This is my Marni-ishkindofinspired necklace. And yes, I know that it's not the same as the real deal, but I tried to make the petal "pom-pom" thingies first and I just failed. But if you prefer, you could make the "pom-poms" instead. So I took inspiration from this necklace and Luella s/s 10 bag charms (pic from style.com) to make a sort of improvisation. Yay.
Ribbon flower favours (you know those little flowers you see in the wedding section of craft shops? Them.)
Ribbon,
A long chain
Ribbon flower favours (you know those little flowers you see in the wedding section of craft shops? Them.)
Ribbon,
A long chain
LOTS and LOTS of glue (superglue!)
30 or 35 mm cotton balls, you can find these at craft shops, I found these were the best size but you could try different sizes. (I used cotton balls, you can get polystyrene balls that are very similar, but I'm not sure how good they'd be)
Of course, you don't have to use the same stuff as me, like if you want the flowers to be blue and only make 3 balls or whatever, I'm sure it would look cool. I just tried to make mine as close to the Marni one.
1. Paint the balls to match the flowers. You don't have to do this, but in case you accidentally leave gaps between the flowers like I did then it's not as obvious. And besides, it looks nicer and painting is fun :) I used plain ol' poster paint mixed with a bit of water, you can use watercolour, but it makes the cotton balls a little soggy.
2. Make a hole in the balls so they can go on the chain. I just got a small screwdriver and a needle and pushed it through, but you can use a pencil or needle or anything. It just needs to be able to go on the chain. It's kind of like stabbing the ball through its cotton heart and then coming out of the other side to have an evil laugh. (Yeah, I did have a rather overactive imagination that day) Don't make them too big! They should stay put on the chain and not move about.
3. Then for the flowers (i.e. the time consuming, messy part) Because the cotton balls were too cottony and soft to stab with the flower favours, I had to invent a way to attatch them and make them more secure. First I cut the flower shorter to that there was just about 5mm of the stick left below the actual flower, so basically the whole stick goes for the chop. Then I got a pin and hairgrip, and made a little hole for the newly-short flower to go in. Make sure the whole is big and deep enough for the stem of the flower, but not too big that the flower just sinks completely into it. Then I put a dollop of super glue in, on and around the hole and push the flower in the hole. Hold it down for a few seconds until the flower seems secure. You might need to flatten it down a bit with the superglue and neaten it up. I really wish I had the photos for this step but I can't seem to find them, I think my camera has eaten them. It sounds really odd and rubbish, this explanation and method but I was covered in pin pricks and super glue and it was just the best I could come up with. You might have better ideas, so experiment if you want.
2. Make a hole in the balls so they can go on the chain. I just got a small screwdriver and a needle and pushed it through, but you can use a pencil or needle or anything. It just needs to be able to go on the chain. It's kind of like stabbing the ball through its cotton heart and then coming out of the other side to have an evil laugh. (Yeah, I did have a rather overactive imagination that day) Don't make them too big! They should stay put on the chain and not move about.
3. Then for the flowers (i.e. the time consuming, messy part) Because the cotton balls were too cottony and soft to stab with the flower favours, I had to invent a way to attatch them and make them more secure. First I cut the flower shorter to that there was just about 5mm of the stick left below the actual flower, so basically the whole stick goes for the chop. Then I got a pin and hairgrip, and made a little hole for the newly-short flower to go in. Make sure the whole is big and deep enough for the stem of the flower, but not too big that the flower just sinks completely into it. Then I put a dollop of super glue in, on and around the hole and push the flower in the hole. Hold it down for a few seconds until the flower seems secure. You might need to flatten it down a bit with the superglue and neaten it up. I really wish I had the photos for this step but I can't seem to find them, I think my camera has eaten them. It sounds really odd and rubbish, this explanation and method but I was covered in pin pricks and super glue and it was just the best I could come up with. You might have better ideas, so experiment if you want.
(above was the first one I made, they got a lot neater as I went on!)
4. You need to cover all the balls with these flowers. It took about 20-30 flowers for each ball, but the flowers usually come in packs of 12. I bought 9 packs just in case, but I had 1 and 1/2 packs left at the end. Anyway, this does take ages, but by the last ball you will have got the hang of it really well and you'll probably be faster than me anyway, as I'm really slow at making things. Just have your iPod handy.
5. Now that all the balls are done and dry, you need to put the balls onto the chain. I attached a grip to the end of the chain and then pulled it through the ball. As long as the hole wasn't too big, it should stay put on the chain without rolling all over the place. Then arrange them however you want.
6. Finally, cut two pieces of ribbon. Thread and attach the ribbon through the ends of the chain, and tie them in a bow at the back. Also make two little bows and attach them onto the chain like in the photos.
7. And then it was done :) A Marni-iskindofinspired necklace, for about £160 less (the real deal is £175 I think!)
I know this isn't a very good post, but I haven't done one in ages so I thought I might as well, and I was being lazy and not cheap enough, so I thought it would be a good idea to make something :) xx
No comments:
Post a Comment