Oz-Inspired Birthday - Putting It All Together

"Follow the yellow brick road..." to a birthday surprise to even the big girls.


Gathering the Goodies:
* The Yellow Brick Road cake box.
* Yellow tissue paper (I cut in triangles to better fit in my box).
* Ruby Slipper Earrings.
* Oz Bottle Necklace - full of bits of the Emerald City's magic.
* A triangle that fits into the top of the cake box from the card stock (where I wrote my birthday message).
* The Lolly Pop Guild Cake Pop.

Together at Last:
I wrapped the bits of treasures in pieces of yellow tissue paper and placed them carefully inside the tissue paper lined yellow brick road box. Then placed the card on the top then topped it off with the lid.

I left the box with it's goodies at my friend's house before she was out of bed (I was on my way to work). It wasn't too long before I got a text to what she had woken up to.

It doesn't take much to make a person feel special once in awhile - too often we forget that. Do something special for someone - you'll be glad you took the time.

A Friend's Oz-Inspired Birthday --- Dorothy's Slippers

I have a long time friend who LOVES the movie "The Wizard of Oz" and so as she turns a fairly important number this year I wanted to do something special for her. It started with a pair of ruby slipper earrings.

There are few things that can make a girl smile faster than glitter or a a favorite childhood memory - so the best birthday is something that combines the two. (Glitter is the theme with pretty much every aspect of this "Wizard of Oz" themed present.)



Part I: The Ruby Slipper Earrings

I gathered my supplies:
* A pair of plastic Barbie doll size shoes (the color didn't matter because I knew they would be covered - if you can't tell in the picture, mine where pink). (I had a heck of a time finding an inexpensive pair and ended up buying a plastic fashion doll [off brand Barbie] at a dollar store that had a dress and shoes with her. I set the doll aside for a project to be determined later.)
* A set of silver earring hooks.(Or whatever color you prefer - gold, silver, black...)
* Two silver eye pins.
* Silver open jump rings.
* Red seed beads. (Exactly the ones used in many projects before.)
* Red Glitter - loose fine glitter (I bought mine in a package of assorted colors.)
* Spray Adhesive (I used Elmer's spray adhesive - Craft Bond - and I got carded for buying it.)
* A sharp needle - thick enough to create a hole to put the jump rings through.
* Jewelry making pliers. (Mine has wire cutters as a part of them.) (And any other jewelry making supplies that you might need or have on hand.)
* (Optional) straight pins with a round head
* (Optional) Craft glue - the use as touch ups for glitter as needed.
* Paper or anything else needed to protect work area and catch glitter when shaking. 



Now to start:

Pierce a hole in the top back of each show with the needle. Make sure the hole is big enough for the jump ring to go through. (Better to find this out BEFORE you have it covered with glue and glitter.)

Using the straight pins - I held the shoes up and sprayed them well with the the adhesive then covered them liberally with red glitter, shaking off the excess glitter as I went. Let dry completely (the spray adhesive I used was really tacky as it started to dry and I had glitter attached to my finger nails for a few days after no matter how I washed my hands - good thing the red glitter went with my black nail polish). After they dry you might want to touch up a few spots with the craft glue and more red glue.

Using the eye pins and the red seed beads, I created the dangles that would will attach the the earring hooks to the shoes. (I could have used another color for the beads, but I liked the red with the red.) I made the dangles the same length.

Once the shoes were dry, I attached the jump rings through the holes made before they were glittered and then carefully attached the shoes to the red beaded dangles. I hung them up to make sure everything was set before packing them.

Sometimes there really is no place like home.

The Gift Of Jewelry

Peace Sign Necklace from C.

I not only give handmade gifts, but sometimes I receive them from friends and family as well. Jewelry has been a part of it.

A friend dabbled in jewelry making and made me a bead and wire necklace with a peace sign (somehow it made her think of me) and a few feathers.

The ring is braided wire soldered together. I don't remember exactly where it came from, but I think it found it's way into my collection while at one of my camps.

The Heart Jewelry set was bride's maid gift from my cousin's wedding, complete with a silver wire heart pendent on the necklace & earrings and a matching blue and silver bracelet. The Bride designed the jewelry with a jewelry making friend from her church and we were given them the morning of the wedding. Our dresses were an ice blue and we wore the jewelry for the wedding. (The mothers of the bride and groom where also given bracelets.) The clasps are magnetized (making it a bracelet I can can actually clasp on my own).

Wire Ring

Heart Jewelry Set

Misc. Jewelry Creations

Double Row Hemp Choker

Some of these pieces of jewelry were camp related projects and some where not. I don't claim to be an expert on jewelry making and some skill sets are new to me.

The Double Row Hemp Choker was my own take on the macrame knots I have been doing for years. I taught basic macrame using square and half knots at camp, mostly used for bracelets, necklaces, and chokers. This was a design I played with on my own inter-knotting two rows of square knots. One week half the camp ended up using thick macrame chord (donated and probably from someone's 70's or 80s stash) to make macrame belts. Retro definitely has never gone away with hemp chord and macrame chord. Check out more on the Double Row Hemp Sq. Knot Choker

Dream Catcher Earrings

The Dream Catcher Earrings were the result of working at a camp located in an area where American Indian Culture was celebrated and Pow Wow was held annually. I was playing with making my own out of what I had on hand. (There were some necklaces and stuff made too that were given away.) These were made from a couple of key rings, brown embroidery thread, a few small wooden beads, a couple small orange feathers, and two earring hooks. Check out more on my Dream Catcher Earrings

Charm Bracelet with homemade charms

When I was younger my mom had a charm bracelet that I was fascinated with, complete with charms that all had meaning to her. This charm bracelet was made with chain and hook from the jewelry section of the craft store with re-purposed old earrings and homemade charms that all were significant to me. A heart, a mermaid (I kind of have a things for mermaids), a flower, a tree of life, a peace sign (of course), a couple small butterflies, and a few tiny bead strands. The homemade charms were created from discarded twisty ties, stripped of the plastic or paper coverings, then twisted and altered into various shapes (needle nose pliers helped here). Most of the shapes took a lot more twisties than one might have originally planned.

It didn't me long to get aggravated with stripped on the plastic or paper coverings on the twisty ties, so I resorted to using a controlled bit of flame to burn the covering off. Of course, making sure they were cool before munipulating them into shapes. The tiny bits of wire, were not the easiest things to form, but it was a challenge I was glad I took on. (Look ma, no injuries.) The end result was a new bracelet and a great learning experience. More on my Twisty Tie Charm Bracelet

The Seashell Jewelry (necklace and earrings) got easily inspired by a large collection of shiny tiny glass beads in all sorts of blues, greens, ambers, and browns with a nice assortment of seashells mixed with my thing for mermaids. (It just keeps finding a way to reappear, so you might as well get used to it.) I used a jewelry make wire, catch (for the necklace), and earring hooks that I had one hand (plus of working at a camp) to string the beads and attach the shells.

Seashell Jewelry

My original intend when starting these ocean inspired pieces was to use them as part of a mermaid costume that I have been playing with sketches and construction ideas. The costume hasn't been built yet, but I haven't given up on it. (I'm still playing with some ideas.) Have no worries though, the jewelry was used this past year when I helped a couple friend with Halloween Costumes and one of them went as the Ocean. The seashells and beads were a nice touch with the creation of flowing blues and greens with various sea creatures thrown in for fun. These have proven to be a great addition to my costume collection (and yes, I have one, one that takes up it's own closet, but that is another story for another day). Check out more on the Seashell Jewelry

Celebrate the art of being who you want to be and wearing the things that mean something to you.