Gold and Pearls - A dangle earring tutorial!

Some new earrings have shown up in my Etsy shop and I am in love!  If these do well, I may start doing a lot more pieces like them.

Because I love them SO much, I'm going to tell you how I made them!

Materials

•  5 - 6 inches of 20 gauge gold wire
• 2 Glass pearls, I got some vintage ones for a steal at a thrift store
• Gold earring findings (Or you could make your own with wire)
• Clear Crystal beads, side drilled hole

First thing, I took my pearl and put it on a looped finding.  Then, because I like the look of wrapped loops, I used my round nosed pliers and made a loop a bit above my pearl.  I then wrapped the rest of the wire down until I got to the pearl and I clipped off the excess.

 

Next, I did a briolette wrap on the crystal bead.  I had a side drilled crystal but this process would work beautifully on a front to back drilled one as well.  For a tutorial on how to do a briolette wrap, check out this super informative website!  How to Make Beaded Jewelry

Lastly, the easy part!  I opened the non-wrapped loop on the pearl bead, this should be on the bottom side, and put the loop from the top of my crystal on it.  Close the loop.  Then I opened the loop on the earring post and put the wrapped loop on the top of the pearl bead on that.  Close the loop.

TA-DA!  You just made some super pretty, super simple earrings!  These are sooo cute for formal occasions, but you could wear these just about any 'ol time.  These would also be really pretty with different colored beads and crystals, or silver wire!  Experiment, have fun!

If you are interested in buying some of these lovelies for yourself (or a friend!) please check out my etsy shop by clicking the link in the sidebar.  

**THIS TUTORIAL IS FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY, DO NOT MAKE THESE AND ATTEMPT TO SELL THEM.**

Have fun and make something pretty today!

 

Button Earring Alert!

A few weeks ago, my sister and I were crafting up a storm and I decided to make a ton of adorable button earrings!  These are so cute that we both ended up keeping a pair, I wear them more than I'd like to admit!  Here are some of my favorites!

These are so sparkly and cute!

Diggin' the nautical theme of these buttons!

Polka dots... be still my beating heart!

The scroll work on these is just so pretty and intricate!

To see more and purchase some for yourself (or a lucky friend!) click on the link in my sidebar labeled "etsy shop!"

Or you just click this link!

uniqueOLIVE at etsy.com!

DIY Laundry Soap!

So some friends of mine make their own laundry soap and just love it.  I've been wanting to try it for some time but finding the time to grate soap is not the easiest... But I figured that with Baby J on the way, I'd probably want something better for their sensitive skin besides Dreft.  Dreft isn't bad or anything, but I'm not a huge fan of the smell of it NOR I am a fan of buying laundry detergent for me and the hub's clothes and a separate one for baby.

So I found this tutorial on Pinterest, it is FABULOUS. The Bobbi over at How Does She has an awesome idea with adding the Purex crystals, which makes the whole thing smell like heaven.  So here is my break-down of the tutorial and my results.

I did not use the Oxyclean or baking soda because I totally spaced it when I was at the store, but I did have 1 box of Borax, 1 box of Arm & Hammer Washing Powder, 1 container of Lavender scented Purex Crystals, and 2 bars of Fel Naptha laundry soap.  I could have used my food processor to grate the soap, but I like to use that for food and didn't want to wash it 18 times to get all the soap residue off of it.  Instead I bought a super cheap metal cheese grater and went to town.  It took me around 30 minutes to get it all grated and I lost some finger skin in the process.  If I were doing this again, I would wear gloves during the grating.  That being said, the rest of the process was totally easy.

I didn't have a 5 gallon bucket to mix in (DANG!) so I had to use 2 large Tupperware containers instead.  I just dumped half of my soap shavings into one bowl, the other half in the other bowl.  Then each bowl got 1/2 of the Purex, Borax, and Washing Powder.  I mixed each with a spoon fairly thoroughly until the mix looked pretty homogenous.  Then I dug around in my craft zone until I found some really perfect and awesome glass containers from last Christmas... they were supposed to be etched glass sugar/flour holders, but I didn't end up making them.  Sorry Mom!  That being said, I used the two containers, which I would estimate at 28 - 30 ounces each (maybe more), the Purex container, 28 ounces, AND a gallon sized Ziploc bag.  The Ziploc didn't get full, but about half way for sure.  If you wanted to do this process a little more organic or fragrance free, I would recommend using essential oils in the mixing process instead of the Purex crystals.  Also, use the white Zote soap instead of the pink version or the Fel Naptha, as those two are scented.  The essential oils will leave your clothes very lightly scented, but they are anti-viral and what not so you are still getting a super awesome cleaning.

I think the most awesome thing about this detergent is that for around $15.00 I made enough to last us a loooooong time, as we'll only need 1 to 2 tablespoons per load.  That is so awesome, because the cost of liquid detergent and fabric softener is the same, if not more, and this will last me at least as long as two bottles of each did, probably longer.  And I did try it today, it smells AMAZING!!  Goodbye Tide, hello DIYSoap!

So get out there and make yourself some laundry detergent!  The price is right and you get to pick the scents and everything!

Go ahead and check out the tutorial, linked HERE.