Collane fai da te

Lately I’ve been trying to incorporate more play into my adult life, but it can be hard to remember what “playing” in the childhood sense of the word feels like. I imagine it’s wonderful — the mind is open, fearless, non-judgmental and full of spontaneity. These are the qualities I’d like to bring back into all aspects of my life, and it’s exciting when you can observe these characteristics in other people’s work.

Evie S. came up with the idea for this project while playing with her children. She found the pattern of a few scattered penne intriguing and began tinkering with different elements. A little paint and some braided fabric strips, and voila! Evie created these awesome, textural, abstract necklaces that you would never think were made of pasta. I love the combination of the rigid penne “beads” and the softness of the braided textiles. This is such a wonderful example of playfulness and creative discovery. I’m inspired to make a couple of these fun graphic pieces myself and to play around with materials I may have overlooked. Thanks for sharing, Evie! — Kate

Have a DIY project you’d like to share? Shoot me an email with your images right here! (Low res, under 500k per image, please.)

Read the full how-to after the jump!

I’m a mom of two young boys and proof that you can find inspiration anywhere and with anything if you look. My boys and I were playing with pasta noodles — transferring them into bowls with spoons — and a few of them fell randomly in a V formation. I layered the Vs, and it looked like a neat chevron pattern, so I began to think of what I could do with it . . . and the chevron pasta necklace was born! I hope you try the project; it’s super easy, and people will never guess that it’s made from penne noodles. — Evie S. 

Materials

• scissors
• jersey knit fabric (about 1/2 yard would be plenty)
• glue gun
• acrylic craft paint
• paint brush
• 6–8 pieces of uncooked penne pasta

Instructions

1. Start by cutting strips of jersey fabric into 3/8 to 1/2 inch wide strips (no wider). You need 3 longer strips that are about 26 inches long, and 9 to 12 strips that are about 13 inches long.

2. Paint the pasta with the acrylic paint. I found it helpful to stick it on the end of a paint brush to hold it in place while I painted. Set aside to dry.

3. Start braiding your strips of fabric, starting with the longest strand first; this will be the base part of your necklace. Continue doing this with the shorter strips; you will need a total of 2 to 3 shorter strips. You can leave the ends of these loose.

4. Thread your noodles onto your braided chain — 2 pieces per strand. You may want to use the end of a paperclip to push the ends into the noodle. Arrange the noodles in the middle of each strip.

5. Layer the strands on top of each other, starting with the base first. Cut 2 strips of fabric about 4 inches long and 3/4 inch wide. You will be using these to wrap around all the strands to secure them together. Lay the strip underneath all the strands and grab your hot glue gun. Wrap the fabric around the bunch of strands, hot gluing a little bit as you go. Do this on the other side, making sure the sides are even and the noodles are laying properly.

6. Cut the excess strands that are sticking out at the top, being careful not to cut your base strand. Do this on both sides, and then you are done! Admire your easy, inexpensive and pretty rad piece of jewelry.