Our savvy DIY go-to-girl, Danielle of DSMeeBee shows us how to make a chic handmade vintage brooch necklace in just 20 minutes.

I honestly made this necklace in 20 minutes and then felt really proud of myself. This necklace is so super easy to make it kind of blew my mind. On top of how easy it was to make, it only cost me about $10 and looks really beautiful. I’m so happy with it and I am considering wearing it for my wedding, but either way it will be a great go to piece for any girl’s jewellery box.

Things You’ll Need:

• Vintage Rhinestone Brooch – $7.  I got my brooch from EBay – not real vintage but looks great anyway.

• Loose Pearls – $2.  I also got my pearls from EBay and of course they are not real but I don’t really care about that (I just care about real diamonds!) I won my auction for $0.01 and paid $2.00 for shipping. Great deal!

• Soft Flex Jewelry Wire – $0.50 a yard. I got my wire at Bead Works in Cambridge Mass. You can find this type of wire in any craft or bead store. You could probably use fishing line as well, but it won’t be as durable as the soft flex.

• Crimp Beads – $1.50 for 10. These are essential because they are the best way to keep your beads in place.

• Jewellery Clasp – $2.00 for 50. The jewellery clasps I got were from Michaels and they are great because they come with the pinch clasp and the loop that will connect the necklace together.

Things You’ll Need From Home:

• Needle Nose Pliers

• Scissors

• Super Glue

Step 1:

Flip your brooch face down and super glue the pin closed. This is to secure your brooch from opening because the pin is where you will be connecting your pearl strands to.

Step 2:

String your loose pearls or beads onto the soft flex wire. Measure the length you want for your necklace. I used one strand 9 1/2” and the other 5 1/2” long because I wanted my brooch to be asymmetric. Take one of your strands and allow for an extra inch on each end. String on one of the crimp beads and wrap the flex wire around one end of the brooch pin. Loop the flex wire back into the backside of the crimp bead and when it is tight crimp it down with your needle nose pliers. On the other end of the pearl strand string on one of the crimp beads and the clasp, loop the flex wire back into the other side of the flex wire and don’t allow for much slack between the last pearl and the crimp bead. Once you feel the beads are secure crimp down on the crimp bead with your needle nose pliers. Repeat this on the other strand except instead of the stringing on the clasp, string on the jewelry connector that the clasp will connect into.

Step 3:

You’re done! The greatest part of this necklace is that you can totally change the design to custom fit your mood or change the style for different occasions. I love my quick and easy vintage pearl necklace and I hope you will love yours too! Also if you have a hip Mum or Grandmother with tons of costume jewellery grab one of their brooches and make your necklace an heirloom.

Let it be known – we love our brides!

It seriously blows our minds to see just how crafty and creative they can get and of course we certainly love hearing about how we helped. And the lovely bride, Emma, is certainly one of those brides. In the lead up to her wedding, she worked on loads of pretty DIY details. Here she explains….

“I just wanted to share with you how I used your website’s wonderful ideas for my wedding! I am so excited to have all these little touches everywhere on the day. I set up a mock table setting at home so I could see what it would look like. I have been collecting bottles from op shops and friends and family have been saving them for me too. I’ve also been saving crochet doilies (so cheap and so pretty) and I am planning to make (with help from my bridesmaids) the DIY ‘easy peasy string spheres’ to hang at the reception. Your website has been a constant source of inspiration and it is thanks to you that our wedding day is going to be that little bit more special.”

Aw shucks, thanks Emma, we’re blushing now!

And here are the gorgeous DIY creations by Emma.

Check back later today for the actual wedding, it’s not to be missed!

Our lovely DIY go-to-girl, Danielle of DSMeeBee shows us how to save money on wedding accessories and make a stunning birdcage veil for under $10. You need to see this to believe it!

This is a simple-ish birdcage veil tutorial. When I say simple-ish I mean this should be simple but for me getting the netting just right took longer than expected.

Items You’ll Need:

• Small piece of felt or a stable piece of fabric – $ 0.50

• Feathers – $2.00 from Michaels or craft store

• Fabric Rose Clip – $1.00 from Forever 21 or you could make one, but come on a buck for a cute flower beats making one any day!

• French or Russian Netting 9 inch at $4.00 per yard from Etsy. I had a really hard time finding this type of netting in my local Boston fabric stores so my next best bet was Etsy. You won’t need a whole yard but it might be good to have extra if you mess up.

Total Cost: $7.50 (WHAT! You can’t go wrong with that price!)

Items from home:

• Scissors

• Needle and Thread

• Mirror

• Glue Gun

Step 1: Cut the Netting

When you cut the netting use the factory edge as the edge that will sweep along your face. This edge should be what will be seen and the other sloppier edges will be tucked away so that they are less noticeable. Also be aware that wherever you cut the netting with scissors will look unfinished.

Step 2: Cut the Felt

I cut my felt into a leaf shape with the length at about 4″ long. This will be the base that you glue your feathers onto and sew the netting onto as well.

Step 3: Glue on the Feathers

Take the leaf shaped felt and start hot gluing feathers on to it. Fan them out the way you want them to look and leave the tip completely open so you can have an area to sew the netting onto.

Step 4: Fit / Shape / Sew the Netting

Take the non factory side of the netting and fold the netting as shown in the photos below. Then sew the folded netting to the felt base. This is the tricky part. I found it best to sit in front of a mirror and actually shape the netting on my head the way I wanted it to look. Keep repeating this method till you get the shape you desire.

Step 5: Clip the Veil into Place

I got a store bought rose from Forever 21 which already was attached to a hair clip. So this step took me about 5 seconds to do. I simply took the veil placed in my hair where I wanted it to be and clipped it in with my rose hair clip.

Step 6: Look Chic

If you make this veil right no one will know it cost less than $10! You can say you got it at a fancy bridal store and keep the price to yourself or brag about how savvy your are…like I did!