Owl Key Chain with Martha Stewart Jewelry

This post is brought to you by Plaid Crafts. Anyone who knows me knows I am a girl who loves to accessorize, so when a box of gorgeous goodies from the new Martha Stewart Jewelry line recently arrived on my doorstep, I was delighted to dig right in! In my experience with Martha Stewart products from Plaid, every product is carefully and thoughtfully designed, and this versatile line of jewelry-making supplies, which is available exclusively at Michaels stores, certainly lived up to those expectations. I haven’t had this much fun dabbling in crafts in a very long time!

With the end of school next week, I have been wanting to put together a special gift for a teacher who has meant the world to our family, and she happens to adore owls. Included in my box was a silicone mold with a small opening for creating my own cabochon owl, so I used that element as a springboard for creating a sweet forget-me-not key chain to give to our teacher as a thanks for all she’s done.

I had never made cabochons before, and I was very impressed with how easily it’s done with these supplies. Simply mix together the epoxy clay, combining equal parts activator and color, and then press it into the silicone mold. After about 24 hours of drying at room temperature, you will have a cabochon ready to fancy up any project you choose!

Once my owl was dry, it was time to gussy her up with some color and bling! I used the mace and pool shades from the line’s jewelry enamel to paint color into the recesses of the shape. I allowed that to dry for an hour or so before using the jewelry glue and large tweezers (these are awesome!) to affix some of the 3 mm faceted-back rhinestones to the eyes of my owl. I love how they sparkle! I finished this portion of the project my adhering the owl with the same jewelry glue to a pretty silver pendant, also from the line. (The silicone work mat was the perfect way to keep my work space nice and tidy.)

I wanted to use one of the cute key-shaped charms for the line for this project, too, so I added a bit more color to the charm with the jewelry enamel. The silicone tip brush from the line was perfect for applying the color in smooth, even strokes. I found with the high humidity here in Tennessee, the enamel needed about 48 hours to set completely, so this is a project that shouldn’t be saved until the last minute.

After each of my elements was completely dry, I simply attached each one to a large split ring (purchased at an office supply store) with a jump ring, and my keychain was complete!

This will be the perfect year-end gift for a teacher who has meant so much to us. Attached to the keychain will be a little note:

“OWL sure miss you!”

Even if you’ve never dabbled in jewelry making before, there is something for everyone in this line of jewelry. Being able to easily craft and embellish my own cabochons is by far my favorite aspect of the line, but the possibilities for ways to use jewelry enamel to add a creative touch to jewelry of all kinds (talk about a great way to update thrift store finds!) is a lot of fun, too.

Be sure to check out Plaid on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest for even more project inspiration!

This is a compensated post written by me on behalf of Plaid Crafts. All opinions are 100% my own.