Beaded Heart Charm

Hey, crafters!   Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we're all

 looking for small gifts to make for our friends and families.  If you're looking for something 

to make that is unique and straight from the heart, how about a cute handmade keychain?  

We will be having a special demo tomorrow for a Beaded Heart Charm!  It's going to be from 12:30 to 1 pm at the Pearl City location. 

This demo is completely free and our beading instructor, Gayle, will be happy to answer any questions you may have, so come check us out!

Don't forget you can also cruise around the store for some ideas on last-minute Valentine's cards, scrapbook pages and various other crafts.

See you tomorrow!

Erika @ PC

Bead Party this Saturday!

Join us for beading Make 'n Takes this Saturday, July 19th from 10am to 2pm at our Hilo, Kahului and Mapunapuna Bead Shoppes! 

Bead Party on Saturday, July 19th from 10am to 2pm at Hilo, Kahului and Mapunapuna

Whether you are a beginner or have been beading for years, we have projects just for you! See our bead shoppes for more details. Flyer can also be viewed and downloaded on our website here. See you there!

Garnet Glitz

I've decided to try my hand at making more jewelry this year. You could say it's a kind of New Year's resolution to practice some jewelry making techniques. So to start, I'm making a garnet bracelet and earring set for January. I got the idea for this bracelet and earring set from a craft magazine and decided to make a few changes to it to use findings and materials I had on hand. If you didn't know, garnet is January's gemstone.

Here's a picture of the finished bracelet all shiny and pretty. To complete this project, you'll need some silver chain, 4mm and 6mm jump rings, garnet colored glass beads, a toggle clasp, jewelry wire, crimp tubes, and some pewter findings.

First things first, cut your chain into 10 lengths of 2 and 1/8 inches. 5 pieces of chain get slipped onto a 4mm jump ring, and then another jump ring is added to the opposite side of the chains. You do this twice to make two sets of dangly chain pieces.

Next, add the toggle clasps, one to each chain set with a 6mm jump ring. On the opposite side of one of those sets, loop jewelry wire onto the 4mm jump ring and set with a crimp tube. Then you'll thread a bicone, a pewter finding, a bicone, a pewter finding, and finally another bicone, onto the wire. Finish the bracelet off by making another loop around the unused chain set and secure with another crimp tube to the unused chain set.

Done! This was a great way for me to start my beading practice because there was just enough technique involved to make it interesting but no crazy wire wrapping to make me frustrated. Check out our blog next week for the next installment; we're finishing up this set with a pair of matching garnet glitz earrings.

Thanks for reading!
Puna @ Enchanted Lake

P.S. If you're thinking that this would make a great Valentine's Day gift, you're really on top of things. Scroll down to see today's episode of Crankin' Out Crafts featuring a fun Valentine's idea.

Crankin' Out Crafts Episode 243 - Beaded Bookmark

Know a Mom who loves to get immersed in a good book? Puna will show you a super fast gift perfect for an avid reader.

Does your mom love to read? Make an elegant bookmark for Mother's Day!

View our latest episode here: Crankin' Out Crafts: Episode 243 - Beaded Bookmark

Supplies:

Organza ribbon

Beads

Scissors

Darning needle

This simple craft is something that even young children can help to make and Mom is sure to love.

Typography Necklace

Do you swoon over a new font you found on the Internet? Do you stop and stare at a well printed sign? Do you love typography and all things wordy? Do you love type so much that you never, ever want to be parted from it? So much so that you want to wear wonderfully font-tastic jewelry every where you go?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, I made this necklace just for you! It's the perfect accompaniment to any word nerd's attire, and as you can see, it's a testament to your gumption, courage, and general moxie-tude.

If you want to create your own typographic statement jewelry, all you need is some shrink plastic (yes, I am talking about those good old shrinky-dinks that you used to play with when you were seven and had to bug your parents to stick in the oven for you), a 1/4" hole punch, some chain, jump rings, a clasp, and a sparkly crystal on a head pin for the extra accent.

Then, you can download your new favorite font, print up a wonderful word (like moxie) and simply trace your word onto your piece of shrink plastic. The necklace above is made with matte shrink plastic and a slick writer pen from American Crafts. Don't forget to cut out your word and punch your holes before you start to shrink. String everything up on a chain and show off your new word nerd style. Oh the moxie-ness of it all!

Puna @ Enchanted Lake

Whoops! Almost forgot to let you know that there's a post before this one. Please scroll down and check it out.

