef with a tomato pasta sauce)

White sauce (enough to cover the pasta)

Bag of pasta shells, spirals, penne - whatever you have on hand

Cheese for the topping.

Set the oven to 180 degrees Celcius (approx 356 degrees Fahrenheit)

Pour the uncooked bag of pasta into a pyrex baking dish.

Add the bolognaise sauce and combine with the pasta to evenly distribute.

Make up a really thin white sauce and pour over the pasta in the dish - make sure the white sauce covers the pasta. 

Season to taste.

Cover and bake for approx 40 minutes or until the pasta has absorbed all the sauce and is soft. Be careful not to over cook and dry out it.

It will look like this with out the cheese.....

Sprinkle a generous helping of cheese over the top of the pasta bake and set it back in the oven for another 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown...

Serve with a salad and crusty bread rolls! This dish really does taste pretty close to lasagne and has become a weekly staple in our house, we all love it!

Let me know if you have a similar family recipe - I would love some more ideas.

Take care

xxx

  

Cork Pendant Necklaces

Hi Everyone, 

If you search for wine cork necklaces on Pinterest you will find all kinds of great ideas.  But I decided as an experiment, to combine, cork and acrylic paint and rub on decals... I like how my experiment turned out!

Here's what you need and how to make a pendant too....

1. Wine or craft corks, rub on decals, screw eyes, a craft knife, acrylic paint and a sealer (I use Weldbond - it dries clear and non sticky)

2. Cut the cork to the size you require, 

3. Paint lightly the areas you want covered - allow to dry

4. Gently rub on the decal

5. Seal and allow to dry.

6. Carefully screw in the screw eye

Add a chain and your pendant is ready to wear... 

 

 I seriously had so much fun making these and I am excited to try my ideas out on more. 

 

 What do you all think? And which one is your favourite? I'd have to say mine is the turquoise stamp.

Take care

xxx

  

Linking Up To:

http://www.savvysouthernstyle.net/2013/10/wow-us-wednesdays-138.html

 http://www.mygirlishwhims.com/2013/10/your-whims-wednesday-131-and-features.html

http://www.the36thavenue.com/2013/10/best-diy-projects-26.html 

http://www.craftberrybush.com/2013/10/the-inspiration-gallery-56.html

http://www.artsyfartsymama.com/2013/10/artsy-corner-link-party.html
http://happyhourprojects.com/happy-hour-friday-10-4/
http://www.shakentogetherlife.com/2013/10/whats-shakin-link-party-79-share-inspire.html 
http://www.mellywoodsmansion.com/2013/10/freaking-awesome-fridays-7.html 
http://www.itsoverflowing.com/2013/10/share-your-creativity-99/