Salvaging Broken Jewelry

Sometimes you just end up with a crapton of broken jewelry.

Or maybe that's just me.

Whether you buy it for crafty purposes, someone gives it to you, or you just stockpile things you have that break, it can accumulate!  While I'm certainly not a hoarder in most areas of my life, my craft stockpile can sometimes beg to differ.  I find myself having to clean out and re-organize all of it every 2 months or so just to sort of ferret through and ask "am I *really* going to do this project?" or "is this something I have the time and energy to finish?" so that it doesn't take over...well...everything.

At any rate, in case you are the type of person who also ends up with a lot of broken jewelry or weird odds and ends, then this post is for you!  Maybe you'll have the same pieces here or maybe you'll be able to use this for some sort of inspiration!  :)

Now, I don't have any 'before' photos, but this metal cabochon thing had had the jump ring, bail, or whatever had belonged to it broken off, the stone was loose and had a silver paint on the back, and it was bizarrely wrapped in some sort of odd, iridescent fabric that was all bunched up underneath.  That had to go.

I pried up the prongs, ripped off the fabric and carefully used a razor blade to scrape the silver paint off of the back.  Not all of it, though, and you'll see why.

I wanted to put a photo under the stone before putting it back in, but without all the bunched-up fabric under it, it just didn't sit right, so I used some Loctite to glue some flat beads in there.

Once I had the proper level, I was able to trim the photo I wanted to use around the "stone" and set it into the little bevel...wait...is that even the right damn word?

Anyway...

I put the "stone" back on top, then closed the prongs....You can sort of see here how the silver I left gave it that 'damaged old mirror' look.  It looks better in person...

Now, the aforementioned bail.  It didn't really have one, I just did't know what the proper term for they-glued-it-directly-to-the-chain was.  Still don't.  Either way, I took a small, flat, ugly charm I had lying in my jewelry supplies and used the Loctite to affix it to the back of the whole ordeal.

And now we have a really cool, sort of goth pendant that needs a matching chain!

For that, I used a plain chain and then added some drapes to it using a different style of chain to break up the monotony.

Then, I attached the little dangling parts which are actually those little metal things you're supposed to put around round beads.

I am so full of terminology today I shock myself.

Awful fucking terminology or not, I'm very pleased with how this turned out!  It took me about 20 minutes (not including the glue-drying time, of course) to take this pile of trash and make something pretty and unique!  Score one for repurposing!

<3 WW

Braided Denim Rug Tutorial

I actually hated this and took it apart as soon as I was done.

The Wookie was stoked because he wanted the denim rope before I'd turned it into a rug, so it was still a good thing.  It came out the way it was supposed to, but I just didn't care for it once I was seeing it in person, so I figured I'd go ahead and post it because, chances are, someone out there will like it!  If that's you, then here's how ya make one:

First, you need old jeans.  It took about 4 pair to make this rug, if I remember correctly.  Keep in mind most of them were mine and I have crazy long legs and have to buy a 37" inseam, so you may need to adjust!

After that, you need to cut the legs of the jeans into strips length-wise that are about an inch to an inch and a half thick, but I neglected to take pictures of that.

 Next, begin braiding all those pieces together.  I found it was easiest to hold the tops of three strips together, stitch them all at the top, then braid from there.

 After a while, you'll get to a point where you reach the end of the strips you've started with, so it is time to sew on more.  I wanted to sew as I went instead of sewing them all together and dealing with this huuuuuuge strip of fabric.

 I pinned my braid so it wouldn't unravel, then stitched more lengths of denim to the ends of the ones already braided.

Then, it is keep braiding and stitching....

....and braiding and stitching...

NOW we've gotten somewhere.  Somewhere blurry, but still somewhere.

Now that you have a massive braided denim rope, it is time to turn it into a rug.  Lay the end flat on a surface and loop it over a few inches as shown.  This will be your starting point.  I wanted (well, thought I wanted) a round rug, so I made mine small, but if you want an oval one, just make your starting point longer.

Flip it over and begin stitching it together.  It doesn't have to be pretty as this will be the bottom.

Begin curling it around itself, holding it flat, and stitching as you go.

Keep going.  Now, around this part is when I realized this wasn't going to look how I wanted it to, so from this point on, I sort of just pinned it together so you could see the end result, but the process is the same.  Roll and stitch, roll and stitch, then tuck the ends under and stitch them down to finish it off.

This is what you would end up with, only minus the small gaps you can see that are showing since it is only pinned.  I'm standing on it for scale.

So, if the braided rag rug is your thing, then there's how to do it!  I wasn't crazy about it, but the Wookie is quite happy with his rope.

<3

WW