Fabric YoYo Necklace

So, as I said before, I have been busy crafting away! Today I will show you how to make a Fabric YoYo Necklace! They are selling for $20-$30 on Etsy, and I didn't spend anything on this one. Just used things I had on hand and recycled them! Super easy to make! So, go get some fabric and get on it!

I used some left over material from my apron for my YoYos. You want to think about how big you want your YoYos. When you figure it out, multiply that by 2. That's how big your initial circle will need to be. I used different sizes for this necklace.

Okay, first cut out your circles and thread your needle with a double strand. Make a knot at the end and put it through the wrong side of the fabric. Then fold your edge down about 1/2 inch.

 Okay, continue sewing all the way around the fabric (if your thread isn't long enough just inch your YoYo as you go). once you get to the end, you want to pull your needle upwards, with the thread. Your YoYo should start to bunch up in the middle. (Sorry I forgot to take pictures of this, I wasn't thinking). HERE is where I looked. :) But, this is your finished product. A big and little one.

You want to finish with just a couple of stitches, then knot and cut your thread off. Okay, for this necklace I needed several different YoYo's. Big ones and small ones. So.....

YoYoing....

Now, you want to take your YoYo's and arrange them in whatever design you choose. I used straight pins to hold mine together until I was ready to sew. Then, I just stitched them together on the backs around the edges. The Bf's mom also read that some people use jump rings and fabric glue, but most just stitched.

Here's what it looked like!

Just make sure they are secure. Now, it's optional if you want to put something in the middle of your YoYo's. I bought a box of jewlery at an Estate auction and found these faux pearls in there. So I thought they would be a cute center. So, I cut the strand and sewed them on.



Now, YoYoing some more.......

Okay, now I took the necklace I was using (another box find) and sewed the yo yo's on securely to the strand, like so

And here is it, the necklace for my darling friend Megan.



I am completely jealous of this thing! I'm going to have to make one for myself! Hope you enjoy!

-Amanda

These are some blogs I read! I (for the first time) will be linking my project up to the following blogs!

Lately blogworld

I failed to take pictures of my latest creative endeavours, but here's what I've been doing.

I made my first apron! I know, I know, this may not sound exciting to most of you, but I am pumped about it. I haven't used it yet because I really don't want to get it dirty :) I'll post pics in a later post.

I made over 50 yeast rolls for our NYE party we had. They were a success and super yummy! I will share the recipe for those later as well.

I introduced the boyfriends mom to yoyo's. You know, the cute little fabric things that you can make virtually anything out of (I'm slowly learning with each new article read!) I actually am making one of my lovely girlfriends a cool necklace since an unamed Wal-Mart supercenter LOST her photo present! Rude! Anyway, she will LOVE the necklace I'm pretty certain. I will take some photos of it and post later!

And, lastly (but most wonderfully), I made homeade soft pretzels. They were very very good! We have a small private owned shop in our mall that makes pretzels, and let me tell you, these are just as good (but MUCH cheaper!)! I'll go ahead and post the recipe below!

I start back to school Monday, so I'm sure my post will be few! I'll try my best though :)

Hope you enjoy!


Soft Pretzels

You will need:
1 large cookie sheet
a meat thermometer or candy thermometer
mixing bowl

Supplies:
1 C water
2T Yeast (I always use Active Dry)
2 t honey
2 1/2 C milk
1 stick butter
1/2 C honey
4 t salt
8 C Flour (you can use wheat or white)
extra butter and salt for the topping

Directions:
Mix 1 C water, yeast, 2t honey. Stir well to dissolve yeast, set aside. In medium saucepan, melt butter, 1/2 C honey, 2 1/2 C milk, and 4t salt and bring to 120 degrees (make sure you watch your temp!) Mix the yeast into the pan mixture. Put your mixture into a large bowl and add the flour 2 C at a time. After mixed well, knead the dough for 5-10 minutes. Place in greased bowl and let rise 1-1 1/2 hours. Punch down to get all the air out. (For this next step, I made sure my hands had a little oil on them, and my rolling surface) Pull off a "fist sized" ball, roll into long snake, twist the top, then pull the ends down to meet the bottom (I just looked at pictures on how to form a pretzel, and I also just cut the "snakes" and made little nuggests, which were really good!) Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until brown on top. Brush with butter and sprinkle with salt. You can also sprinkle them with cinnamon/sugar, or make a glaze. I served mine with cheese sauce and mustard! Very simple and fun for kids to help with!