A long time ago, during Makevember I made a galvanised coated garden wire shamrock, for use as a sign at events. Here it is at Congress. To make it I printed the shape I wanted on A4 paper, put that on top of some cardboard, and used a pattern tracing wheel to transfer the outline to the cardboard. Then I cut the cardboard along that outline. And used pliers to bend and shape the wire to follow the outline of the cardboard shape. Including some feet so it could stand.

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Lit up LED shamrock sign, brightest setting
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

I enrolled in Becky Stern's Jewelry Class on Instructables. The first couple of projects focus on beads, first with cord, and then with wire. Which are things I have done before but the projects looked cute. The second set of lessons focuses on sheet metal and soldering silver rings. Things I've always wanted to do but had no idea how to get started. I was so in.

Word of warning, while the class is free the materials are increasingly expensive. The sizes given in the materials lists don't always correspond to what's available here, so some of my details differ.

Beading
Round leather cord, 2mm, black.
Silk bead thread, size 2 / 0.45mm, black.
Round beads, 6mm, hematite.



Leather cord, silk thread, bead bracelet
Photo by [personal profile] chebe



Wire
Round beads, 6mm, hematite.
Round sterling silver wire, 0.4mm, fully annealed
Round sterling silver wire, 1.0mm
Sterling silver jump rings, 1.0mm thick, 4mm internal ring diameter
Sterling silver French hooks



Silver wire and bead earrings
Photo by [personal profile] chebe

Somehow, while making my Colour Stealing Skirt, I got the idea that I would like a headpiece to go with it. I mean, it's for EMFcamp, so go big or stay home, right? (Not at all, but I wanted to so I made excuses.) I wandered down a path of cybergoth falls for a little, but wanted something a bit more cyberpunk, and what is more punk than outrageous mohawks? But I don't have a 3D printer, or laser cutter, or CNC. How was I going to get something strong enough to stand upright, but translucent enough to light up nicely? I had an idea in my head of circles, inspired by CDs and hair rollers, but nothing else. So I took myself on a tour of hardware shops and wandered aimlessly. Eventually I found these. They come in different diameters and different heights, but these seemed just right for me.



Plastic furniture leg/wheel coasters, or floor protectors
Photo by [personal profile] chebe



Next step; how do I affix these plastic circles to my head? I wandered around youtube until I found people who use garden wire (for trailing vines and such) to make frames for costume headpieces. The idea is to shape a double-sided U-shape (one for each side of the head) out of the wire. You make the join with duct tape. I added extra supports to the top, by bending the ends to sit along existing wires, and duct tape them together.



Wire frame base
Photo by [personal profile] chebe



Then I continued in the same way down the back of my head. Aiming for a secure fit. I also wrapped the wire with ribbon (secured with super glue), not just to make it nicer, but because the duct tape glue was coming undone and the ribbon keeps pressure on all the joins.

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Wear
Photo by Jeffrey_Roe



Parts;
Galvanised Coated Garden Wire, 2mm / 12 Gauge / 5/64"
Ribbon
62mm plastic furniture leg/wheel coasters (floor protectors)
Organza scraps
Wide crinoline tubing

Potentiometer
Adafruit Flora
Adafruit Neopixel strand
3-pin JST SM Plug + Receptacle Cable Set
Adafruit Colour Sensor
LilyPad Button Board
SparkFun Microphone