DIY - Painted Wood Bead Necklace

This August DIY project was inspired by a random outfit post by a blogger than I now can't find in my reader. Why didn't Pinterest exist a year ago when I started all this crafty non-sense!!??!? Here is my cropped photo that I have kept in my desktop "Inspiration" folder since March 2011.  How pretty is that necklace? And just like that, the DIY sickness resuffaces..."Hey I bet I can make that!"

 PS If you know which blog this is from/this is you - Let me know so I can properly Pin you :)

 

This red necklace is pretty close to what I'm trying to achieve...yeah it's actually faceted ruby quartz and sold on BlueFly for $80.50. YIKES! So you can imagine how grateful I was to come across this oh-so-easy tutorial by Vanessa Christenson showing how she was able to spray paint these wooden beads in a not all at messy way by sticking them on skewers secured in a Styrofoam ball. Love the lime green!

 I am on a budget this week, completing projects I already have the materials for on hand, so I couldn't run out and get the skewers or the foam for this one. I tried toothpicks in cardboard but they just kept breaking. After examining the beads I realized the holes were pretty wide and made for a large enough surface for me to lay the beads down flat and (unless I knocked into the table) they wouldn't roll around like crazy.  

 

So I laid the beads out in rows and sprayed the first side with the hunter green. I waited 5 or so minutes for that to set and sprayed them again with a thicker coat.  After about 10 minutes I figured they were safe for touching and flipped them all over one by one.  Again, I sprayed with a light coat of the green and after 5 minutes did a thicker coat.  Once that was dry, I did a once over with the navy blue just to give a hint of marbleizing or something cool like that. Then I sprayed lacquer on both sides to create some sheen and quickly brought the beads indoors before the inevitable Florida afternoon rain hit.

 I threaded most of the beads on a long leather string and knotted it in the back. The remaining beads are strung on chain for a less crafty/equally dramatic look.

I love the awesome (accidental) layering!

 

I'm glad I mixed the blue paint in with the green. I have a habit of wearing blue jewelry with green clothes just because I don't own very much (any) green necklaces and the two colors have started to blend together for me. However, I don't know if other people see things the same way or think I'm super weird for wearing a bright blue necklace with a green dress.  Now I won't have to worry about that! I can mix and match all I want and I won't lie - the blue/green with the pink dress is starting to grow on me too!