DIY Silver Necklaces

I know I have mentioned in the past that I have a lot of jewelry, and it is true, I do. However I have found that I am lacking in the silver necklace department. I have two that I adore - a butterfly on illusion wire and some sterling birds on silver chain. They are lovely but definitely overused! I decided I needed a few more options. Off to Michaels I went!

First up we have the beads! I chose three larger pendants since I wanted to keep these necklaces simple chain-wise.

For the large flower with a mix of rhinestones, crystals and pearls I went with a black chain. I like how it allows the sterling silver to pop.  Please ignore the annoying pink hue that my camera loves to cast on my photos!!

Next we have the rounded square bead. I love this one! It looks like tinfoil blended with a rhinestone! Disregard the pink again, it is simply silver! Perhaps it is time to get a plain camera. Though I do adore my hot pink Powershot!! I used an antique silver chain for this one - I think it may be my favorite. I know it is the one I have been wearing the most lately!

Lastly is the silver circle with swarovski cyrstals. This one is so pretty and sparkly! I love how the crystals are rainbow colored! I chose a simple sterling silver chain for this one, I did not want to take away from the pretty pendant.

My favorite part about making these necklaces was how easy they were! I only needed 2 pairs of needle nose pliers, 2 sizes of jump rings and some lobster clasps!

Now I have 3 new necklaces that will go with just about anything and everything! I know they will be getting a lot of use!

What is your current jewelry obsession? Tell me about it in the comments below!!

Nail Art - Whirled Away with Teal!

I love China Glaze Whirled Away! It is such a fun glitter polish that looks great on any color. This time I used Sally Hansen Blizzard Blue for a base coat.

The only downside to this manicure was that it took a ton of coats to get this shade of blue. The blue is almost transparent unless you use three (or five) coats! This led to a little bit of bubbling when I applied my topcoat.

My students are always fascinated by this glitter, well after the discussion as to whether it is truly a glitter or not has ended. They take the word glitter VERY seriously and since it has no shine they concluded that it is not a glitter.

Glitter or not, it was a big hit with them and with me as usual! Now if only I can find a better teal to use as a base coat. I think it may be time to let this blue go, I do not have the patience for a polish that needs more than 2 coats!

What is on your fingers (or toes!) this week? And if you know of a fabulous (and not transparent) blues or teals let me know in the comments below!!

Monday Made It - Stress Balls

My 4th grade Intervention group that is full of angst by the time class roles around. They have a long morning schedule and then come to my room right after lunch and recess. We have squishy dinosaur someone left behind after a field trip which provides a lot of "relaxation" to those who need it. In fact he has been needed so much so that his neck and feet have suffered a bit! I really should take a picture of the sad dino!

Whenever I have been on Pinterest lately, (which is way to often!) I keep seeing stress balls that you can make yourself! I decided to give it a try as 1 dinosaur is not enough for my group of 12! I hopped over to Somewhat Simple's site to see how to create these!

All I needed was balloons and playdough so off I went to the Dollar Store! $2.00 later I was all set!

I am a bit impatient, so rather than rolling out the dough, I simply stretched the balloon as wide as I could and shoved in the ball of dough. I ended up with a lot of dough under my fingers and on the floor, but it worked! I decided to put a 2nd balloon over each, just in case my students are having a really bad day!

All together it took about 15 minutes which I thought was pretty good! I decided against drawing faces on them, partly because I am no kind of artist! Plus I am not sure if it would stay on the balloon that well. I wouldn't want my students to be walking around with melted smileys on their hands!

My students really enjoyed using these today - we had to rotate them throughout the room so everyone could have a chance! I am assuming the novelty will wear off soon, or else I will be head back to the Dollar Store to make a few more!

Hop on over to Tara's blog to see the rest of the Monday Made Its!

What do you use to help de-stress your class?