Make-It-Monday: DIY Chevron Paint Chip Necklace

Here's a Make-It-Monday tutorial from KiraArts! (you can check out her blog here)

*If you make a Make-It-Monday craft yourself, take a picture and share it with us at our RNEST Facebook Page, or use the hashtag #RNESTMakeItMonday on Instagram, and we may share it here on the blog!*

"My mom and I went to Lowes last week. While we were there, we saw these Sherwin-Williams paint chips that were shaped like little houses!  

As mom and I were having fun picking out color combinations that we liked, I noticed that they reminded me of chevron necklaces. (Like the ones from RNESTer The Knotty Owl). Mom has made circle necklaces out of paint chips before, using different sized circle punches. So I thought, why not make a chevron necklace?

First, I arranged the paint chips and used a clothespin to hold them in place.
Then I put packing tape on them to hold the chips together and laminate it.  In hindsight, I would not recommend using packing tape, because of the little air bubbles. I should have used clear contact paper. You may still get air bubbles with contact paper, but they would be easier to get out than with the packing tape.  And, obviously, if you're lucky enough to have a laminating machine, go ahead and use that!

Then I cut the paint chips to the size I wanted.

So, I have this cool tool...the Crop-A-Dile.  It's for putting in eyelets.  I thought the eyelets would give the necklace a more finished look, rather than just using a hole-punch.  If you don't have a Crop-A-Dile, a simple eyelet kit would work.
(The Crop-A-Dile is mainly for papercraft projects; I wouldn't recommend it for putting functional, long term eyelets in fabric if you're making a corset or something.)

Then just put a chain through the holes and your necklace is finished!
The packing tape bubbles made the finish a little wonky, but I'll know better for next time! (and you all get to learn from my mistakes!)

*If you want a chevron necklace that is much more durable, you should really check out the handmade wooden ones by The Knotty Owl!

You can use a long chain...

Or a short chain!

And, you could really do this with any kind of scrapbook paper, or even cover some cardstock with washi tape!

Happy Crafting!"

Make-it Mondays: DIY Button Stamp

Recently our teammate, Kira of KiraArts, shared a button stamp project on her blog, made from an empty thread spool and craft foam. Now she is ready to share how she made these DIY stamps in 10 easy steps. Check these out!

Materials:

• Empty plastic spools (you could also use old prescription bottles)
• Craft foam (the kind you find in the kids' craft section)

Tools:

• Hot glue gun
• Scissors
• Hole punch
• Marker, pen, or pencil

Step 1: Use the spool you want to use for your stamp to trace 4 circles onto the craft foam (I did 2 circles on blue and 2 circles on red.)

Step 2: Cut the circles out.

Step 3: Take one circle and punch 4 holes in it to look like button holes (or you can do 2 holes if you'd like).

Step 4: Use the hot glue to attach one of the blank circles to the top of the spool. (You could also use chipboard if you'd like. It might even work better. The first circle is just a base to glue the other part to.)

Step 5: Glue on the "button" foam circle.

And there's the first stamp!

Step 6: Take the second red circle and use a smaller spool to trace a circle.

Step 7: Cut the circle out so you have a hole in the middle. The circle should now look like an "O".

Step 8:Glue the blue foam circle onto the other side of the spool, then glue the "O" on top of it.

Step 9: Remember when you used the hole punch earlier? Salvage those little foam dots from your hole punch. These will be the "button holes" for this side of the stamp.

Step 10: Carefully glue the dots in the middle of the "O" to look like button holes. And now the second side is done!

One stamp...two designs!

Note: Be sure to clean your stamp off after using it!...especially if you plan on using the other side right away. Failure to do so will result in inked-up hands! I usually use cheap baby wipes from the dollar store.

I did a smaller one with a two-hole button design.

Happy Stamping! :) For more great stamp designs, check our other teammate's, John of Jackbear Stamps, Etsy shop.