/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.315009]

I'm looking to make a ladyfriend of mine a homemade piece of jewelry based around The Little Mermaid for her birthday. I'm not really sure what to make, but I figure it'll either be a necklace or a bracelet. I don't have any specific design ideas, so I'm asking for suggestions. Something cute and simple will probably do.

I'm also going to make a bracelet of Aladdin for another friend of mine, but that's not really my focus at the moment.

[Anonymous No.315028]

>>315009
Your pic gives example

[Anonymous No.315151]

Shameful self bump for assistance

[Anonymous No.315156]

Make her the clam shell bikini. Get shells, drill holes, apply paint, add string.

[Anonymous No.315158]

>>315156
I don't think my friend would appreciate me making her a bikini. I'll stick with jewellery ideas

[Anonymous No.315172]

Make purple shell anything.

Either that or spray paint her hair red when she's sleeping.

[Anonymous No.315182]

Ariel is so minimalist

[Anonymous No.315184]

>>315182
You mean besides that cave of junk she collected?

[Anonymous No.315796]

The obvious piece of jewelery in that movie was the little magic shell that Ursula the sea witch used to capture Ariel's voice. Ursula then wore it around her neck when she was in human disguise as Vanessa.

Make that.

Otherwise, make a necklace out of a "dinglehopper" (fork) or "snarfblat" (tobacco pipe) or anything involving any of the junk Ariel collected in her secret trove.

[Anonymous No.315803]

How about a fork bracelet?

[Anonymous No.315811]

>>315803

Genius.

[Anonymous No.315876]

>>315009
Check out cuttlebone casting for jewelry. It leaves a wood grain like surface texture and is really easy to do at home.

[Anonymous No.315924]

>>315796
reading this almost makes me want to download and watch it, haven't seen it since I was prob 8yo when my lil sister had it on VHS
>28yo male
>wanting to watch lil mermaid
>mfw

[Anonymous No.315937]

>>315924

Haha, funny you mention your stats. I was 28 when I started a huge Disney binge a few months ago. I always thought Disney movies were childish/girly and hadn't watched any since I was atalented /diy/erwhen I was MADE to watch them in the company of other girls.

The Little Mermaid wasn't meant to be a girly movie to the people who made it. It was just Jeffrey Katzenberg who felt that way (fearing it would hurt revenue) and made the team add more "Die Hard" elements (especially to the climax) to add a little more testosterone for the malegoing audience.

Great movie though. There's no shame in enjoying it. Also loved Beauty and the Beast. What a pity Howard Ashman passed away so soon. He and Alan Menken were such a devastating songwriting team.

That fork bracelet pictured above is also clever.

[Anonymous No.315942]

>>315924

And holy crap, speaking of Howard Ashman, that GIF you posted really looks like a toddler version of him.

[Anonymous No.315984]

>>315937
yes agree that fork bracelet is a clever idea, Op should definitely make it, I don't know what my gf would say if she got home from work and I had the lil mermaid crankin though, she might be stoked, probably also very concerned, maybe I wait till we babysit friends little girl again then I have a great cover story
>all I have in my head now is ''under tha sea..under tha seeeea''
also can't believe that movie was made in 1989
>old much

[Anonymous No.316001]

Okay friends, I guess I'm stuck between the shell necklace that holds Ariel's voice (as my friend is a singer, and it might be a cute charm) and the fork bracelet, because its clever. How would I go about making both, in case I'm willing to go the extra mile? I doubt I have the skill to hand make a fork bracelet, but you never know. And I have no idea what I'd make the necklace out of, maybe clay or something. But I don't think I'd be to proficient with clay.

[Anonymous No.316003]

>>316001

Apparently you can buy the Ursula/Ariel necklace:

http://www.etsy.com/search?includes[]=tags&q=ursula+necklace

But I realize this forum is /diy/ so you likely want to make it yourself.

What about contacting the sellers of those necklaces in the link I posted above and finding out how they made theirs?

You know what would be bitchin'? If somehow you made it translucent and it had an LED inside that would glow when you pushed a hidden button on it. In the movie, the shell glowed. I'd probably be getting too ahead of myself (and revealing too much about my zealous fanaticism about the movie) if I suggested that the LED be VOICE-ACTIVATED so that it glowed when your talented vocal friend started singing.

No idea how to bend the fork to make the dinglehopper bracelet. In before bending it like the spoon in The Matrix.

Best of luck to you. Keep us posted on how you go about making them. If you do go the extra mile, I hope you get laid or something, or at least have your lady friend set you up with someone for said laying.

[Anonymous No.316011]

>>315984

Just watch the darn movie with no judgment, lol.

