Katalina Jewelry: exchange

Thursday, October 25, 2012

Caged Skull - A Charmed Halloween Tutorial

Time for the last tutorial in my "Charmed Halloween" series.

CAGED SKULL

Supplies and Tools Needed:

For the Charm:
Plastic skull, about 3/4" x 1/2" (Mine was from a purchased bracelet)

Two tiny green iridescent beads
Dark annealed steel wire, 24 & 28 gauge

Round-nose pliers

Flat-nose pliers

Wire cutters

Epoxy glue (I used E6000)

For the Tag:

Small shipping tag

Brown ink pad (I used Staz-On)

Desired images (I found mine at The Graphics Fairy)

Modge Podge

Paint brush

Scissors

1. Cut the bracelet apart and choose a skull.

2. Glue one bead into each eye socket. Tip: Slide the bead on a piece of wire, apply a small dab of glue, place into the socket, hold for a minute and then slide wire out while holding bead into place with your finger.

3. Cut three 6" pieces of 24 gauge wire and one 6" piece of 28 gauge. Place the center of a 24 gauge piece in the flat-nose pliers and bend the ends upward to form a "U" shape. Repeat for the other two. Bundle the wires together and secure at the center bottom by wrapping several times with the 28 gauge wire.

4. Trim the short tail of the 28 gauge wire that extends downward. Slide the skull on the long tail that extends upward.

5. Spread the 24 gauge wires apart and gather them together above the skull to form the cage.

6. Wrap the 28 gauge wire around the other wires several times to secure them into place and then trim the 28 gauge wire.

7. Spread the 24 gauge wires so that five are extending outward and one is extending upward.

8. Trim each wire extending outward to about 1/2" and use the pliers to curve them downward over the wrapped area.

9. Make a wrapped loop in the wire extending upward.
(Find out how to make a wrapped loop here)

For the Tag:

Remove the string from the mailing tag. Use Modge Podge to glue an image collage to one side of it. Let dry. Repeat for the other side. Once dried, rub with brown ink to age the images. Use the string to tie the charm onto the tag.

Front of Tag

Back of Tag

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial.

More tutorials from the Charmed Halloween series:

"Watching Eye"

"Potion No. 9"

"Mummy"

"Spider"

Sharing with: Funky Junk Interiors: SNS 159

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, September 30, 2012

WATCHING EYE - A Charmed Halloween Tutorial

Just as I promised, I'm sharing the first tutorial in my

"Charmed Halloween" series.

THE WATCHING EYE!

Supplies and Tools Needed:

Mike's Hard Lemonade bottle cap

Eyeball and skull images (I found mine at The Graphics Fairy)

Resin (I used ICE Resin)

24 gauge dark annealed steel wire

Round-nose pliers

Flat-nose pliers

Wire cutters

Modge Podge

Paint brush

Jeweler's saw

Drill

Small file

Scissors

Hammer

1. Size the graphics to fit the bottle cap and print. I added a tiny eye and the words "Watching You" to the skull graphic.

2. Drill a hole in the middle of the cap and use the jeweler's saw to cut out the lemon shape. File to smooth the edges.

3. Drill a tiny hole in the rim of the bottle cap at the center top. Make a swirl at one end of a wire. Insert the straight end of the wire through the hole and make a wrapped loop. (Find out how to make a wrapped loop here)

4. Cut the images to fit inside the cap. (Only one is shown in the photo below) Brush Modge Podge onto both of the images and let dry. It's important to completely cover the front, back and even the sides of the paper so that the resin will not seep into the paper causing it to become transparent.

5. Use the Modge Podge to glue the images back to back into place with the eye at the front of the cap and the skull at the back. Use pliers to start bending the rim down at the back of the cap and then hammer it flat and file to smooth the edges.

6. Mix the resin according to manufacturer's instructions and carefully pour over the image at the back. Let cure.

7. Repeat with a layer of resin to cover the eye opening on the front.

For the Tag:

Remove the string from a small mailing tag. Use Modge Podge to glue an image collage to one side of it. Let dry. Repeat for the other side. Once dried, rub with brown Staz-On ink to age the images. Use the string to tie the charm onto the tag.

Front of Tag