Make It Good with Mich L in LA: Candy Wrappers

Happy Friday!

Oh, I'm so glad you could make it. To be honest, I'm so glad I could make it too... It has been one of those weeks, you know? But I'm happy to report that it'll be ending on a high note because today I'm having another one-on-one craftospheric challenge, this time with the redoubtable Mich L. in L.A.! Do you remember the last one-on-one challenge? It was so much fun that I've decided to make it a regular feature called "Make It Good". But I'll get to that later. For now, to the challenge!

What is this challenge I speak of? Well, it's simple. Here's what happened. Michelle and I emailed back and forth. We picked a day (today). We had my previous challenger, Aunt Peaches, decide on a challenge. We each created a post with a link to each other's post, and that's it! Now your job is to check out what I made, check out what Michelle made, and you're on your merry way! No winners, no losers, just crafty crafters dancing all around.

Now if you haven't yet heard of my opponent Michelle, well hang on to your hats. She is a wonderfully inventive jewelry artist who creates the most beautiful and quirky pieces from the humblest of materials. She also hosts a regular spot on her blog Mich L. in L.A. called Guess the Mystery Thing! You MUST check it out. It's so much fun, and so is she! It is a great honour for me to be challenging her today. Also, she scares the daylights out of me (just a little bit), so if I make it through the challenge, I will be a stronger and better person for it.

Now let me summarize our challenge as decreed by Peaches:

The Challenge Material: Candy Wrappers!

1. Thou Shalt Stash Bust!... You will try not to buy new stuff.
2. Thou Shalt Honour the Niftiness of Yore!... You will draw inspiration from an outside source.
3. Thou Shalt Share Thine Treasure!... You will swap your results.

Thank you ever so much Peaches. Really. You will never know how much I struggled with this confuddling candy wrapper idea of yours. Let me just say that this week will be permanently etched in what is left of my quivering brain.

Okay Michele, enough chit chat! Let's see what you got.

TO SEE WHAT MICH L. IN L.A. MADE {CLICK HERE}

TO SEE WHAT MICHELE MADE {KEEP READING}

Tutorial: Candy Wrapper Beads

For my craft, I drew inspiration from geodes, those spectacular crystal-filled rocky orbs, such as these pictured below (source). See, I know how to follow rules!

And lucky for me, making candy wrapper beads requires only the simplest of supplies, all of which I found in my house:

• Candy wrappers of all kinds, paper, plastic, foil (whatever your little heart desires)
• Glue or glue gun
• A narrow stick (I used a kabob skewer)
• Ruler
• Exacto knife

1. Using your Exacto knife cut your wrappers into 1/2" (13mm) strips.

2. Fold the strips in half.

3. Coil the strips around your narrow stick, adding glue at regular intervals.

4. Remove the bead from the stick once it becomes large enough to work with on its own.

Make your beads as big or as small as you like. Or join a few together. The idea is to experiment and create your very own unique beads!

Make a ton and have some fun!!!

I joined a few beads and made a sunny-bellied snowman pendant...

I macgyvered some joyful jelly jar jewelry ...

And finally, here is the self-portrait pouch I put together. Like I said, hard week.

Now I really have to pop over and see what that 2-L Michelle made. Oh, it's going to be fabulous, I can feel it in my crafty bones! I'll meet you there...

And if you're at all curious about the "Make It Good" crafter vs. crafter, recycling challenge extraordinaire, please click here for details!

Now you have yourself a glorious weekend, and I'll see you again soon!