Scarlet Kitsune

Bass Clef Faux Gauges

2011-07-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

If you've ever played in a band or orchestra before, you'll probably recognize these as bass clefs. They're in sheet music for instruments like the cello, euphonium, double bass, bass guitar, bassoon, contrabassoon, trombone, baritone, tuba, timpani, harp and keyboard instruments.

Not gonna lie, I had some help from Wikipedia for that list.

But wait, there's more!I made these into cute faux gauges. Basically, embed the post half of an earring into the front, and the back half into...well, the back half. Just make sure you also poke a hole in the clay so that the post has enough room for when you actually put the halves together.
Also see my post on Tentacle Faux Gauges if you haven't already!

Hearthstone Charms

2011-07-22T11:05:00.000-04:00

If any of you are gamers, you've probably seen these before:

Hearthstones! They're an item from the game World of Warcraft that allows the user to transport to a previously set location. Read up on it here.

These charms are super simple to make, and they're a cute gift too! Just give one to someone special and tell them that now they can teleport to any place of residence once every 30 minutes.

I used this Fimo rock effect clay for the base.

Then use a sharp blade to slice off pieces at angles to create a rock shape. Use a blunt point (I used a knitting needle) to make the swirl.

Stick an eyepin through it to make a charm. Then, after baking, use some blue shimmery paint to define the swirl.

Happy teleporting :)

Enchanted Noms

2011-07-07T19:08:00.001-04:00

This summer has been way hotter than any I've experienced before. Incidentally, this happens every single summer. So what have I been doing to keep my sanity in this air-condition-less state? Watch old Disney movies, of course. And making earrings!

Based on one of my favorites, Cinderella. If you're not familiar with the story (shame on you!) the right earring is a normal pumpkin and the right is Cinderella's enchanted carriage. Just make sure you take these off before midnight, or the magic might wear off ;)

Invincibility on your ears

2011-06-17T19:36:00.000-04:00

Remember those old Super Mario games where those little bouncing stars appeared when you hit the right blocks? Then you'd be granted temporary invincibility and proceed to run forth as fast as you could, cackling as you plowed right through the otherwise menacing goombas.

Well now you can carry that protection everywhere you go on your ears!

The stars are origami made from paper strips. If you don't know how to make them, you can view my tutorial here. Then I applied one coat of clear gloss, painted on the eyes, and finished with another coat of gloss. When stringing them on eyepins, I've found that it's a lot easier to first use a sewing pin to poke a hole. From there on, just cut the eyepins to different lengths and attach them to earwires. Easy!

AFK Necklace

2011-03-27T17:49:00.000-04:00

I'll admit it: I'm addicted to my computer. I rely on it for so many things in my life, from drawing to gaming to communication. So when I'm not happily clacking away at my keyboard, I sometimes feel a bit out of my element.

But now, with this upcycled necklace, you too declare to the world that you are apart from your beloved!

Start out with some keyboard keys, eye pins, and jump rings. Removing keys is relatively easy; just slip something thin and sturdy (I used the tip of my flat nosed pliers) under the edge of the key and apply leverage.

Take your eye pins and cut them down to size.

If you have these nubby things on the backs of your keys where they attached to the keyboard, clip them off with wire cutters.

Use a generous amount of hot glue to attach the eye pins, making sure to cover any sharp edges left from the wire cutters.

When that's dry, attach the jump rings...

...and string your keys onto waxed cord with some beads. I'm using faux pearls here.

Tie on some clasps with square knots. This is the time to make sure your necklace is the right length.

I usually apply 3-5 coats of clear nail polish onto my knots to make sure they don't come undone.

If you had planned ahead, you could use crimps to keep your beads in place.But if you're in the same boat as me, make sure the beads are centered and then knot the cord.

Ice Cream Sammiches

2011-03-25T00:17:00.000-04:00

Ice cream sandwiches are a favorite warm weather food of mine. The soft chocolatey...what are they anyway? Soft cookie? Thinner and more delicious variation of whoopie pie?

But I digress.

Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches are delicious. And cute. And that's all you really needed to know.

Start out with some super dark brown polymer clay in rounded rectangles.

Use an X-acto knife to make little grooves in the sides.

And use some sort of point to make the little holes. I used the tip of a knitting needle.

Next, make little blocks of pink, white, and light brown clay for ice cream.

The perfect charm for summertime :)

Rain Cloud Earrings

2011-02-18T16:22:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I lied.

