Do you like the title? It’s my attempt at a portmanteau or two words put together. In this case, I was going for “unexpected connections,” which is a bit too many syllables, if you ask me. My sincerest apologies to all readers who didn’t like the title. I hope you keep reading anyway!
Last weekend, I had the urge to try a new craft with a bunch of old random supplies that were doing little except collecting dust. I love having short hair (especially lately, what with ninety degree temps), but sometimes lack inspiration in thinking about what to do with it to make it look styled. As I pawed through my jewelry box, sorting out old pieces I wanted to up-cycle or give away, I felt some new crafts coming on. The first thing I tried was affixing a piece from an old bracelet to one of the many flexible hair clips I keep around. Yet, as soon as I began working, a problem emerged: I could not find a way to adhere the bracelet piece (with its inflexible metal base) to the bendy clip. Wire it? Glue it? None of my ideas seemed like they would work, so I rejected them all. I was becoming a little dismayed, as I’d already decided whatever I created with these clips, I would be wearing to an upcoming wedding. And that was a moment which gave me real pause: I was already committed wholeheartedly to an outcome that I had no idea about. One moment I was caught up in playing around with sparkly pieces, and then, in the very next moment, I’d already jumped ahead to its purpose without succeeding at making the thing! I realized how disappointing such a process can be, and fortunately, I took a step back to re-assess my expectations. I surmised there’s just no way I could get the metal piece to stay on the clip. And as soon as I committed less to the final product and more to the process, not one but two ideas showed up.
1: Keep the clip concept, but use different materials. I’d already dismissed the idea of wire-wrapping the metal piece to the clip, but hadn’t considered that wire might work better with a different decoration. Hmm…what do I have boxes of that can be wire-wrapped to most anything?? Beads!
2: Keep the sparkle, lose the clip. Months ago, I purchased a nifty flowered pin that also contains a clip for affixing to hair (a pinclip, if you will. What? I like words!). Said pinclip was cute and multifunctional, yet it lacked a certain pizzazz. So, I followed the old Vegas showgirl axiom: just throw some glitter on it (in this case, I did so after applying hot glue). Result? Sparkle!
The funniest thing to me about these two crafts is that neither will likely fulfill my original intention of wearing them to the wedding. However, had I not realized my initial, unrealistic connection to the outcome, both of these fantastic pieces might never have been made. I’m hoping I’ll continue to have success with this method of working in a few upcoming projects, specifically ones for which I have materials, but no clue what to do with them. What unexpections will come from them?
Forget the wedding, you need to wear those to work! I love it! I too have a stash of baubles and bits that I intend to make a spectacular piece of upcycled wearable art…but I never do! Arrrg!