Lighted Wrist Cuffs

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These fun wrist cuffs are made with battery powered LED lights.  The circuit is made using conductive thread.

I found the instructions on how to make LED wrist cuffs on instructables.com.  The posting has great step-by-step instructions on materials needed and how to sew the circuit.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Soft-circuit-LED-Bracelet/

After making several of these, I modified the design to make it faster to sew the circuit and to give it a more finished look.  Please refer to the instructables article for information on the circuit.

 

Materials needed:

• LED lights.  I like 3mm and 5mm size.  Color changing LEDs are a lot of fun too.  The best place I have found to buy these is on ebay.  Note that resistors are not required (the conductive thread has enough resistance).
• Conductive thread.  I used "Lame Lifesaver" from: http://members.shaw.ca/ubik/thread/thread.html
• CR2032 battery.  You can get these at a drugstore, but much cheaper in bulk on Amazon.com.
• Coin cell holder.  I got these on ebay too.
• Magnetic snap closure.  These can be found in the purse section of a craft store.
• Fabric.  I use felt for the inside circuit, flannel for the lining, and decorative fabric like velvet or brocade for the outside.
• Decorations.  Bead caps look great over the LED lights.  I also like to add lace to the end of the cuff.

Useful Tips:

• Check the circuit is working before sewing the cuff closed. 
• Mark the LED's positive leg with a permanent pen before you bend them.  If you get the (+) and (-) legs reversed, they won't light up.

Step 1: Cut the fabric pieces

Cut the felt and fabric to size.  I have mine end in a point where the snap will be, and long enough that it will cover the battery:
   Felt:  2" wide x 10" long, cut end to point.
   Outer & flannel liner fabric:  approximately 1/2" wider all around.

Step 2: Sewing the outer fabric

Pin the outer & flannel fabrics ("right sides" together) and sew the pointed end and one side.  Turn right side out and pin the felt piece in place.

Step 3: Placing LED Lights

Mark where you want the LEDs to go with a white pencil on the outer fabric.  Cut small slits for the LEDs to go through, and then use the pencil again to mark the felt through the slits you just cut.

Step 4: Sewing the Circuit
Start with the positive (+) end snap, cutting slits for the snap prongs through the felt and outer fabric.  Wrap conductive thread around the snap prongs before bending them into place, leaving enough thread to sew the positive line.  Sew the 2 lines of conductive circuit to the felt by hand, attaching the LEDs to the power lines as you work your way down the cuff.

Felt with conductive thread circuit, LEDs, and positive end snap.

Step 5: Adding the Power

Attach the coin cell battery holder to the outer with glue. Attach the negative power line to the negative battery side.  Run conductive thread from the positive battery side to the snap and wrap around the snap before closing the prongs.

Inverted fabric sewn on pointed end and one side of cuff.
Back side of snap, slits for LEDs,  and conductive thread to battery holder are visible.

Step 6: Finishing

• Sew on the bead caps by had.  Sew through the bead caps, outer fabric and inner felt to hold everything in place. 
• Tuck in the raw fabric edges and sew the bottom edge of the cuff, enclosing the circuit (check it works first!).  You can also add lace.
• Sew along the top & bottom edges of the cuff,  

 

If you are interested in buying some of the LED wrist cuffs I have made, please visit the "Lighted Accessories" section of my Etsy store: TahaniDesigns.etsy.com

Fairy House - Homemade, Durable, and Solar Powered

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My daughter loves fairies, and is a fan of all of the Tinkerbell movies (so am I!).  We were inspired to build a house for the fairies in our back yard, but I wanted something durable and with a special touch of magic.  I decided to go with a house built out of an upside down flower pot with a solar powered light to shine through the windows.

House
We used a PVC flower pot from Home Depot for the base of the house.  (Note:  if I do another one of these, I will chose a square pot instead of round - the round was hard to work with!)  My husband used his dremel tool to cut the doors and windows out of the pot.  The door is a wood plaque from the craft store that I painted, stained, and coated with clear acrylic paint (for waterproofing) and mounted in the door opening.  The windows were lined with opaque plastic sheeting and edged with foam cut from an orange foam can holder.  I drew flowers around the house using paint pens and coated it with more clear acrylic paint.

