Make and Tell Challenge Day 5

As planned, today I made some jewelry. I plunked down on the couch, popped in Alex and Emma (Luke Wilson, Kate Hudson), and set to work. Almost all of my supplies were purchased on clearance at A.C. Moore the other day.

The ice cream necklace is, hands down, my favorite "make" of the day. I couldn't believe it when I saw these Iwako brand kawaii erasers at the front of A. C. Moore. Desserts, fruits, junk food, they were all there, just waiting to be crafted into something awesome (well, maybe they were there as a back-to-school promotion, but what do I know?). Now, I had purchased some eraser jewelry from fab Etsy seller Kawaii Cupcake some time ago, so I knew right away that I wanted to make my own jewerly out of these finds. But please let it be said that I'm not setting out to present Kawaii Cupcake's idea as my own. That's why I will not be featuring this stuff in my shop, but wearing it only for my personal enjoyment. Now that that's out of the way, this is how I made the tasty ice cream necklace pictured here:

First, I varnished the three ice cream cone erasers with clear nail polish. I figured this would protect them from getting dirty as well as provide a lovely finish. Next, I speared each eraser with (what I believed to be) earring findings, leaving the loop at the top. I then attached a jump ring to each loop, then did my usual wire coiling of the lobster claw clasp and began stringing fun and colorful plastic beads on the wire. I usually go for multiple-stranded necklaces but decided to limit this one to a single strand so the ice cream cones could stand out. This necklace will go with countless items in my closet; I can't wait to wear it!

This ring was a similar and much simpler project. I began again by varnishing the eraser. I think this one is a jello mold, which is perfect because jello is my all-time favorite dessert. (It's colorful, fruity, and wiggles; what more could you want?) After that, all I had to do was attach the eraser to a ring back with some Gem-Tac permanent adhesive glue, and voila, another fun accessory!

Now, on to the last necklace. When I bought these oversized faux pink pearls and diamond-shaped glass beads, I knew that I would alternate them in a choker-style necklace. I completed this one in record time - only to discover that this choker choked me a little too much! I debated living with the slight asphyxiation but thankfully opted to (gulp - pun intended) start over, this time adding an extra pearl to each end. The result was perfect, and now I'm glad I took the time to fix it.

As for Alex and Emma, it was so-so but perfect for the background purposes for which it was intended. Now I own it because, unbeknownst to me, my local Blockbuster is going out of business tomorrow, and they can only sell, not rent, their inventory. I learned all of this while trying to pay; I didn't want to put it back because I came there for a movie, and gosh darn it, I was going to get one. I'm kind of bummed. In this age of On Demand and NetFlix, I kind of liked the quaintness of trips to the video store. Oh well. Now it's on to View From the Top, my other cheesy chick flick rental-turned-surprise purchase of the evening . . .