The alLUREing necklace tutorial

I am not a fisher woman.

And while I have been fishing a couple of times,
I wouldn't know where to begin if I had to buy a lure in order to catch a fish!

How did I decide on a fishing lure necklace?

Well, I saw a necklace made from "wobblers" in a book.

It was bright and colorful and looked fun.

I also needed to make a thank you gift for a friend and I didn't want a traditional gift!

So....I went to Walmart to look for "wobblers". They didn't have any.

Granted, I don't know what a "wobbler" looked like, but I didn't see anything named as such.

If we lived in a big city where there are sporting goods stores and the like,
I might have found what I was looking for, but we don't.
And given that improvise is my middle name.

And that I was just looking for good colors,

I settled on these fine lures.

And of course a chain (well 2 really), some jump rings.

I already had beads and the silver straight pin type things you put beads on.

Okay.. now for the tutorial!

1.Your cute little jewelry tools will NOT work for this project! I had to go dig out my husbands cutters and needle nose pliers. The hooks are HARD to cut off!

2. After trying a number of different ways to cut off the hook, I finally settled on cutting open the end the hook was placed on and not the hook itself. The picture below shows this. (once you cut open the end, you can pull off the twisted piece if you want. I tried to just untwist the wire, but I couldn't without hooking my finger on one of the THREE hooks! OUCH!)

3. Now the fun part!! After you take off all the hooks, decide on the beads you want to use and make the ends of the lures pretty!  I used the opening that I cut open and then just closed it around the bead addition.

4. After the lures were finished, (I used 4 of two different kinds and 1 larger one) I got my 2 chains and made them into one necklace about 28" long (not sure on length.. original was 22" plus a portion of the second to make it long enough to be able to put over your head).

5. I put the largest lure on first. I used two jump rings on each lure. Two reasons.. first I hate that many "custom" or "homemade" necklaces fall apart so easily and I wanted to make sure that the lures would stay on the necklace. Second, I liked how it looked. :)

6. I placed the lures on every fifth ring. No reason. I just liked the open four between each lure. Because they are pretty big, I didn't want them sitting right on top of each other.

 7. And there you have it! The finished necklace!

I'm not sure if the necklace is very practical, but it sure was fun to make.

I'm going to be on the look out for some "wobblers" and maybe make a couple more gifts!

Isn't it alLUREing!!

I can't wait to tell you all about a thank you gift I made today.

And while I don't think the recipient reads my blog,

I won't post pictures of the finished piece just in case she does!

But here is a little up close shot of part of it!!!

Isn't it alLUREing!!

Doesn't it make you wanna go out and catch one?

How do you like that for bait?

I know. I'm lame.

Hopefully, I can deliver the gift and post the tutorial soon!

15 days, 26 bags. storage wars. and a little reward.

40 Bags in 40 Days. 

Day 15 update.

(if you don't know what I'm referring too, click here)

We are going like gang-busters here!!

It is FUN!

Okay, maybe the rest of my family isn't having the same fun I am having, but I totally enjoy sorting and organizing things. So, for me, cleaning out closets, going through boxes and all that is required to do the 40 Bags in 40 days is rather enjoyable.

hmm... enjoyable. that truly might make me certifiable :)

In case you were wondering, I haven't been going in order on my list. I made the list to give me a point of reference, but since I knew we had a garage sale that was happening last weekend, I started with the good selling stuff. Like kids clothes!

As I sorted the kids clothes, the kids helped by trying on things and pleading their case for a few of the outgrown but favorites.With the age/size spread of my kids, it doesn't make sense to keep all the clothes that Maddie can't wear. It could be years before Lexi would wear something and a decade before Kylie would wear it!  So, I keep jeans and a few of the shirts/dresses that I like.

During these two weeks, I have cleaned out my clothes, dresser and closet and Doug cleaned out his closet yesterday! Yippee! We are on a roll!

Next up, STORAGE WARS!! Here is what I've decided. It doesn't matter how much or how little storage you have for memorabilia/school keepsakes/special items. You will never have enough! UGH! 3 kids make for a TON of school keepsakes. I have these wonderful school keepsake files that I made a few years ago, but since we've lived in uncertainty on housing over the years, the boxes have been put away and the papers from school have just been piling up! So..yesterday, I started this.So far, I have 2011 sorted and one bag of trash. That's pretty good. I've got a long way to go. But it's spring break and raining, so I have time!

 And finally, why do this? Besides of course the deeper meaning of the 40 bags in 40 days clean out. When you clean things out, you have room to DECORATE!! Doesn't my china cabinet look nice!

I've decided that I'm going to use my china. I have beautiful ivory china with a gold rim. This makes it not suitable for the dishwasher. BOO. However, after 13 years, I've decided that china in perfect condition that is never used is not the point. I'm gonna use the china and if the gold rim wears off, good!