Better for a committed man to watch it than the pathetic idea of a single man (myself) watching it. Just watch it already. It's enjoyable. ;)

Plenty of streams on the web thanks to Solarmovie.

Speaking of Under The Sea, my captcha for this post was "gnaumus Sea". Hell yes.

[Anonymous No.316040]

I'm not saying I have knowledge of this, because I don't

but in the Little Mermaid Series there was an episode where Ariel found a charm bracelet

It's gaudy, but it could be altered

[Anonymous No.316077]

>>316001
I think the fork would be way easier to do than the necklace, you would need an old silverware fork like what is in >>315803 though, may be hard to source
as for this guys idea >>316003
about rigging the necklace to glow when sound/singing, it is not as complicated as it sounds, find some sound activated ornament http://dx.com/p/romantic-sound-activated-multicolored-led-candle-3-x-lr44-126150?item=1
and modify it to fit into your necklace, I do realize it would be a lot of work but if you are willing to go the extra mile it could turn out really awesome, next you would need some way to cast an opaque shell, something like a resin dyed to the color of the actual shell(would also help hide all the stuff that's inside it) taking a mold if a seashell might end up a bit rough so possibly a toy store or some nic nack hippy store might sell a ceramic shell the right size and shape for your mold

[Anonymous No.316086]

are you giving her the little mermaid cause she smells like fish or cause she has crabs?

[Anonymous No.316095]

>>316086
back to>>>/b/

[Anonymous No.316098]

>>316077
Okay, I've never done a casting before, and I'm beginning to open up to the sound activated idea, because if that doesn't work at least I'll have the necklace. The fork seems nice, so I'll consider doing it after I finish the necklace in time. (Her birthday is two weeks from today, Nov. 4, so I have that much time.)

How would I cast an opaque shell with a sound activate device inside?

[Anonymous No.316109]

>>316098
well I have only cast alloy when I was in school and lead sinkers for fishing which really is not much help but you would need to make a 2 piece cast out of plaster of paris or something similar, then injection mold it somehow, with a 2 part resin, poss some syringes might do the trick, remember you would need a vent hole to let the air out while you squirt the resin in, it would be cool to cast the whole device inside it but I'm unsure how you could stop it from poking out the sides or being lop sided so casting the shell then mounting it inside might be more effective, I haven't watched this but it may be of some help??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL33dO8mQuQ

[Anonymous No.316112]

Now that I think about my sound-activated idea, there should probably be an on/off switch. Otherwise, if it's sensitive to sound all the time, it will be glowing all hours of the day anytime there's a slight sound, and would drain the battery pronto.

This must be one special friend if you're willing to go through this much trouble to make this, because coming from a non-technical person such as myself, my LED necklace idea potentially sounds like a very lofty ambition. If I were this girl, who I am imagining to be a fan of The Little Mermaid and would flip if I received a voice-activated glowing seashell (nautilus shell if I am not mistaken) necklace, my panties would be off faster than lightning.

If you do pull this off (the sound-activated necklace, not getting into her pants), I'd love to see a Youtube video of it in action.

[Anonymous No.316124]

>>316109
ok after watching this silicon seems to be the key casting mold, good luck OP, we're all counting on you to pull this off

[Anonymous No.316745]

OP here once again, so to list of the items I'll need, I should have some sort of nautilus shell to mold, resin, silicon, and some sort of small LED light. I think the sound activated will have to sit on the backburner unfortunately, but moving on: The videos and guides for using resin seem to give it a clear and milky texture, and I don't know if I want that exactly. Its possible to paint over the mold right? So I'll probably do that. I have no idea how much this will cost me, but I hope I can afford it.

[Anonymous No.316748]

>>316112
Ignore this guy. We want to see her panty-pulling action on youtube too.

[Anonymous No.316752]

Not sure if I missed it, but why go thru the trouble of casting a shell instead of just using one? Couldn't you just cut/drill away the back part to fit your doohickeys?

LED+watch battery would be small. For the power switch, you could rig the pendant to toggle by pulling on it like a lamp chain pull.

[OP No.316770]

>>316752
Hmmm, okay, this seems easier, and the fact that I'd use an actual shell is nice. But would the LED light shine through the shell nice enough? And how would I hook up the chain pull?

[Anonymous No.316804]

OP just make a necklace like the one her voice gets trapped in. Just use some thin and fairly transparent shell like the one on the right - you could honestly use a snail shell if you can get a white one since those let through the most light. Put a gold light inside it as someone else suggested. Boom, done.

Pic related it's what I'm fucking talking about.

[Anonymous No.316811]

>>316770
No idea on the chain pull. It all depends on the size of the pull switch and the size of the shell.

