DIY Tutorial Here!

Don’t Buy, DIY: Hardware Necklace

Nov 8, 2009 | DIY

A little DIY project for your Sunday!:-)

I wore my version of the hardware necklace in the latest styling challenge for America’s Most Stylish Blogger Competition.

(And if you may remember, in the video intro’ing the look for this week Tibi designer Amy Smilovic said I should have worn tights with my look. Funny thing…

I brought TWO pairs of tights to the studio one the night we shot: one gray, and one brown. For almost 20 minutes I debated the tights, and then finally decided against them, because:

1. I wanted the shoes to pop. If the legs were almost the same color, the shoes got drowned out.
2. Bare legs evoke far more sensuality and romance than covered legs…since almost everything else on me is covered.
3. Wearing tights took away the “glam” factor and downgraded it to a casual day look. Not what I was going for.

And it doesn’t need a pop of color since I was going for monochromatism (I know that’s not a word, just bear with me) and I wanted the gold, silver, and shoe studs to be gleaming out from a sea of textures of brown and gray.

Just sayin.’)

Here’s the whole photo again, just to refresh:
Ah, the fickleness of fashion!

Okay, back to the necklace. Here’s a closeup from my photo:

We all saw last season’s Lanvin runway collection and those chunky, statement necklaces made from what looked like bits and bobs from the hardware store.

(Photos: FirstLook.com)

Queen Michelle over at Kingdom of Style did her own DIY tutorial on the trend for Vogue Girl Korea – so there’s really no reason for me to rehash it in step-by-step detail. It’s pretty straightforward.

Basically, in order to make this necklace, I purchased from the Home Depot plumbing section:

*1 pack of 3/4 x 3/4 straight couplings (5 to a pk)
*2 packs of 1/2″ compression nuts (3 to a pk)
*1 pack of 5/8″ compression nuts (3 to a pk)
And strung them on a dark gray satin ribbon. I folded the ends of the ribbon over 2 gold split rings I had banging around in my findings box (D-rings would have been better, but whatever); machine-stitched to reinforce the ends, and attached a heavy-duty lobster claw clasp and jumpring to one side.

Presto! In less time than it’s taken me to write this post, I had a gorgeous, shiny chunky statement necklace – for about $8 from the hardware store. (You may want to wipe your findings with alcohol to clean off any machinery grease/hardware store/raging testosterone smell from them.)

And…funny story…while I was in line at the register to pay for my findings, a sort of a roughneck-looking man with a little Jack terrier in tow lined up behind me. (Though why the dog was allowed inside the Home Depot I’m not quite sure – he definitely was too tiny to be a seeing-eye dog LOL) The guy goggled at all the findings I had plunked on the register conveyer belt and said “I see someone gave you a list” in that condescending ‘what’rya doin’ here, li’l lady?’ sort of tone. (This is my imagined scene from some Dirty Harry movie, none of which, I hate to admit, I’ve ever seen.)

It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about. “Oh no,” said I. “No list.”

His eyebrows shot up almost into his thinning hairline. “You mean you picked all that out yourself?”

“Yup,” I said.

“Got a job to do, eh?”

I laughed and then said (which I ended up mentally kicking myself for later), “It’s not like I was looking for anything specific.”

He started to chortle. (I’m sure ladies don’t know s*** about plumbing was going through his mind about then.) “What did you need them for then? You making some sort of art piece?”

“No, jewelry,” I said.

“Ah. Jewelry.” Everything clicked in Mr. Females Don’t Know Hardware’s brain, and all was right with the world.:-)

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

Happy DIY’ing!
xoxo
Carly

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