Those pokeball earrings are no longer my favorites. These are:

They were pretty straightforward to make: shape the clay, wire them up, bake, paint, and chain. I used white clay for the clouds and then painted them with a coat of bright white and a light dusting of shimmery translucent glitter. Then I used the pointy end of a toothpick for the eyes and the stubby end for the cheeks.The raindrops were blue clay painted a shimmery navy blue with just a bit of silver near the tops.

Pokeball Studs

2010-12-21T16:36:00.000-05:00

I know! I haven't blogged in over a month! D:
But I'm going to make it up by posting a tutorial for my new favorite pair of earrings. Ready?

Start out with two flattened circles of the same size in red and white. Make sure to do the white one first so the red dye doesn't blend over from your fingers.

Cut each in half.

And re-assemble them.

Then cut thin slices of black clay and lay them over the seam.

Make another flattened white circle about 1/4 the size of the one you made before. Also, roll out some black clay very very thinly.

Wrap the black clay around your white circle.

That's right, pokeballs.

Then, y'know, bake clay according to the package instructions, glaze if desired, and glue to earring posts.

Card Pyramid Organizer

2010-11-06T21:15:00.000-04:00

Cards can be tons of fun for very little cost, but the biggest down side is that the entire deck becomes useless once you lose so much as one of them. And no matter how careful you are with putting each and every card back in its box, the mysterious card napper (a distant cousin of the left sock stealer) will eventually find a way to make off with one or two, or 17, if you're me.

And so, in the spirit of upcycling, why not use your past failures to help you organize and keep track of other things so that you won't as easily lose them?

Triangles are the strongest of the architectural shapes in terms of downward force. What does this mean for you? Go ahead and pile on the jewelry. These flimsy cards may not look like much, but in terms of weight, if you can wear it, this can support it!

Just use plain white glue to secure the pyramid shape...

...And then grab a cute mini paper punch...

...and punch out holes for small dangle earrings!

Faux Pearl Earrings

2010-10-28T21:10:00.000-04:00

These faux-pearl ones are super cheap and amazingly easy to make too!

This would be a great project if you have broken sewing pins. You can't really tell from my photo, but one of the pins I used has a small split on the end which snags fabric, and the other is a bit bent.

Start out with two pretty sewing pins. You may recognize these from my pincushion ring tutorial. I bought a whole box of 50 or so a few years ago for about $2 :)

Use a pair of wire cutters to shorten the metal posts. You may want to find a pair of post earrings you have to get the correct length.

Get some sandpaper and round off the sharp edges you just made.

Now find something for the backings. I have a ton of these squishy rubbery things that come with most store-bought post earrings. They fit perfectly on my pins.

Cuppycakes :]

2010-10-17T10:57:00.000-04:00

No more fake food jewelry, I've been making lots of real food for once!

Yogurt cupcakes with more yogurt icing.
The cupcakes:
1 3/4 cups flour1 stick butter1 1/2 cup sugar1 cup yogurt (any flavor) 1 tsp vanilla extract1/2 tsp baking soda1/2 tsp baking powder2 eggs
Cream butter and sugar. Then add in the eggs one by one, and then all the rest of the ingredients slowly, making sure they're all incorporated.This should make a thick batter. If you'd like more flavor in it, now's the time to check, because you can go ahead and put them in the oven now if you're ready. Bake at 350 F for 30-30 minutes.
The icing:1/2 cup yogurt1/2 stick butter1 cup confectioners sugar1 tsp lemon juice
Soften the butter, and then beat the yogurt in. Then, while beating, add the sugar and lemon juice. P.S. The cupcake does not actually taste like yogurt, just a bit of whatever flavor the yogurt you put in was. However, if you really don't like yogurt, you can replace it with cream cheese :)

Wire Daisy

2010-10-10T10:54:00.000-04:00

Memory wire: something that I will never use again. Not for anything that requires the wire to be shaped anyway, because it does look like it has good bangle potential.

But anyway, this is a pendant that I made for my mother before. The center was a bit messier than I would have liked because memory wire does not like to bend or keep its shape, so I strung some faux pearls on beading wire and hot glued it on :)

Seafoam Dangles

2010-10-03T13:42:00.000-04:00

These might be my favorite pair of wire earrings so far. I know, I keep saying that, and it's because I love ~~all~~ most of the earrings that I make, but the color of these glass beads just make me feel like I'm at the beach, one of my favorite places to be.

