February 15, 2012: Lost my chain of thought...

Oh hey there.... yup... still alive! Everyone has been asking me, "Ms. Eberhardt.. what are your plans for Spring Break?" and all I can think about is getting back on here and catching you up on everything! Haha... So, here I am. It won't happen all at once but I will be working on it this week and hopefully catch up a bit. I have to be honest though, I kept decent records of what I made/learned but the dates may be off a little bit. Here we go!

Over the years I have collected a wide variety of metal chains. Some I bought at jewelry supply places and others are from old jewelry that I took apart. Anyway, I saw a necklace in a magazine that utilized several different types of chain and I was like... "I got this." I used jump rings to connect the small pieces of chain to the long, simple chain that goes around my neck. I like the diversity of metals and designs.
So, I always like to infuse stories about myself into biology lessons (that's true right?) whenever possible.... and it is always possible :). When we are learning about macromolecules such as proteins, we discuss the term monomer. Which is a term given to a repeating small molecule that when all linked together create a large or "macro"molecule. Amino acids are the monomers of proteins... and your body is constantly making proteins in every single cell... it's crazy! Your cells are like little protein factories! So why do we HAVE to eat proteins you ask?? Simple. Your cells need to have amino acids to make proteins. I explain this to my students by telling them how my mother and I like to buy old jewelry (and other stuff) to take it apart and make new cooler jewelry :). Your body does the same thing with proteins. We eat proteins and then your body takes those proteins apart and uses the pieces to make new cooler proteins that work for your body! Viola... successfully implanted a story about myself into a biochem lesson (hahaha).

January 27, 2012: Unlock Your Talent!

Diggin' this necklace. The cool thing is that it didn't take much time at all. (Good thing because Friday nights I do ski club with RHS and I don't get back until late...) Soooo... as you can see... it is a simple silver chain with a set of keys, a heart shaped lock (from an old diary or something), a green glass bead and a cut-out piece of aluminum with the word "talent" stamped in it. I liked the combination because it speaks to the whole point of Period Ten - "unlock talent"Ummm yeah... so... that's really it for this one! Enjoy!

January 16, 2012: A spoonful of time

While in visiting Milford PA a couple of weeks ago to get my tattoo, I discovered a cool little gift shop that had handcrafted jewelry on consignment. (WAIT WHAT... TATTOO!? Yes. Perhaps I will share more later.) On display were a bunch of rings and necklaces made out of old spoons. I had never seen this... but both my friend Jenny and my mom said that they had seen them before. Even though it seemed that this up-cycling of flatware was old news... I thought it was a fantastic idea. Why not capitalize on the very inexpensive excess metal?

I started this pendant by hammering an old spoon until it was flat. Then I filed, sanded and buffed it until it had the desired look and feel. Next I placed the watch piece on the surface of to see where I wanted to solder it on. I marked where it was going to go and then punched the word "flies" into the metal using a metal punch set that was picked up at a rummage sale. I tried a new technique, sweat soldering, to attach the watch piece to the spoon piece. It worked! Although, I imagine I will try something else in the future because the watch insides do not seem too fond of the heat... smokey... yikes! Perhaps some sort of cold connection? We'll see.
Then it was time to buff it up to the desired look. Again, as usual, I like the worn and beat up look so I did not shine it up too much. Once it had the look, I put a hole in the pendant so that I could connect the jump ring and put it on a chain. To make this hole I used a metal hole punch screw. Before attaching it to a chain I wanted to make the letters stand out more. To accomplish this, I had to oxidize the metal using an oxidizing agent.  Oxidation (zing! science is everywhere!) happens as a result of a redox reaction (reduction/oxidation) where one substance is reduced (picks up electrons) and the other is oxidized (loses electrons). In this case, the metal is oxidized using a using liver of sulfur . This made the letters darker and less shiny, causing them to stand out and be easier to read. To finish up, I put a jump ring through the hole and then put it on a silver chain that I had from years ago.

I tried to put links to everything that I used so you can find what you need easier if you want to make something like this. Have fun!

January 12, 2012: It's a bird, It's a plane... It's an i-cord!

Disclaimer! PLEASE excuse these pictures! The attempt at zero expression, as ridiculous as it is, will hopefully allow you to focus on the piece and not my silly face. (Those of you who know me know I cannot take serious pictures...)
Now, I love this thing! It is a simple crocheted i-cord (similar to the very first creation on January 1st but shorter and with a lighter yarn size. (Here is a link that explains yarn measurements and descriptions, as it can get very confusing!... I have much to learn.) The coolest thing about this creation is that I do not really know what it is. It's a necklace... or a headband... or a choker-scarf-thing. Anyway, it fits nicely into my style and I think it could be worn across seasons so I just love it, alright!? :)

January 8, 2012: Tired to Tie Dye

One of my favorite creative pastimes is making t-shirt scarves. They are ridiculously simple and always result in a fun, versatile accessory! So, on this Sunday evening, post blog-updating and school-week-prep, I found myself incredibly exhausted... yet committed to continuing my daily creations. I had just purchased two old tie dye T-shirts from the Salvation Army so I decided to whip up a scarf. To make this scarf/necklace, start by cutting the T-shirt straight across from armpit to armpit. Next, cut off the bottom hem of the shirt. This should leave you with a rectangular piece of T-shirt. The piece should be in one connected loop. Cut strips (about 1 inch wide) from side to side. When you have all of your strips, pick them up individually and pull them so that the T-shirt material curls up and forms a noodle-like shape. Each strip should now be curled up. Put them together and you have your noodle scarf! Many more variations to come! Check out this great tutorial I found! : http://madethislovethis.com/made/tshirtscarf/

January 3, 2012: Bloom Necklace!

Have you ever seen cool jewelry made of bottle caps with some picture in it and a hard clear coating over it? I bought two great necklaces like this; one from a market in Nova Scotia that says "Earth" and the other from a street vendor in Union Square, NYC. I always look at this type of jewelry and say... "Oh I could make that." However, until yesterday (January 3rd 2012!) I had not even tried. I have been talking about making resin jewelry for years. So much that I have actually received resin as a gift several times... haha. That being said, I actually did not use the resin I received for this project. Instead I used epoxy resin (much like glue) which is why there are so many bubbles I think. But... at least I got the ball rollin' right? I will be sure to make genuine resin jewelry in the future and post it.

To make the pendant I took a bottle cap and sanded off the emblem on the flat side. Then I cut the rigid rim off leaving just enough to create a shallow dish-like structure. Then I painted Mod Podge all over the inside of the cap. Then, while that was drying, I cut out the floral magazine image into a circle and coated it with Mod Podge. I added the cutout of the word "Bloom" and stuck it to the front of the circle. I painted the image into the cap with more Mod Podge and waited for it to dry. Then I mixed equal parts of each compound to make the epoxy. I scooped the epoxy into the cap and tried to spread it out without causing too many bubbles. Then I let it dry. Meanwhile I found the brass leaf charm and used the epoxy to stick it to the back of the bottle cap. When everything had set, I attached a jump-ring and put it on a chain from an old necklace!

Ok... get ready for it! You would not believe what I learned about epoxy. Being a biology teacher, naturally, I was curious about the chemical reaction between the two parts of the epoxy mix. Basically you have to mix the two glue-like materials together in equal parts to cause it to harden. When I looked up the chemistry behind this (on Wikipedia... where else?) I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the first compound (resin compound) is made up of monomers (zing! bio word) and so is the hardener. When you mix the two together, the monomers form an intricate cross linked polymer! Huh! This causes it to form a very hard solid that is used in jewelry making, electron microscopes, plexiglass and much more.