Dollar Tree Fashion

So, I recently found Pinterest through one of my friends on Facebook. If you haven't heard of Pinterest, or you haven't had the fun of going through all of the ideas on there, you need to. It is so full of fun ideas that honestly, I'm embarrassed to say I stayed up way too late last night going through 'pins' for inspiration. ;)

Anyhoo... today's project is inspired by a 'pin' that I found fairly early on. It is for a sun catcher ornament thing-a-majig that I had to put my own spin on. These are so simple to make, and you can make a bunch of them for hardly anything. Less than $5 and some time will get you 20 of these little gems to give out as gifts.

If you are making these with children, please use caution. I am going to be making this project with my Girl Scout troop to give to their mothers as Christmas gifts this year and will have them assembled into kits as pictured below.

What you need:

Bag of flat marbles from Dollar Tree

Crimp Cord ends (bag of 20 from Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

2 little coils of Hemp cord (Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

1 pack of Wooden beads 10mm (40 in pack at Hobby Lobby- on sale for 75 cents; normally $1.47)

E-6000 glue or other epoxy (hot glue will not work)

Oven- Preheated to 335 degrees F

Cookie Sheet

Oven mitt/pot holder

Sink or bowl of ice & water (I used my kitchen sink, but a bowl would work too.)

Pliers


Step 1: Place all of your marbles on cookie sheet. Put cookie sheet into oven and bake your marbles for 45 minutes. ** If you are doing this project with a child, please use caution with the hot oven to avoid burns. **

Step 2: When marbles are done "baking," remove from oven and immediately put into ice bath. I literally dumped mine in to my sink from the cookie sheet. Let cool for 10 minutes in water. ** If you are doing this project with a child, please use caution with the hot oven to avoid burns. **

Step 3: Remove marbles from water and dry thoroughly. They should look similar to the photo below. Each marble will crack differently; which adds to the charm. :)

Step 4: Cut your hemp cord into desired lengths. I cut mine into 45" and got about 10 from each coil.

Step 5: Flatten all of your crimp cords. This becomes your bale for your pendant. If you want to purchase bales and skip this step you can. Using the crimp cords is just a more affordable way to make a bunch of bales; since bales are fairly expensive.

Step 6: Place a small amount of epoxy to the flat side of your marble. Place bale on top of epoxy and let cure. Note: If you can't wait for it to dry the 24 hours, wait for at least 1 hour before proceeding, or your bale will not stay in place. :) Your marble pendant should look similar to photo below when complete.

Step 7: Fold hemp cord length in half- first photo below. Thread through bale on marble pendant- second photo below.

Step 8: Thread one of your wooden beads on to the hemp cord- first photo below. Slide bead to the top of your marble pendant- second photo below.

Step 9: Separate hemp cord, thread one more wooden bead on loose end as shown in photo below. You can adjust the length of your necklace at this point; however, make sure to add 1 inch to the length to make sure you have enough cord for the next two steps. :)

Step 10: Tie a knot on loose end. Place a drop of epoxy on knot and slide wooden bead over knot to secure in place.

Step 11: Tie knot on looped end of cord. Make sure it is large enough to slip over wooden bead.

That's it! You're finished!

Repeat process for as many necklaces as you want to make. :)