POM POMS from wool. Learn how to...

Pom Pom Necklace Tutorial

Happy Halloween and a happy Monday to all of you! Hope you are enjoying your day so far. Lately, I have been looking for cozy sweaters, winter scarves and of course some winter accessories. I taught myself to make pom poms and used my wool pom poms to make a necklace using a super easy tutorial. I thought I'll share my newest necklace with you.

Anyone can do this cozy and cute beauty... When I first saw this pom pom style necklaces on the web, I thought I will need expensive tools to make it but; I only needed wool, a thread, some small beads (optional) and some dish soap and water... That is really it. Total cost was less than $5 and 2 hours - including the learning and creating process.

What do you think? Did you like it?

I am in love with it and will be making another one when I purchase more colorful wool. I am thinking red or maybe I will combine various colors together. Click here for the tutorial I followed from Design Sponge blog. I also learned that you can use drying machine to make this pom poms; if you want to try. (Tutorial) I preferred making it 100% handmade to avoid any unexpected results from the dryer...I am unfortunately quite famous with shrinking clothes extra in the drying machine :-)

Let's visit the Cotton Castle in Turkey!

What about a visit to my home country, Turkey to bathe in this georgous natural waters of Pamukkale, Denizli; located in southwest Turkey. We might also do some shopping for Turkish towels while we are there since they have one of the best towels in the country.

Pamukkle's english translation is Cotton Castle. It gets its name from this white terraces of calcium carbonate minerals deposited by water from the hot springs.  These terraces almost 200m in height have been formed in step-like arrangement gradually in the course of the ages.  They are absolutely stunning and super interesting, don't you agree? They kind of look like oyster shells...

Thanks for joining me at our second Let's tavel to Abroad destination... See you next time!!!

Robins nested blues

NEW robins blue keychain accessories are available in beautiful turquoise blue colors. I have been in search for beads that looks just like the robins egg and I think I finally found them... These birds nest keychains come in one, two, or three eggs representing your kids or anything else that you like. They are really  for everyone who loves nature.

Robins nest handmade key chains

The beads are made of glass and oval shaped just like real eggs. They make very unique and special gifts for moms, mother-in-laws, grandmothers, etc... This keychains are part of A Cup of Sparkle Christmas Jingle Collection and they are limited.

Handmade accessories for moms- great gifts for holidays

I hope you liked them! They all come with two cute charms; one of them is a heart and the other is an animal of your choice; ladybug, bird, turtle, dragonfly, bee... You have so many options to customize this unique keychains.

How to make mosaic artwork with glass - A Tutorial for Beginners

Hello my dearest readers and HAPPY MONDAY!!! I learned to make mosaics couple weeks ago at a class held by a mosaic artist in Seattle. Her name is Laura Wright. It was such a fun evening... Laura was so kind to open her house for this class. I thought I will share with you what I made and what I learned.

My A Cup of Sparkle Laboratory walls were quite naked so; I thought I will make a cup with sparkles... and write my jewelry shop's name with glass.

I made this mosaic artwork  on a 8"x12", 1/2" thick wood board.  I used black, red, soft pink, white colors of recycled glass and mirror for sparkles. The corners are pre-cut square tiles.

Materials: Recycled glass, wheeled glass nippers, substrate, adhesive-thin set/concrete or a tub of pre-mixed AcrylPro ceramic tile adhesive, sanded grout, a plastic knive for spreading, a cup to mix the grout, tile cleaning sponge, bucket of warm water for cleaning the grout on the mosaic, gloves for grouting and a picture hanger to hang your finished mosaic.

Step #1: Draw your design on paper. We will do an indirect method so; you need to draw the mirror image of your design. Place your sticky tape over your picture sticky side up.

Step #2: Place your glass pieces face down accordingly. Cut the glass to desired shape for your design. If you want to make changes, the glass pieces come-off easily. So; don't worry. This step took me around 3 hours... Writing letters was quite hard, but; FUN! :)

Step #3: Place your adhesive on the wood board (substrate) by completely covering it.

Step#4: Flip your design on the board with the adhesive.

Step #5: Gently tap in each piece using your fingers; especially the smaller pieces.

Step #6: After 30 minutes or so, gently pull away the tape from bottom to top. Move around any pieces that need adjusting.

 

Grouting: Wait 24 hours. Place your mosaic on a newspaper. Fill a bucket with warm water. Put your gloves. Spread your grout well-mixed with water on your mosaic. Cover it very well. Wipe off the extra grout. Wait 5-10 minutes. The grout will dry fast and you can wipe it with a towel until your mosaic looks shiny and smooth. Here is a video that explains the grouting part pretty well.

VA-LAaaa!! Your mosaic is complete and ready for hanging. I hung mine already that matched so well with my red wall paint. I am so happy with it :) Let me know if you have any questions on the tutorial. There are also many youtube videos that might help you visualize what I am talking about. 

Wishing you all a great week!

Beaded Cluster Necklace: Autumn color palette

This beaded necklace is perfect for Autumn lovers. A beautiful and unique combination of seasonal colors: cinnamon brown, amber, mustard yellow, burgundy, smokey grey, soft pink and fire red combined for an earthy, natural look. It is made with round mookaite beads individually strung on a hand-prepared soft metal piece.

I tried to incorporate the autumn color palette as much as possible in this necklace design. I just followed the nature while choosing colors. You can wear this silver cluster necklace both with muted and rich, warm colors. It is a perfect match for any fall closet. You can click here to the fall sale to see more photos and details of this necklace from my Etsy shop.

Let's be a fish in a bowl in Marseille...

Not sure how much all of you like camping, but this transparent bubble tents in Marseille, France might worth the try. It feels like staying in a luxurious hotel, like camping in the nature and also being at home... it is an experiecnce of all at the same time inside of a giant bubble. Kind of bizarre in a cool, confortable way! The best part of this bubble tents is that you can watch the sunset, the stars and sunrise crystal clean from all angles....

 What do you think? Would you like to be a fish in a bowl for a night or two?

I would, if you could afford :-) These bubble tents are also available for purchase for those of you who don't want to travel that far; starting from $11,000 and goes up to $20,000. You can even rent them for an event, such as a wedding.. Pretty cool, don't you agree?

Thanks for stopping by... I appreciate you joining me at our first 'Let's Travel Abroad' destination. Wishing you an adventorous weekend!

Let's Travel Abroad together!!!

I love crafting, making things with my beads, crystals,and metal wire in the A Cup of Sparkle Laboratory... There is one more passion in my life that is on fire all the time: Traveling!
I love love love seeing new things, places, shopping in different countries and getting to know different cultures and people So, I thought on Fridays I will talk about places I have been or I want to go and why... I have to confess that my geography is terrible but; I am so exicited to learn more about the world and take you to abroad with me by 'Let's Travel Abroad' Friday posts and photographs. What do you think? Would you want to do some traveling abroad with A Cup of Sparkle? I will be happy if you would stop by on Fridays to be a part of this adventure.

I thought I will take you on an outdoor adventure in Marseille, France tomorrow... A Meditteranean port town just southeast of France. I will see you tomorrow at our first destination in Europe.