NTD Jewelry

So, if you guys haven't noticed yet, I can't sit still. If I don't have anything to do, I DIY! Well, a couple of years ago, I got home for Christmas break and was rearranging my room when I found all my jewelry making supplies. I made jewelry when I was younger, but to the same extent as every other girl (i.e. elastic beaded necklaces, etc. Nothing fancy. Nothing anyone should actually wear.). However, when I came across those supplies, I think the fact that I had a couple weeks of a downtime and was already antsy with nothing to do made me re-dive head first into the world of jewelry making.

Like I mentioned, I had only created very simple jewelry. You probably couldn't even call it jewelry; it was more of something that would fit under the word "crafts." This time, I decided to go big. I bought supplies that were a little higher quality (semi-precious stones, gold plated, etc.) . I started out with a pair of earrings. I was actually able to make them (hooray!), but they were not pretty. They definitely looked like someone's first attempt! However, I kept trying and quickly started receiving compliments from people who saw my work! I was so excited!! There's such a high you get when someone likes what you created!

I ended up making a few dozen pieces over that break and had my first trunk show at my apartment once I got back to school...just in time for Valentine's Day. And, guess what? I MADE MONEY! I was floored! People were buying things I created. Hooray! Well, this fueled this fire and I kept making pieces, had more trunk shows, and here we are now!

Lately, I haven't had much time to devote to my jewelry making, but today I came across all the pieces I have for sale. I'm going to have a trunk show in a couple of weeks, but I wanted to share some of my favorite pieces (sold and available) with you guys. I hope you enjoy them!

If you're interested in any of the pieces, shoot me a message at madeintheheartland@gmail.com!
If you'd like to see more, head on over to www.facebook.com/ntdjewelry -check out the "photo" section and they are all listed there! I'll keep you guys updated with the new pieces once the trunk show rolls around!

Have you ever made something you love sharing with friends and family?

Freshwater Pearl bracelet-I love pearls.

Cloissone beads with 16k gold plated envelope with letter that comes out and reads "I love you"-It reminds me of something my mom gave me, so I love it :)

Chalcedony tusk with various stones. This one is really unique and those are usually my favorites! They are sassy and I love sass!

The previous three have freshwater pearl bead clusters at the top-I'm obsessed with those, so naturally these are three of my favorites!

This was my first try wire-wrapping and I LOVE the way it turned out.  Girly yet a little edgy!

I still love two-tones!

I think these are some of my favorite stones. I love that color and the quatrefoil studs. Le sigh :)

These look so elegant on. And the studs have cubic zirconia in them, so they add a little luxury to the piece without being too expensive!

This piece is CRAZY. It reminds me of candy and I freaking love it. The stones are actually pink jade, citrine, and howlite and the chain is 24k, so it's little more expensive than a candy necklace :) but just as fun!!

These are both jade stones. These pink ones are to die for, but a customer was drooling over them so I felt bad keeping them for myself...

I got really into bib necklaces before they got popular and made this necklace (and a black/brown one) and the one below out of the blue with just my imagination :)  I think making necklaces like these is one of my favorite types of jewelry to make because the creative juices are definitely flowing!

These are pink amethyst with cubic zirconia connectors. The light lavender color is so flattering and they are still dainty but pack a punch! 

I love bows. And pink jade!

Again with the pink jade! The studs are so girly and romantic, too. 

Freshwater pearls with two freshwater pearl clusters and glass beads. This looks so unexpected on that it just makes me happy!

These look great year round. The citrine stones are flattering on everyone and the studs are feminine.

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My first baby!

Ladies and Gentleman, we are going back in time for this post. In the summer of 2007, I could not get my mind off of making a fully functional board that would allow me a place to write notes on, hang pictures, and leave some random papers (there are always certain papers that stay on my desk for about a year because they are too important to put away). I wanted something that matched the decor of my room and that was large enough to actually be useful. The end result? This beauty:

I have a thing for ornate gold frames; I'm sure you'll see more of them in future posts. So, my first task was to find a frame I absolutely loved. After searching for months (really), I came across this one at Michaels. If I remember correctly, it was $60-something and I had a 50% off coupon. BOOM! If you are as obsessed with frames as I am, you know your frame prices and realize that for this beauty, that is a steal. I literally could have hung this frame on the wall with nothing in it and I would have been happy! But, my one track mind wouldn't let that happen...

After I had the frame and knew the dimensions, I got 5 pieces of corkboard and one piece of plywood that I cut to match the size of the corkboard. These six pieces fit perfectly in the frame (thank God, because the corkboard pieces were already cut!).

I took the plywood and spray-painted it with chalkboard paint. While that was drying, I went to work on the corkboard squares. I had been gathering fabric that matched my bedspread. Luckily, shabby chic was really in and I was able to find things that matched it perfectly.

I left one of the corkboard pieces uncovered and covered three of them with the same fabric and then covered the last one in a green fabric. On the green covered piece, I took ribbon that had little roses on it and crisscrossed the ribbon on the board and then glued the ribbon to the back. Once the ribbons were glued, I glued random cross-sections so that I could slip pictures in without them falling out! It turned out really well! You might want to think about the size and layout of the pictures you want to insert. For example I have more landscape pictures than vertical, so I needed to make enough room to slip the pictures between cross-section (i.e., do not glue every cross-section!)

The only other square I had left to decorate was the one below. I took the remaining green fabric, split it into two sections, and wrapped them around the bottom of that piece to create two pockets.

Once the boards were all finished and ready to be inserted into the frame, I laid them all down, put the frame on top, and then put another piece of wood on the back that fit into the back of the frame. I stapled the wood to the frame and I was all done!

To this day, this is one of my favorite projects. I think mostly because it was my first big DIY that I made without getting the idea from somewhere else.

Hope you like it! What has been your favorite DIY?

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Welcome to the world, little blog!

Welcome! I'm so excited to start this new adventure with you! Fair warning, this is my first attempt at any type of blog since the first days of the internet (Remember how everyone had those weird Yahoo personal websites? Just me? Ok.), so please bear with me! 

After being completely against the idea of blogs, I realized last summer that they, along with Pinterest, sent me into more of a DIY frenzy than ever before...and I couldn't get enough! I have many friends who like to dabble in a few different DIYs, but nothing major. I, on the other hand, cannot sit still. In the rare event that I have some downtime, I'm either at a local thrift store looking for inspiration or at Home Depot annoying the employees about what types of material would best work for the craft I have in mind. FYI: employees either love it or hate it when you ask them questions about crafts; I tend to find the older employees because they seem to like the challenge a little more. I like to think they just find it more endearing that this young woman is prancing around Home Depot trying to figure out what type of foam tubing will work best for a wreath-don't worry, I'll have a post about this.

Anyway, the more ideas I came across on blogs or Pinterest, the more I wanted to post some of my ideas. I was blessed with the gift of being inspired by something and finding a really cheap way of (re)creating it WHILE making it not look homemade.To me, the biggest compliment about a DIY is when someone is genuinely surprised that you made something because they thought you bought it. I wanted to share my tips and tricks to those girls who are not expert seamstress or builders; there are still things you can do that will make you smile and brag about your project every time you pass it! 

Don't get me wrong, I haven't always been this way! When I was younger, and only had a few dollars to spend, I would go on a shopping spree at the Dollar Tree. EVERYTHING I bought was junk. I ended up throwing it all away eventually.  Now, I can still go to the Dollar Tree, but I find things that look like I've spent a lot on them, and not things that look like someone paid me to take it off their hands! Hooray! 


So, get inspired, feel free to share your tips and tricks, and enjoy! Pin It