DIY Tiara - anyone tried it?

TheSeventh

I found this DIY kit on ebay and thought I'd give it a go because finding the kind of simple-but-pretty tiara I want in the colours that I want, for a price I can justify is proving pretty hard!

I've totally ignored the design and instructions that came with the kit and just plunged ahead with making up my own design. I bought some extra silver and pearlescent tiny beads from a haberdashery for £1 for a box of looooads and set to work this afternoon!

here's some pictures of the work-in-progress!


All of Stage One (the small loops going all the way round) and one loop of Stage Two (the big loop on the top!)


Close up!


From the side!


And in-situ!


I'm having fun doing this, but it's very fiddly! was hoping that some other DIY-er out there might have some tips and hints?

Anyone else made their own jewellery or anything?

ruthybabs

Never tried it but just wanted to congratulate you, it looks fab!

White_Sapphire

That looks gorgeous! I want to make my own hair vine/side tiara thing, but apart from an idea in my head I haven't done anything on it at all. It's great to know that someone else hasmade theirown, andthat it looks so good!

Cue lots of research before wielding the wire and beads...

TheSeventh

aww, thank you!

I was going to put it away til tomorrow, but I have the beading bug now, so I pushed on til it was done!







I'm going to continue playing with it (try to make it more symmetrical and stuff) but all the main building is done now!

double_mummy

OMG how do u have the patience for that???

its looks beautiful!!!

Hadley1

Looks lovely - congratulations. Well done on all your hard work:rotfl:

melancholly

http://www.mailorder-beads.co.uk/shop/all-day-tiara-making.html
i made one for a friend (a few years ago already!) and went along to this course for a day to get a bit of confidence. it's in nottingham (so a bit of a trek for me), but i really am glad i did it. i'm sure similar shops in other parts of the country do similar things.

the difficult part was finishing the course and then not spending a fortune on all the pretty beads!

i really like the tiara in the pictures above though - completely different to what i ended up making!

joho

That's lovely TheSeventh. I like that the beading goes further round the band than most pre-made ones. Very creative! Well done. x

RainbowDrops

Very crafty! How much did it end up costing?

TheSeventh

- The initial kit (£8 on ebay plus posting, maybe?) which contained the tiara band, a length of standard jewellery wire, the big Swarovski crystals and 32 turquoise seed beads - though, if I'm totally honest, if I were to do it again, I'd just buy a 50p tiara band and start from scratch!
- Box of silver seed beads: £1
- Box of pearl seed beads: £1
- Superfine jewellery wire: £1 (really useful for adding extra securing loops without adding more bulk)
- About 5 hours of work!

I borrowed my dad's tiny needle-nose pliers and wire cutters, but they're fairly cheap from hardware shops too (don't get the from craft shops, the prices are so hiked!)
Could definitely be done very cheaply, probably about £7 total, if you already had the pliers and you didn't splash out too much on expensive crystal beads.

Also - I am utterly AMAZED by how easy this was. Really guys, if you have a bit of time, definitely have a go! The hardest bit was attaching the loops of beads to the band, but that just takes a bit of practice. Making all the little lengths of beads was a bit tedious, but I put on a chick flick and went into Zen mode!

And thanks for all the nice words too!

double_mummy

have you thought about making some more??

if you have any bits left over then selling them to make some pennies back?