I actually got this craft wire pegboard type thing (it looks like this, with movable pegs) on sale for $4, which I used for most of the wire form, except for the small curls on the ends. It certainly made it easier to make two almost identical shapes, one of my weaknesses, but it does take some getting used to.

Photo Frame Earring Organizer

2010-09-25T21:25:00.000-04:00

So I ran out of space for my earrings (again), so I decided to make another organizer!

This one's super cheap and easy-- all you need is a large photo frame, some plastic netting, and a hot glue gun!

Start with your plastic netting. Mine was from a bag of noodles. I believe garlic usually comes in these types of bags too though. But if you can't get hold of plastic netting, I think fishnet stockings would work quite well too!

Just cut off the top and bottom and make one straight cut down the side to get a rectangle.

Then grab your photo frame (mine was 8.5 x 11"...the size you get will obviously depend on the size of your plastic netting) and take out the glass and the backing.

You'll notice that your plastic netting stretches in just one direction. Lay your netting across the back of your frame, making sure that the stretch goes SIDEWAYS. If the stretch goes up and down, then it will sag when you put earrings on.

Stretch the netting out to almost its maximum, just so it makes a bit of a trampoline effect if you drop a light object on the stretched area. When you have it stretched evenly, secure the netting in place.

Grab your hot glue gun and start gluing one small area at a time. You'll want to kind of massage the glue through the netting to the frame with the tip of your glue gun. Try not to press too hard or long though, otherwise you'll melt the plastic of the netting!

Once you glued around the entire frame, you can cut off the excess netting.

Then grab the backing that came with the frame...

Cut out a rectangle that's about this size proportionally to your frame.

Then cut that in half diagonally to make two triangles.

Grab some pretty tissue paper and cover your triangles with it.

Then glue your triangles onto the back of your frame, hypotenuse facing the frame (who said trigonometry wouldn't be useful outside of math class?)

You're done! The frame should now stand with a slight backwards tilt.

Put it on top of your dresser and stick earrings on it. This works great for dangle earrings as well as larger post earrings.

Gold Curves

2010-09-19T15:08:00.000-04:00

I really love how this pair turned out! I actually had no idea in mind when I started making these, but I really liked how the first earring looked, so I just replicated it for the second :)

And I made yet another earring rack, because I started running out of room on my pyramid! Tutorial coming soon :)

Ribbon Hair Clip

2010-09-14T00:23:00.000-04:00

Aren't beautifully wrapped gifts wonderful? Sometimes the packaging is half of the whole gift experience :)

But what to do with leftover pieces of cloth ribbon?

Make a barrette, of course!

Start out by folding about 2 feet of ribbon in half.

Then squeeze the half point down to make a T shape with about half inch loops on each side.

Push the tails to the outsides and clip your ribbon in place.

Then use a thin line of hot glue right under the bend to glue your loops in place.

Make a second loop, about 1/2 inch longer than the first.

And then move that tail out of the way, and glue.

Do this as many times as you want to both sides.

Then cut off the excess and run a thin line of hot glue down the center to prevent fraying.

Glue the barrette clip on.

And then squeeze the loops to puff them out nicely.

Then take one of the little tails that you cut off and make a loop.

Secure it in place with some more hot glue.
You're done!Super easy recycled hair accessory in about five minutes. Can't go wrong with that, right? ;)

Bubble Tea!

2010-09-06T14:50:00.000-04:00

Bubble tea: delicious, but at four to five dollars a cup, it can get expensive. But lucky for you, it's fairly easy to make :)

If you haven't had this before, bubble tea is an Asian drink that consists of a milky of fruity tea drink with large sweet tapioca pearls at the bottom. Usually you'll be given a large straw that the pearls will fit through to drink it with, but I didn't have any, so I settled for a long spoon.

So to start out, you'll need your bubbles. You can get them at most Asian supermarkets. I experimented with different kinds, and found that the cheaper ones are much harder to make (the centers stayed hard even after an hour of boiling!), so in the end I went with a slightly more expensive brand with a five minute recipe.

Most bubbles will ask you to add 5-10 parts water per one part bubbles in a large pot, bring the water to a boil, stir in the bubbles until they float, and then cover the lid and let them cook.

Meanwhile, you can make the syrup. You will need:

2 cups water

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

drizzle of honey

Heat all of that up in a sauce pan over medium high heat. When it starts frothing, pour your syrup into a container and place it in the refrigerator to chill. It should be about the consistency of maple syrup.

