Butterfly Pins and Other Pretty Projects

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Mary G's Butterfly Pins
Butterfly - magnet or pen (3 colors)
Supplies needed:
# 10 crochet cotton (colors of your choice)
6 mm bead (s)
# 24 gage craft wire
pen back or magnet
# 6 steel crochet hook
Pattern:
chain 7 slip stitch to form a ring
ROUND 1 chain 3 (counts as a double crochet), 2 double crochet, chain 2, 3 double crochet, chain 2, till you have 8 groups of 3 and chain 2 spaces between all double crochet groups. Finish off.
ROUND 2 attach thread in any chain 2 space, beginning shell, shell in all chain 2 spaces around, slip stitch in 3rd chain of beginning shell. Finish Off (8 shells)
ROUND 3 attach thread in any chain 3 space of any shell, chain 3 (counts as a double crochet) double crochet 11 more times in same chain 3 space, single crochet in space between shells, double crochet 12 times in chain 3 space of next shell, single crochet in space between shells, repeat around to last space between shells, slip stitch in this space, slip stitch in 3rd chain of first stitch of round. Finish Off and weave in end. ( crochet over the first two ends)
Stitches:
Beginning Shell: chain 3, 2 double crochet, chain 3, 3 double crochet.
Shell: 3 double crochet, chain 3, 3 double crochet.
Swallow Tail Picot: chain 6, slip stitch in top of # 6 double crochet
(put picots in first 2 scallops, regular scallop in next two, picot in next two scallops, regular scallop in last 2 scallops)
Fold in half so tails line up.
Finishing:
Cut length of wire, bend in half like a big "V", put bottom of butterfly into bottom of "V", grab ends at top of the butterfly and twist tight 3 times. Put together the ends of antenna and slip bead over both ends and down over the twists. Take a small pair of needle nose plyers and curl the ends of the antenna.
Attach Pin Back or Magnet. ( I glue mine)

I thought this napkin holder Butterfly is so pretty the pattern is for sale for $7.99

This gal has a different take on Crochet Jewelry with thses chain earrings...
I found this really interesting and I am going to try this. Think of all the possiblilities....Wow.....This little pin is easy to make and you can use any photo...

Shrink plastic is a versatile product and ideal for making jewelry. One of the benefits of shrink plastic is that it is easy to cut and punch before shrinking using normal scissors and hole punches. This opens up a wide range of creative possibilities. After shrink plastic has been shrunk holes can only be achieved through drilling.

Make interesting mixed media items, such as this brooch, by adding crocheted edges to your shrink plastic. This is easy to do by punching holes into the shrink plastic and using these to stitch into. I've used this technique to make the brooch above, however this can be adapted in numerous ways to make other items of jewelry, greeting card embellishments or to add into other mixed media projects.

Materials Required
•Shrink plastic
•Rubber stamps, inks, pencils, paints and other basic supplies as required
•Hole punch (I used a standard stationery hole punch)
•Crochet cotton and crochet hook
•Brooch / pin finding, glue
Note: Brands of shrink plastic shrink at different rates, therefore it is a good idea to make a test piece to check the finished size of the shrink plastic element and the holes if you want a specific finished size or to use a specific size of crochet hook.
How to Make a Shrink Plastic and Crochet Brooch
1.Stamp the shrink plastic and color the design as required
2.Use a hole punch to punch holes around the edge of the shrink plastic
3.Heat the shrink plastic following the manufacturers instructions
4.When the plastic is cool, crochet into the holes and complete a crochet edging as required
5.Add a brooch pin to the back of the shrink plastic if required
Crochet Tips
•You can add as much or as little crochet as you like. I made a row of single crochet stitches (UK double crochet) into the holes in the shrink plastic to make a foundation. I then made a row of double stitches (UK triple crochet) into this. The addition of more rows, interesting edging patterns and/or beads would create a stunning effect.
•If you want to use a thicker hook than will comfortably fit through the holes, use blanket stitch to create a foundation and crochet into this.
•Don't make the holes too close to the edge otherwise the shrink plastic may snap. I made the holes fairly far in to the shrink plastic element. This is because I wanted to make a feature of the stitches. While it is best to have the holes evenly spaced around the edge, they could be placed at different depths to create an interesting design feature.