LEGO Earrings

Lego jewelry is by no means an original idea, but I made these cute LEGO earrings for my nieces, and I just had to share. They were so easy to make with some findings I had in my stash and some E-6000.

For the studs, I glued Lego studs to 6mm earring posts. I ever-so-slightly overfilled the back of the stud with E-6000 and then pressed the earring post onto it, letting a bit of the glue squish out and form around the post. If you make these yourself, remember that it is very, very important to let the E-6000 cure for at least 24 hours. That means don't touch them AT ALL for a full day. If you have the patience, E-6000 will form a really strong bond.

I loved these studs so much that I made myself two pairs in orange and white. Such a cute, subtle way to get my geek on!

For the dangles, I used a 1x4 bump Lego plate and again used E-6000 to glue a cord tip into the back of the Lego (by the way, I have no idea if that cord tip I linked to is the same size as the one I used-it was in my stash). After 24 hours, I attached a hook earring wire to it.

The fun thing about these is that they are totally buildable. You can attach different colored studs to the dangle earrings to match an outfit, or add more bricks to make an original design.

I have one more Lego jewelry project to show you. Come back tomorrow for a tutorial for a Lego bracelet that your child can make (mostly) by himself!

I ♥ Darcy

A friend of mine is a big fan of Pride & Prejudice, so I couldn't resist buying this book for her 2-year-old girl's birthday:

It is a beautifully illustrated counting board book that uses elements from Pride and Prejudice (2 rich gentlemen, 3 houses, 4 marriage proposals, etc.). I loved the shirt Elizabeth wears with "I ♥ Darcy" cross-stitched across the chest. I'm not a cross-stitcher, so I had to make do with iron-on letters. I found the shirt at Crazy 8 and the heart is a freezer-paper stencil.

Her mom said that she loved it and insisted on wearing it right away and even wanted to sleep in it and wear it the next day. I think we have a little Austen fan in the making!
This, by the way, is the same little girl that I made an Edward Cullen chewy toy for when she was a little baby. I am determined to indoctrinate the poor child with a love for all of her mom's favorite literary characters!

Black Slippers

Here's a pair of slippers that I made for my sister a while back using the Women's Kimono Pattern from I Think Sew. I think that they came out okay, but I'd like to give it another go. I like the idea of a pretty indoor shoe, but these didn't quite fit my foot the way I wanted them to fit. I think maybe a stiffer interfacing would help so that they hold their shape better on their own. I should have taken a picture of them on my feet, but they are 2,000 miles away now, so that ain't happening. Anyway, my sister said she's happy with them.
I picked up a few shoe patterns, and this is actually the second pair of grown-up shoes I have made. The first turned out okay, but looked kinda geriatric, so I didn't post them here. I need to play with the patterns more to get the fit right for my feet. So far, I have only tried making indoor shoes. I would love to make a cute pair for outdoors, but I'm not sure what to do about a sole. Leather might work, but I think I want more shock absorption than that. It's one of those things that seems like it would be fun to do, but also seems like maybe too much of a pain to really try.