When your bubbles are done (make sure they are squishy all the way through with no hard centers!), scoop them out and place them in the container with the syrup. The longer you leave them there, the sweeter they will be.

The water from the bubbles should be a bit thicker and cloudy in color. I like to use that to make the tea component. Just grab your favorite tea leaves and pour boiling water over them in a large bowl. Then cover and let it sit for a while as your bubbles cool in the fridge. Keep in mind that the tea flavor will be diluted by the milk and sweetened by the syrup.

When your tea is done and the bubbles are sweetened to your liking, get a tall glass and start pouring! The ratio I used was...

Fill the bottom of the glass with about two rows of bubbles.

Cover the bubbles with syrup, and then add another tablespoon or two.

Fill the glass a bit less than halfway with tea.

Fill the rest of the way with vanilla soymilk.

You can of course use regular milk too, with vanilla extract, but the soymilk gives it a thicker texture which I like :)

And enjoy your delicious bubble tea! This can make up to 15 servings, with less than the cost of one store-bought drink!

Try serving it warm and cold, or even frozen in popsicle molds. Use blended fruit instead of milk or coffee instead of tea. Have fun with it :)

Origami Puffy Star Tutorial

2010-09-01T16:56:00.000-04:00

It's been a really long time since I posted an origami tutorial, hasn't it?

This origami star is one of the first origamis that I ever learned, and it has remained one of my favorites :)

If you have special pre-cut strips of origami paper, you can skip to the folding. If not...

Start out with a sheet of paper. We're aiming for a long strip, so I wouldn't recommend anything shorter than the standard computer paper 11 inches.

Make a straight line down about 1/2 an inch from the edge of the paper...

...and cut along your line.

Then, without creasing the paper, fold it into a v shape.

And then fold the short end over the long end. It looks kind of like one of those cancer awareness ribbons, doesn't it?

Then, line up the edges of your paper and crease.

Here's what it looks like from the back.

Start out with your short end now. Fold the strip along the edge of the pentagonal shape you just made. It's easiest not to follow a specific series of steps, but just let the paper fold in the direction that it wants to go.

When you get to the end...

...tuck the end in under another fold.

Do the same for the long end of the strip.

You may have to tear off some of the end if it's too long to make sure you can tuck it in neatly.

This is the fun part. Ready to pop it? :)

Center your thumb and forefinger nails in the sides around one of the corners.

Gently press inwards with your nails until the corner puffs up.

Go around the star and puff all the corners...

Until you get this!

Etsy At Last

2010-08-30T21:01:00.000-04:00

If you have been following me for a while, you may know that for the past two years, I've been aspiring to open a shop on Etsy. Well, I've finally gotten through all the necessary requirements, and I'm proud to announce the grand opening of...
Scarlet Kitsune Jewelry and Accessories
I'm still putting it together right now, so you won't see much listed, but in time there'll be more, I promise!
I just want to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has read my posts-- you are a huge part of the reason why I've made it this far with my crafting, trying new materials and techniques and improving old ones.
I'll be posting a coupon code here once I get my shop set up more entirely, so be on the lookout for that ;)

Quick Enameling

2010-08-26T23:34:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's not really enameling-- it's nail polish. It is quite a bit cheaper, faster, and easier though, and yields quite excellent results in my experience.

For example, I got a set of all plain silver colored earrings cheaply (except the cherry ones). There they are in various states of completion.

I usually use 1-3 coats of color, depending on the brand of nail polish and how opaque I want the color to be. You really don't need a clear top coat unless you put glitter or something on top.

Note though that your color might come out slightly different over metal with a gold vs. silver colored finish. It's not very clear in the photographs, but my one coat of green came out significantly darker on the gold cherry leaves than on the silver turtles.

If you happen to have some plain looking jewelry, this is a great way to spruce it up. And if you mess up, it comes off with nail polish remover :)

That said, I can't guarantee that all the harsh chemicals in these products will not harm your jewelry, so please do not try this on anything valuable!

Screw Earrings

2010-08-22T14:20:00.000-04:00

Ah, what's not to love about looking like you just came out of a hardware accident?

You'll just need to clamp your two screws in a vice and use a hacksaw to cut off the threaded part of it...

