barbed wire necklace instructions & tasty snack idea

Good day, beautiful people. I promised you a craft, and here it is, though a day late. It took longer than I expected. I'm calling it the barbed wire necklace. I dreamed it up trying to figure out a necklace that would go with a dress I bought recently. The good thing about this necklace is that it is infinitely customizable. You could make it up with just the leather, you could use one or two colors of beads, you could space the beads evenly or randomly, etc, etc. Go crazy, people. Also, this is an easy project and the supplies are inexpensive. Here is what to do:

First, get a leather garment, say from Goodwill, or from your closet. Now cut it apart along the seams. Take the longest section, and using a rotary cutter and self-healing mat board, cut very thin strips. You will need many. If you want a fuller necklace, use even more, but at least about 20 or so, depending how long the leather is. Set one aside for step four. You will want to taper the ends of each strip to a point.

Next, if you are adding embellishments, such as buttons and/or beads, gather those. Now take a strip, add your items to it, then tie it to the next strip. You should tie it with about a half inch or more of the pointy end sticking out from each end. This gives it the barbed wire look. Add any embellishments you want to that strip, tie it to the next strip, and so on. For my necklace, I added a random assortment of old buttons and various kinds of beads. I had no particular spacing pattern as I like the chaotic look. Keep adding till you use all the strips you want to include.

Thirdly, figure out how long you want the necklace to be. You need to be able to slip it over your head, as it will not have a clasp. Wrap the entire length up in loops, as you would a hose, holding the portion which will fall at the nape of your neck. Clip that portion together to hold it till the next step.

Fourthly, Get the strip you set aside in step one. Lay a two inch section along the clasped part of the loops, with an inch extending beyond it. Now begin wrapping the strip around all of the loops to enclose the entire necklace. Keep the strip flat and tight as you loop it around. You will be working back towards the extended end of this wrapping strip. Once you get to the end, then loop the end which you have been wrapping under itself, and pull it tight. Now tie this in a knot to the edge which you left extending. If you have extra leather, then snip some off, leaving ends like the other knots you have made. You are done. Enjoy!

You know how, once in a while, you strike upon a certain combination of flavors which is magical upon the tongue? That's what this snack is about. Simple, easy, but amazing. Take some sea salt pita crackers. This Savoritz brand can be found at Aldi. They are delicate yet crunchy. Slather some Laughing Cow brand Light Creamy Swiss. Now, add a dollop of pepper jelly. Prepare to swoon, as this combo is so lovely.