#ring tutorial

Diy Statement Ring Tutorial

Diy Statement Ring Tutorial

What about a big ol’ statement ring? I’m all about a blingy ring – the bigger the better my mom always said! I made this bedazzled clay ring ages ago and thought New Year’s was the perfect time to share the how to. Read on to make your own DIY statement ring.

SUPPLIES NEEDED

Black oven bake clay

Flat ring base

Gold glitter

Small rhinestone stickers and beads

E-6000 glue

In an age of texts, tweets and tumblr, getting physical mail is like getting hugged by the past. There's something so lovely about opening your mailbox and finding an envelope with your name on it. While the actual symbol for airmail is not quite as cute as a paper airplane, this ring is sure to remind you to break out your stationery and pen a letter to a loved one.

Materials - Shrinky Dinks (or other shrink plastic) - Hole punch - Jewelry wire (I used 18g and it is very easy to bend) - Pencil - Permanent marker - Toaster oven, oven, baking sheet, parchment paper - Jewelry pliers - Scissors

Instructions

1. Draw a paper airplane* on paper. I just did a quick google image search for the one I used. I recommend using this airplane, because the little notch in behind the wings is a great place to secure wires and the lines running in the middle from the nose to the back of the wings provided a guide of where to place the wires.

*Look at the manufacturer's information on your shrink plastic to determine how much it will shrink. My airplane was about 2" long and 3/4" wide before shrinking and the final size was roughly 3/4" long by 1/4" wide.

2. Place your sheet of shrink plastic over your drawing and trace it with a permanent marker. 3. Cut it out and punch a hole between the two centre wing lines, or roughly in the middle of the airplane. 

4. With your oven preheated to the temperature noted on the shrink plastic manufacturer's instructions, place your airplane on parchment paper on a baking sheet and bake. Note: The side you drew on should be facing up.

5. Watch your plastic as it shrinks! It's seriously cool. It'll curl upward and hang out like that for a bit before flattening itself back out at a smaller size. Wait until it has flattened back out completely before taking it out of the oven and letting it cool. (Ignore the slightly larger airplane in the top right of the picture below and learn from my mistake of not reading the instructions on how much the plastic will shrink. Also, I made two just in case.)

6. While your airplane is cooling, cut a length of wire to about 4 inches. For the next couple of steps, it is seriously helpful if you have a round object about the size of your finger. I used a paintbrush that I wrapped painters tape around until it comfortable fit on of my rings. It's not necessary, but it really helps.

7. Wrap your wire around your round thing (which may or may not be your finger) and cross the excess over the centre. 

8. Using your strong hands or pliers, twist the wires around the centre thusly:

9. Bend the wire on the right up slightly and thread it through the hole in the plastic airplane.

10. Bend that wire toward the back of the plane.

11. Bend the left wire through the notch toward the nose of the plane. Using your pliers, bend the end of the wire so that it sits in the hole.

12. Now's the time to take your ring off your round thing. Wrap the first wire around the underside of the plane to make it sit snugly in place. You may need to play with it a bit to make the plane sit as flat as possible on your finger. With 18 gauge wire this is pretty easy, but be careful not too put too much pressure on the airplane itself as it could break!

That's it! Now you can wear it around and make all your friends marvel at your cool style. I made two because I initially had a slightly different idea for this project, but they look pretty cute when worn together.