Craft Supplies: The Gift That Keeps Giving.

For Christmas, one of my friends sent me a pair of Skullcandy headphones.  Another of my friends gave me a ton of glass beads and really intricate charms.  I needed new headphones and, as a crafter, I always need new beads and charms.  The charms were a great deal smaller than anything I'm using right now, so I was brainstorming ideas for them when it dawned on me that I could use them for a trendy craft project.

Come to Momma.

In stores, I've been seeing all kinds of heavily decorated headphones, blinged out ear buds and other music enjoyment paraphenalia.  As much as I'd love a pair of earbuds that look like sushi rolls, bat shaped Mp3 covers, or a set of sparkly cupcake headphones, I can't see the point in buying them. Typically, these things cost a lot of money and are poor quality.  Why should I pay $30 bucks for a pair of pretty headphones that sound like tin cans in a bag?  So, it became my mission to vamp up my headphones.  By vamp-up, I mean...

Maila Nurmi- Vampira

It's actually pretty easy to decorate a pair of headphones, once you know how you kind of design you want to follow and what shapes you have to work with.  To get you started on your own DIY decorated headphones, here's a rough tutorial of how I modestly upgraded mine with just a few tidbits of craft supplies.  To vamp-up, sweeten, or bling your own headphones, you'll ALWAYS need the following:

Headphones (Duh)
E6000 glue
Ribbon (I chose a velvety sparkling kind)
Fabric or Leather scraps
Charms and Rhinestones
A Color Scheme

I made a rough plan of what I wanted to do with them before I even got started.  Skullcandy is NOT cheap and it would have been horrible if I messed them up permenantly.  I started my design by examining my headphones to see what parts of their external plastic would be easy to decorate without compromising their ability to function.

They're PURPLE!  Maybe I could work that into the design somewhere.

I spy with my little eye, a vestigial screw-port.

Remember kids, just because you can decorate something, doesn't mean you should.  There's a reason they don't have a market for rhinestone exhaust plugs for your tailpipes.

After inspection, I started to make stencils of the parts I intended to create decoration arrangements for.  This is important because it helps you get your placement down before you mess up anything.

First I roughly traced the half circle onto some paper, then checked it against the headphones to ensure accuracy...

Then I 'doubled' the half circle with a vent cut out for the movable stems on the ear-pieces.

After I'd drafted a stencil to use, I brainstormed how I wanted to dress them up further.  I was able to narrow down what sorts of charms would work best with the current design of the headphones, where they would go and how I could tentatively line them up.  Since I already like the Skullcandy logo, I decided that I wouldn't cover it up.

Scrap leather from an old coat.  A bit of the old lining still clings to it.

I didn't really want anything TOO outrageous.  Just a little glimmer here and there, you know?   I traced my stencil for the sides of the headphones onto some scrap leather, then cut it out and glued it where it belonged.  I continued gluing things down according to the plan until the headphones were finished.  You'll see a final design on my next post- Tomorrow.


MWAHAHAHA!