SO I make dice bracelets a lot. Unfortunately this isn't going to be a how to. I'm gearing up for Seadogs in Lebanon Oregon this weekend and don't have time to make a post. Sorry.
I will however leave you with a few pics of my fave bracelets.
Feel free to ask questions, leave comments, etc. I"m always up for a chat!
This week I was digging around looking for some other supplies for another project and...I got side tracked. As a crafter this happens a lot. Just go with it. I didn't find the supply i was looking for in my crafty stash, but I did stumble across my perfume sticks supplies.
For this project it's rather simple. Finding the supplies is a pain.
You need a scent which is usually found as an essential Oil.
Technically the walmart oil can work, but always do a skin test. If you feel even remotely itchy don't use them. For me I haven't had any reactions to them yet.
Most of my oils come from a web site designed specifically for making these. http://rusticescentuals.com/
The other item you'll need is something to make the solid base. Some use coconut oil and cooking wax from what I've heard, but I use the base from the above site because I trust it.
Beyond those ingredients you'll need a container of some sort. I had a bag of tubes so I'll be using those but anything can work. I use two lockets as well.
YOu'll need a microwave safe container. I used a pyrex measuring cup.
An optional item is small pipettes to make transferring the melted perfume from the pyrex to the tubes easier, but it isn't necessary. Just keep some rags on hand to clean up the mess if you spill a bit.
Here are the scents I chose to use this time around. I have about 20 scents, but that's due to the web site doing a batch scents sale so I kinda splurged them. These little bottles go a long way. You don't want to add too much to a batch or it'll be over powering. that being said, I followed my old instructions to the letter. I only used a pipette or two full of scent per batch, but it wasn't enough. I got quite a few comments about not smelling the perfume. So the ratio of scent to base is up to your own preferences really.
These are two of my containers. The small tube to the left is a basic lip balm tube. the clear one on the right is a bigger one. I like varioation. these can also be found at the web site linked above.
I chose this base from the web site because it was listed as all natural. With more and more people shying away from things that have weird chemicals in them I figured it would be a good idea to choose something natural just to be safe. Theoretically you can use coconut oil but I haven't used it yet so I don't know how it reacts. I do know coconut oil has a lower melt temp than this, so hot days will cause it to melt. This stuff wont.
What it looks like on the inside. it feels like well oil really, just hard. As you can see I'm almost out. For this project I used up what was left.
YOu don't need to use a lot for one tube to be honest. This is...maybe one spoonful? Maybe just a bit over. I microwave this in intervals starting with 40 seconds. This round that was enough but some of my other batches required multiple rounds of time. Be careful, the cup will be hot.
I didn't get any pics of the pour stage because this stuff has to be done fast. What you do is pour your scents into the melted wax and stire for about a minute or so. It's up to you. Then you need to pour these into tubes. This was the first batch and because i chose to do the bigger tube I didn't quite have enough. It's ok since this was one I was keeping.
Blurry image right after a pour. Someday I'll get a better camera. :P
These were some other containers I wanted to use. They're lockets. As I said you can use anything. These will allow someone to wear the perfume without having the get the oils on them if they wish.
Another option, if you don't want to make a solid perfume stick, is to take a little bit of your essential oil and put it into a bottle with a cork. The cork sucks up the scent and you can wear it around. However I'd suggest diluting the oil. Oils have a high potency without diluting them.
These are all of the perfumes after I ran out of base. My last batch ended up with quite a few tiny tubes.
Overall, this is a lot of guessing. Have fun with it. You can get exact measurements if you want, but I sort of just winged it after a while because the exactness was giving me very mild scents and i have quite a few friends who like more powerful scents.
Feel free to ask questions, leave comments, etc. I"m always up for a chat!
In this post I'm trying something new. I keep seeing those focal pieces with the picture behind the glass bubbles. I have a big batch of them so I plan to make a few Game of Thrones House pendants.
What you'll need:
Round glass focal
Your design to be placed on the back
Cork for magnets
Moleskin for necklaces
Bails
E6000 glue
Modge Podge
necklace or cord for necklace
The first thing you need to do is print out your images. I used some Game of Thrones pictures. You need to size them to the focal you are using. The easiest way to do this is to place the focal over the image and trace around the focal as closely as you can. Once you cut out your circle glue it to the back somehow. Depending on your printer the image shouldn't smudge when you put Modge Podge over it.
To start with you want to use your glass cabochon to make a circle on your paper. Once you get that circle cut out (and may scavenge the rest of the image for more cabochons like i had to) you'll have to put Modge Podge on the back. I used a paint brush. Place the cabochon to you paper and use more Modge Podge on it to glue it in place. If you're getting a milkiness in your image place the whole thing paper down before repainting it and press, that'll push all the bubbles out and give you a clearer image.
The back will look something like this once its glued down and re-glued. It'll feel a bit plastic-like on the back, don't worry about it. If you have edges that didn't stay flat clip them with tiny scissors and do another gluing.
This is how they should turn out if you did everything right. How the image sits is up to you. It's all a matter of preference.
This is what you'll get if you scavenged the rest of the images. I made ones with the house sayings and ones with the house names. I have plans for another post on how to clear up the blank space, but really you can do anything there.
Other examples of images that came be used. I had some glass cabochon's left so I filled them. Then I discovered some of my metal backs left with their glass so I made a whole set of Sailor Scouts! I think I like the glass ones better because the glass magnifies the picture.
The last thing you'll need to do to these before finishing the backs is to attach bails so you can hang them on necklaces if you'd like. Bails are little metal pieces with a loop that you can use to make these into necklaces. They look like this. And a good, non-asian market, seller with a good price can be found here: https://www.etsy.com/transaction/208041901
You'll want to glue these on with E6000. In some cases it might have been best to glue them on first, but I'll have to experiment with that to say one way or the other. Give them a day to fully dry.
This is what mine looks like once I glued the bail on.
After you're happy with you pieces and your bails are glued on tight you can cover the backs with moleskin so nothing rubs on your skin. I've seen other do this with cork or regular cloth, but over all moleskin fabric or even scraps pieces of mirco suede is nicer on your skin.
This follows the same process of construction as the circles. Trace your glass cabochon, cut, and glue the piece on. Don't do a second outer layer of glue though. That'll take away the nice feeling of the fabric.
These glass cabochons can be anything from necklaces to magnets to whatever you want. You could even decorate an entire table with them, resin it over, and have something fun to look at. It's all up to you.
Feel free to ask questions, leave comments, etc. I"m always up for a chat!