Trees of Life

Trees of Life

A team of beautiful ladies from PACT came in and created one of a kind Trees of Life. They chose their leaves & flower colors, learned the techinque of twisting wires for branches and tree trunk and created thier own unique tree. Aren't they beautiful? There's always something crafty going on at Pearl City! We have lots of classes, workshops & demonstations...come join us! This week-end, Gayle will be teaching a Beginner's Beaded Charms class...if you haven't beaded a charm before, you start with the mandatory basic Tamari Ball & go from there. Learn the Tamari Ball this week-end & you can join Gayle next week-end for another cute beaded charm. Next Saturday, February 23rd, Gayle will be teaching & demonstrating Hello Kitty beading for our Hello Kitty Girls' Day Celebration! Set the date on your calendar & join us!
gloria @ Pearl City

Breast Cancer Awareness

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Join me on Thursday, October 11th to bead a Pink Ribbon to wear as a reminder for women to learn the importance of prevention, personal risk factors and early detection of this disease. Most women who get breast cancer have no known risk factors. Many women with one or more risk factors never get breast cancer. So it's impossible to know who will actually get breast cancer. Remember that the best protection is eary detection.
There's always something crafting going on at Pearl City Ben Franklin!
gloria @ Pearl City

Crankin' Out Crafts Episode 103 - Duct Tape Feather Earrings

Welcome to our newest Crankin’ Out Crafts episode. We’re sure the projects from this week will “stick” with you because our theme for the week is Duct Tape. In our first episode, Puna shows you how to make wearable duct tape feather earrings.

Make your own pair of earrings out of colored or printed duct tape!

Watch the episode here: Crankin' Out Crafts: Episode 103 - Duct Tape Earrings

Supplies:

Duct tape in your color choice

Fish hook earrings

Small pliers

Crimp end connectors

Scissors

These earrings are so easy and fun to make and because they’re made of duct tape you can affordably change out the colors to match any outfit.

HK Celebrates Girl's Day at Pearl City BFC!

Girl's Day is coming up this week! Celebrate with us at Pearl City BFC on Saturday, March 3rd from 1:30-3:30pm. We'll have Make 'n Takes and a Beading Demo - all featuring your favorite Kitty!

Craft with us on Girl's Day on Saturday, March 3rd at Pearl City BFC!

Fees vary per project. Limited quantity of make 'n take projects, so come in early! See store for more info. See you there!

Crankin' Out Crafts Episode 51 - Beaded Earrings

We're finishing up our Jewelry Week episodes today. In this episode, Brandon teaches you how to make easy Beaded Earrings. Make a pair to match your favorite outfit or to give as cute favors/gifts to family and friends!

Watch as Brandon creates easy earrings with just a few supplies!

View the episode here: Crankin' Out Crafts: Episode 51 - Beaded Earrings

Supplies:

Headpins

Jesse James Beads (make sure the hole in at least 2 beads are small enough for the bead to sit on the head of the headpin)

Needle-Nose Pliers

Round Nose Pliers

Cutting Pliers

Fish hook earrings

 

Thank you so much for watching our Crankin' Out Crafts Episodes and we appreciate your continued support! We enjoy thinking of new craft products and love sharing them with all of you. Have a great weekend and have fun crafting! See you again next week for our next set of episodes.

Crankin' Out Crafts Episode 50 - Quick Link Linking

Ever wonder how those Quick Link bracelets are made? There are no splits or openings in the links! Puna shows an easy way to connect all these quick link shapes to create a bracelet.

See how easy it is to create your own Quick Links Bracelet!

Here's the link to the Episode: Crankin' Out Crafts: Episode 50 - Quick Link Linking

Supplies:
Quick Links (whatever shapes/sizes you want)
Connector Clamps
Flat Pliers
Beads
Magnetic Clasps

We'll be back Friday for our last Crankin' Out Crafts Jewelry creation!

Crankin' Out Crafts Episode 49 - Easy Quick Link Earrings

Our theme this week is all about Jewelry! You can make your own jewelry to wear yourself or to give as gifts. Today, Brandon demonstrates how to make Easy Quick Link Earrings.

Brandon shows you how to create the quickest set of earrings with Quick Links!

View the video on our youtube channel: Crankin' Out Crafts: Episode 49 - Easy Quick Link Earrings

Supplies for this project:

Quick Links (2 circle & 2 smaller oval links to hang in each circle)

Fish Hook Earrings

Nose Pliers

All supplies available at our BFC stores. Check back Wednesday, for another jewelry project!