Solar Light
I bought a solar lawn stake light from Home Depot for $2.  We removed the stake portion of the light, cut a hole in the roof of the house (bottom of the flower pot), and glued it in place with the hot glue gun.  When the light turns on, it shines down into the house and the light comes out of the windows!

Finishing
I used the hot glue gun again to attach the flower pot to an upside down base.  I then added a miniature white picket fence (found at Joann's craft store).  For a final touch, I glued pebbles in the roof with a hot glue gun.  Once we placed it in the garden, I scattered the remaining pebbles around the house.

Now when it gets dark at night, my daughter and I check to see if the lights are on in the fairy house.  This means fairies are in the house!  We built the house last November, and it has now lasted 10 months and is still looking great.

Fairy House in our back yard.

Fairy House at Night.  The fairies are in!

Working with Polymer Clay

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Polymer clay is easy to work with, comes in a wide variety of colors, and bakes in your home oven.  And it's fun!  I am still a beginner, but here are some useful things I've learned so far about working with polymer clay:

(1) Conditioning
Conditioning the clay really helps, especially because the clay can be pretty hard out of the package.  Warm it up in your hand and flatten it enough to start rolling it.  I bought the cheapest clay roller I could find ($10 using a 50% off coupon at Joanns) and it is working well for me, even though it can be tough to turn sometimes.  Feed the clay through the machine on the thickest setting, fold it in half and repeat.  It's OK to get jagged edges, just mush it together in your hand and roll it again.  This technique can also be used to blend different colors of clay.

If the clay is really dry or tough, you can add a bit of mold maker to soften it (a little bit goes a long way).  They also sell a liquid softener, but I am hoping to use the mold maker to make molds someday, so I bought this.

(2) Tools for forming clay

You are going to use a lot of tools when working with polymer clay.  I bought a tool kit to get me started, which includes a flexible blade (good for cutting off chunks of clay and shaving surfaces), roller, needle end pointer (good for making bead holes), and a variety of round and blunt end tools.  I also use my Xacto knife, a small drinking straw (coffee stirrer) for punching holes, and a small round cookie cutter.

Tools you don't really need

I tried a bead roller to make nice evenly shaped small beads.  It worked pretty well, but if you want nice evenly shaped beads it is much cheaper and faster to buy them at the bead store.  This is home-made art, and it doesn't need to be perfect!  I doubt I'll use this much...

Bead trays are meant to hold the beads while they bake so they don't form a flat spot.  A good idea, but the trays just cost a lot for what they are.  Instead, I covered a cookie sheet with aluminum foil, folded some foil up, and stuck toothpicks into it. 

(3) Surface Finishes

It is easy to end up with a lot of finger prints on your clay.  Dabbing or gently rolling it on a paper towel can give it a nice matte finish.  Be careful of lint - I used a tissue instead of a paper towel once and ended up with a very fuzzy product (not what I was aiming for!).  

I have tried a clear glaze, but I think I prefer the matte finish.  I have also tried sanding the baked clay, as I have seen suggested on other guides.  I ended up with a very scratched piece, so if you are going to try this then use a very fine grain sanding paper!

(4) Refrigerating!

Soft clay is great for forming your clay, but sometimes you need to harden it a little.  Putting it in your refrigerator for 10 minutes can really help!  This will harden it enough that you do nice sharp cuts with your knife or shave the surfaces (for the Mokume Gane technique).

Mokume Gane method (pressed and then shaved surface).

Pumpkin & ghost were refrigerated and then carved.

(5) Play and have fun!

The clay is very forgiving.  If you don't like how a piece is turning out, roll it in your hands and swirl the colors together and you'll get some great looking beads!  If a piece gets squished out of shape, just push it back.  Experiment and have fun!

Celtic Jewelry with Tierracast Beads

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I have always had a love of the celtic knot designs.  Tierracast makes beautiful, high-quality cast pewter celtic beads and pendants that I have used in my jewelry.  Many bead stores sell Tierracast - you can learn more about them here: www.tierracast.com.


Check out more of my celtic jewelry on my etsy site:  tahanidesigns.etsy.com

Tierracast Celtic Tree of Life pendant with blue glass pearls

Lapis Lazuli beads with Tierracast Celtic Knot Beads

Olivine Green Swarovski rivoli with Tierracast Celtic Knot Bead