DIY: wire and lace ring

When I don't make things for a long time, I suddenly get random late-night craft ideas. This is dangerous because I get super excited and can't sleep until I've completed my spontaneous project. Anyway, this particular inkling of inspiration came while I was blogging about my Medusa costume and how I made snakes using felt and wire... and then my mind started wandering to the different kinds of jewelry I could make using wire. So I immediately started gathering up random fabric scraps like a crazed, sleep-deprived vulture and came up with this quick DIY wire + lace ring.

All you need is:

-wire

-ribbon

-lace

-thread

step one. start wrapping the wire to create a circular ring.

 *note: make the circle a little larger than the finger that you want the ring to go on.

 step two. take some ribbon and wrap it all around the wire. when you get to the end, use one end of the wire to wrap around the ribbon and secure it.

 step three. take some lace and tie a knot around the ring.

step four. bring both ends of the lace towards the centre of your knot. use some thread to tie (or sew) the lace down. this should make a lace bow.

 step five. you can just leave the ring as a simple lace bow, or you can add some other decorations (beads, buttons, etc...). I found a pearl bead and decided to add that to the middle of my lace bow.

 Here's the finished product! I'm pretty happy with it but I think I can make nicer rings if I invest in more materials. haha. I was literally scrounging around my room for scraps and barely had enough ribbon to make this one.

 I hope my instructions were clear - if you have any questions, just send me a message! =)

DIY: how to make your own ring

I LOVE rings. And I've always wanted to make my own. So for the longest time, I've been scrounging around thrift stores collecting all these vintage earrings and brooches that I think would look good as a statement ring. The problem was, I didn't know where to find the ring bases (just the simple circular part of the ring to glue the earrings and brooches on). Finally, I read on the awesome DIY blog Studs and Pearls that the best bet was to go online and buy some. I was also motivated even more to make rings by this Studs and Pearls post here.

After I finally accumulated all my materials, I was ready to start actually using all the thrift store trinkets I had found to make some rings! This is my take on how to do it...

For my ring top, I found an old earring stud that I liked. You can also use brooches, pins, pendants, buttons, etc. - whatever you can find! It's your own style, so be creative and choose something you think would look good as a ring! :)

I used pliers to twist off the earring post. You can also use wire cutters to make a clean cut.

The next step is optional, but I like to use a little bit of leather just to add another textured layer to my ring. Also, it does a good job of covering up the bump from the earring post that I tore off. I got a bag of leather scraps from a discount fabric store in Gastown called Dressew.

Then, I used scissors to cut a piece of leather in the same shape as my ring top.

Next, I used E-6000 SuperGlue to stick the piece of leather onto the back of my ring.

Since breathing in the superglue fumes is really bad for you, I usually wear a loose shirt while doing this and pull it up over my nose. And yes, that is Mr. Bean. My hero.

The final step is to put a dab of superglue onto the ring base...

...adhere the ring top to the ring base...

And there you have it... your very own ring!

You can totally tell from the lighting in the pictures that I did all the ring-making at night, let it dry, and took pictures of the finished product in the morning. Anyway, I made 3 rings in total! Here are the other ones...

I hope this little DIY tutorial helps you... happy ring making!

-laura :)