...and then hot glue them to earring posts. Does it get any simpler? ;)

Anatomical T-shirt

2010-08-18T19:21:00.000-04:00

This is something that I made a while ago and had sitting around on my camera. Even though the photo quality isn't the best, I thought I'd post it for all the science geeks out there :)

First outline your organs in chalk. I searched up a picture on google images for this, so please don't jump on me if this isn't anatomically correct :(

Then I used Tulip metallic fabric paint to draw my design, keeping about one cm away from my chalk lines so the paint can hold better. Wait 72 hours and then wash with hot water to set the paint, and then parade around showing off your insides to every passer-by ;)
You're welcome to use my shirt as a template, or search for a more accurate and detailed drawing of your own~

Earring Pyramid

2010-08-15T17:20:00.000-04:00

So this is what I'm currently using to hold all of my "normal" earrings (posts and dangles)....

As you can see, it's a basic square-based pyramid shape. I used leftover base molding from a house renovation project for the frame. The bottom pieces are about 6" long and 1" high, and the sides are about 7.5 x 1".

Then I used a 1/16 drill bit to drill holes along the bottom and sides for post earrings. I staggered them so that larger earrings could fit on the top row without blocking the holes to the lower ones. I also drilled some holes in the sides for even larger earrings.

When all of your pieces are drilled and sanded, assemble them with hot glue and then spraypaint if desired.

I then strung embroidery floss around the inside of the boards so I could hang danglies too. Use a dab of hot glue and make sure you pull the string taut so it doesn't sag too much when you put weighty earrings on it. You may want to put a bit more hot glue over the string too just in case.

Here it is from the outside.

And there you have your multi-functional earring pyramid :)

Charm Porcupine

2010-08-09T08:57:00.001-04:00

So far I've made tons of little earring charms with a loop that can be interchanged on one pair of kidney earwires. But these presented a bit of a problem storage and display wise, because I couldn't hang them from a traditional earring display. So...time to make my own!

I was charging my camera as I cut and drilled this, but just pretend the wood is in whatever shape it's layed out as :)

Get a strip of thin wood. Mine was about 14" x 4" x 2cm.

You'll want to cut it as shown above, in half first, and then one large triangle in the middle of each with two half triangles on each side....

...like this!

As you see, the two half triangles can be put together to make a triangle the size as the one in the center.

Now go ahead and drill holes. I belive I used a 3/32" drill bit, but you can try out one hole first to see if it's the right size. The eventual goal is to fit one toothpick in each hole, so if you're not sure on the size, try a smaller drill bit first and work your way up until the toothpick is snug.

When you're done drilling the holes, get your hot glue gun ready-- you'll be using it a lot from here on.

First you'll need to glue your half triangles together to make a full size triangle. Try to do this quickly and push the wood tightly together.

Then, grab half as many toothpicks as there are holes, and cut each toothpick in half. Stick each toothpick half into a hole, blunt side out so you don't prick yourself, and apply a little bit of hot glue to the inside are to secure them.

See why I call it a porcupine now? ;)

After every toothpick is glued in, you can glue the four triangles together into a pyramid shape. Just as before, try to work quickly and press the wood firmly together for the best fit and hold.

At this point, you can paint this if you like or keep the natural wood look as I did.

And finally, the fun part -- put all your charms on it! :)

But what to do if you only have a small number of these dangle charms? What if building a whole earring porcupine is just too much work? Or maybe you just don't have the tools needed?

I'll show you how I made a more traditional earring holder too, and how you can easily hang these charms on that or a store-bought one ;)

Beach Glass Tutorial

2010-07-31T18:55:00.000-04:00

As promised, here's the tutorial on making your own beach glass!

Start out with plain glass. I used beer bottles, because of the color variety. Smash them up one by one inside of a bag to whatever size you want your finished product to be. This will probably make holes and glass splinters in whatever bag you use, so I layered up four plastic shopping bags and smashed mine inside of those on my driveway with a large hammer. You may also want to wear safety glasses just in case.

I used one of these Rock Tumblers that I had lying around. This one's made for about half a pound of glass, grit, and water, so I used the following:

1/2 of a glass beer bottle

5 heaping tsp playground sand

Fill to the top of the glass with water

Of course, if you have the special grit, you can go ahead and use that, but since beach glass isn't smooth, I found the playground sand worked perfectly, and is a lot cheaper.

After about 3-4 days of tumbling, I got this pretty authentic looking beach glass. Obviously, the longer you leave the glass in there, the smoother / more worn it will look. You'll have to change out the sand every few days though, as the particles will get smaller and less abrasive.

But if you don't want to go through all that trouble, you could always just buy a bag of these at your local craft store :)

These are two pendants I made as gifts while trying out different wire wrapping techniques. Also a pair of earrings that I made before, if you're looking for ideas.