DIY Life

I love my bead board! I cannot imagine making jewelry without it. If you haven't invested -- and I use the term loosely, as bead boards are cheap! -- in a bead board yet, go for it. It will bring the ease of jewelry-making to a whole new level for you.

What features do I love about my bead board?

• The flocked surface keeps the beads from rolling around too much.
• I can create multi-strand necklaces due to the different grooves on the bead board.
• Being able to make more than one bracelet at a time is a lifesaver, because as I am looking for beads to make one bracelet, I usually come up with another idea or two on the way. The five slots on the bracelet section lets me lay out the patterns for all of the ideas that inspire me. This is especially helpful when I am making gifts of my jewelry. It also works well for multi-strand bracelets.
• There are enough separated sections for me to keep some beads at my fingertips, so when I know a pattern and want to lay out the whole necklace or bracelet before stringing, I can have the beads handy.
• Those same sections allow me to lay out all of the components for earrings, clasps for necklaces and bracelets, and any crimping beads I may need.
• Because the grooves are marked with measurements, I always know how long my necklaces and bracelets will be. This is important if you are trying to make your jewelry a standard length, or if you are making a custom fitting piece.

The bead board is an important tool if you are making jewelry as a hobbyist or as a professional. It will make everything easier.

DIY Life has lots of great tutorials for jewelry-making if you are an adult and want to play. From crackle glass earrings to designer knock-offs, we've got a project you'll like.

If you are looking for jewelry you can make with your children, something that would make a great Mother's Day gift, then these are the projects that might appeal to you.

These easy bottle cap brooches are made from bottle caps you have flattened out with needle nose pliers, a pin backing available at any craft store, a photo of your child and whatever you want to use to decorate -- ribbon, glitter, glue, nail polish. What stylish mom wouldn't want to wear a piece of jewelry with their child's photo on it?

With such a variety of decorative buttons available today, is it any wonder we've found a million and one uses for them?

I've been addicted to collecting really cool and unusual buttons for some time now. I've been using quite a few of them to make pairs of earrings.

It's pretty easy, and you won't need too terribly many supplies. Here's what you'll need:

• decorative buttons
• drill, or dremel
• jump rings
• earring findings
• safety glasses

They are really simple to make, just make sure to wear some safety glasses when using a drill! So, after putting on your wonderful, fashionable safety glasses, drill a hole towards the top of your button. (I wouldn't use any holes that already exist, as they are really too far down, and some of the decorative buttons out today don't even have holes!) Make sure that when you drill a hole in your second button, it matches up fairly well to it's mate.

Add a jump ring to the holes in the two buttons you just drilled, and connect your earring finding to that. And, you're done! You've got yourself a pair of really cute, unique earrings.

Just about every crafty diva has lots of tape measures laying around. Why not use one of these to make one of the coolest hand-made accessories around: a flower brooch made from a tape measure!

You can purchase these in a wide array of colors at craft stores, so you can make up a bunch to match just about anything.

You really only need a needle, thread, tape measure, button, and brooch finding, so there is a good chance you'll have quite a few of these things around your home.

You don't have to stop at just making brooches out of these flowers! You can make smaller ones for earrings, or even turn one into a pendant to hang onto a necklace. Whichever way you decide to show off these sweet little flowers, you'll be recognized for the crafty goddess you are!