Handmade Button Jewelry by BluKatDesign on Etsy

Who doesn't love buttons? I love both vintage and modern buttons and have a collection of both! They are perfect little jewels to repurpose and add to necklaces, earrings or even magnets! From a chunky statement necklace made with vintage mother of pearl buttons to modern hoop earrings or dangling button cluster earrings, you will find a wide variety of unique colorful upcycled button jewelry at BluKatDesign on Etsy!

Modern Button Hoop Earrings

Repurposed Vintage Button Pendants

Vintage Button Statement Necklace with Zipper Flower

Vintage Inspired Passionista with  BluKatDesign Upcycled Button Earrings

Dangling Button Cluster Earrings

Stacked Button Dangle Earrings

Button Stud Earrings

Chunky Vintage Mother of Pearl Button Necklace

This is me wearing one of my favorite pairs of button earrings!

Button Magnets

Be sure to like The Vintage Inspired Passionista Blog on Facebook!

For more upcycled button jewelry follow my Pinterest board: Button Jewelry

Handmade Packaging: Recycled and Repurposed Gift Boxes

Handmade packaging: Recycled and Repurposed Gift Boxes: Simple, affordable and fun gift wrapping or packaging ideas. I get my boxes and ribbons from Nashville Wraps, it is a huge online store full of items for packaging and gifts for individuals or businesses, it is well worth the time to take a look at their store! I needed an easy and affordable way to package my handmade jewelry that could be sent in bubble mailers without getting smashed. Their recycled Kraft boxes are perfect!

Upcycled packaging for Christmas

The "bows" are flower punches is assorted sizes. I upcycle all of my Christmas cards, birthday cards, Nordstrom catalogs, magazines, sheet music, wrapping paper and scrap papers. I use saved ribbons, raffia and I found yarn that looks like baker's twine for less than half of the cost at my local craft store!

If you buy jewelry or gifts from my Etsy store you will get a colorful box, usually with my yellow flower logo, perfect for gift giving!

 For more packaging ideas please follow my Pinterest board: Creative Gift Wrap Ideas

If you have any great packaging ideas or comments please list them below!

DIY Decoupage Gold Embossed Wood Disc Earrings

DIY Decoupage art jewelry earrings with gold embossing.  I had a bunch wood discs left over from another project so I thought what better way to use them up along with my scrap decoupage paper. 

I used my Sun and Moon Glaze for the decoupage glue but you can use Mod Podge. It has been years since I've done any stamping so this was an experiment. I found this cool stamp at JoAnn's; most stamps are too big for jewelry but I thought I could use sections of it. I also grabbed a Perfect Pearls embossing kit hoping this would work:

I had no idea if my idea was going to work, I googled but couldn't find any info on how to make the Perfect Pearls permanent for jewelry.  I've used powders on poly clay but not stamped! When my decoupaged discs were dry I just took the Perfect Medium, a clear but sticky "ink",  and patted it onto an area of my stamp. I then carefully pressed the disc onto the stamp without moving or smudging, then lifted it off.  At this point you can't see a thing but then I took the bigger soft brush that came with my kit and patted on a little of the Perfect Pearls gold powder, brushed it off and like magic the gold letters appeared:

 

So that looked great... but I've never had luck with sealing metallic paints; Krylon spray would cause things to run or the shimmer would go away so I was a bit nervous. I found in my closet, a sealer by Speedball made for gold leaf so I thought I would give it a try:

I thought maybe three very LIGHT coats may do the job and just maybe the gold wont run. So I  sprayed.....and a big blob of spray came out!!! Sure it was old and was in my closet for years!  I thought I ruined my earrings but I continued to spray the big blobs until everything looked evenly coated.  Okay,  they didn't run but will they become a goopy mess? Maybe the glaze and this spray aren't compatible like what usually happens to me so I left them to dry. I went back and checked them after maybe twenty minutes and they were completely rock hard and dry!  I will getting more of this spray sealer!  I drilled the holes, added some beads and earring wires and what do you think? I may make more! If you don't want to take all of the time to make these you can find them in my Etsy shop: (just click on the photo below)

See my other Decoupage Earrings DIY using old maps!

For more DIY jewelry tutorials follow my Pinterest board: DIY Jewelry Tutorials


If you have any crafts,  decoupage or gold embossing tips let us know! All comments are welcomed below:

DIY Duct Tape Earrings

Simple DIY Duct Tape Earrings
I've been on a decoupage kick lately but with all the layers of paper and glaze and more glaze and waiting for glaze to dry and waiting.... I wanted something quick! Then it came to me....duct tape!

 I have a bunch of these 1 1/2" wood discs that I need to use up. (you can find them in craft stores but I got mine online)  I first took a sharpie to the rims then sealed the entire disc with clear Krylon acrylic spray so they wouldn't warp and let dry.

Use sharpies or nail polish to paint the rims!

 I tore off a small piece of duct tape or Duck Tape they call it and... BAM!  I pressed the duct tape on the disc then took a small sharp pair of scissors and trimmed. Even though it gets sticky, it was fairly easy to get a nice neat edge. I rubbed the edges on a dry towel to seal and to get the sticky stuff off and cleaned the residue off with rubbing alcohol. I drilled holes in my discs but you can use a thumb tack to make a hole, the wood is soft enough. Add some beads and ear wires for some really cool earrings!

Find these duct tape earrings in my Etsy shop!

 If you  like the look of these colorful earrings but don't want to make them yourself check out my duct tape earrings in my Etsy shop!

Be sure to follow my Pinertest board: DIY Jewelry Tutorials for more fun jewelry making ideas!


What do you think? Have you taken part in the duct tape crafting craze yet? Comments welcomed!

Decoupage Map Earrings - DIY Jewelry Tutorial

Decoupage earrings made from a topography map

I love maps so I naturally have a pile of old maps that I have collected over the years.  I made a decoupaged map mannequin head, made map pen holders and spruced up an old acrylic mixed media painting with maps! Since I am a jeweler, I had to try map jewelry! I had a bunch wood discs left over from another project (you can find these at craft stores or online) These are easy to make but take many steps to complete.

Steps:

1) To prevent warping seal both sides with clear Krylon acrylic spray found in craft or hardware stores. I let them dry overnight. You can color the edges with a Sharpie first!

Maps ready to be glued to wood discs

2) Use a paper punch or trace the outline of your discs and cut out your maps.

I use a gloss decoupage glue

3) Using Mod Podge or any decoupage glue ( I used my Sun and Moon glaze) paint a medium layer onto the disc and place the paper on pressing out any air bubbles, I use an old mouse pad with waxed paper and press! Make sure you clean off the excess along the edges.  I let the paper dry about 15 minutes and then do the other side. I let these dry overnight, this makes trimming easier.

4) Trim the paper edges with small sharp scissors. I like to file the edges with a file or fingernail file for a nice clean edge.

5) With a good brush add a light to medium coat of the decoupage glue and repeat 2-3 times waiting 15 minutes or so between coats. If it is humid, you may want to wait longer.

6) Drill holes and hang from ear wires when dry! If you don't want to go through all of these steps just find these map earrings all ready to ship in my Etsy shop! They make great gifts!

map earrings

Here are some ideas on how to wear your map earrings:

 Be sure to follow my Pinterest board,  Maps Crafting and Decor  for more great ideas using maps!

Do you love maps?  Do you like these map earrings or do you have other fun ideas that use maps? Comments are welcomed below.