Some shells might be thin enough to be translucent. Best bet would be to go to store that sell sea shells, bring a flashlight of similar output as your circuit, and see how much light gets through. Alternatively or in addition to, you can point an LED towards the back and have the shell backlit against her delicious porcelain skin.

[OP No.316820]

Okay, enough pussyfooting around, I'll go tomorrow looking for appropriate shells and shit, and hopefully by the time I post again I can finally start making this goddamn gift.

[Anonymous No.316923]

This is weird... I have a friend named Ariel and of course she loves the little mermaid, and her birthday is in November. Also this seems like something one of our guy friends would do for her... OP by chance is your name Kyle?
If you're not who I am thinking of, I wish you good luck anyway!

[OP No.317183]

>>316923
No, the names Jack, and the girls name is Alex. But thanks for wishing me luck, I'll probably need it. Spaghetti could go everywhere.

[Anonymous No.317243]

>>317183

Guy who suggested Ursula/Ariel LED nautilus shell necklace here, returning to the thread. Good to see this topic is still alive. How is the project coming along?

Also, now that you mention spaghetti, I'm kind of sensing something I suspected before when I lightheartedly hoped this would get you laid (either by your friend or at least by one of her friends). Is the spaghetti-nervousness caused by your trepidation in tackling this project (of which I have no technical knowledge as admitted before, which would definitely make me nervous) or the act of giving her this awesome gift?

If it's the latter, what do you hope to expect out of the gift giving? Do you like this Alex girl more than a friend, and are using this gift as a means to show her that you're attracted to her? Coming from a guy who used a homemade gift to announce to a girl that I liked her, I will advise that this is not the smoothest idea, especially if you're not the smoothest guy, and I wasn't when this happened.

TL;DR: If you're making this gift purely to give her joy because she's a Mermaid fan and expect nothing in return except to see her appreciative, that's great. If you're using this with the expectation of getting out of the friend zone, it might not be the best way.

I swear I didn't just come from /adv/. I don't even visit that forum, haha.

[OP No.317343]

>>317243
Okay, thanks for the advice. Although I do like her, (hence the project) I am giving her this gift as part of a motif I'm doing with all my friends, because I'm going to hand make them all accessories based of their favorite Disney films. So what I'm doing isn't solely on the fact that I like her, but I do want the gift to mean something, if only slightly. It may be a bit awkward because she'll be the first of my friends to receive the Disney themed gifts, but I won't be making a move via this gift, so I think everything will work out.

Also a status update on the shell: I had to buy a shell from Etsy, a link was provided earlier in the thread I think, and it should be coming soon. Although its not ideal, I can fiddle with it better once it comes, and it's already done most of my work for me, as its a comfortable size and finding a good shell was probably the hardest part. So (in my eyes) I have not failed you /diy/, I'm just taking the easy way out of step 1.

[Anonymous No.317408]

>>317343

Seems you have your head and heart in the right place. Just wanted to make sure you weren't putting in all this effort and sweat into something that won't give you returns.

That was me who provided the Etsy link. Glad it was useful! :) I don't feel it was cheating. You'd still be the one to [presumably] hollow it out and stick the sound-activated LED in there. Again, I'm not technical and I'd spaghetti all over the damn floor if I tinkered with anything, so I could be talking out of my ass here.

Looking forward to more updates! Hopefully you'll post some progress pics too!

[Anonymous No.317430]

When you present your gift to her, wrap the necklace around your dick and tell her "When you yank it, it glows!"

[OP No.318699]

Okay, so the order has been shipped and will arrive hopefully by Saturday, Monday the latest. I hope this thread will stay alive long enough so I can keep it to one thread...

[Anonymous No.320357]

Reviving this from page 10. Any updates, OP?

[OP No.320705]

>>320357
Yes the necklace came in yesterday. Heres a photo of it. Its very fragile, and feels like it would shatter if it fell on wood from just dropping it, so I don't think I'm going to try and drill a hole in it to make it glow, its fairly good where it is. Unfortunately that means that my story is irrelevant to /diy/, but fellow anons can know that everythings ready and just hope for the best.

[Anonymous No.320740]

>>320705
awesome OP, I was here about a week ago, good to see your thread still alive and you're making progress

[Anonymous No.320742]

Good to hear from you OP. So I take it that you're just going to give her the necklace as-is?

[OP No.320808]

>>320742
Yes, I do think I'm going to switch out the thread though. Its not easy to tell from the pic, but its really shitty twine and the shell slides off it very easily, which could risk breaking, I'm going to get a thicker thread and tie knots to keep the shell in place, but if I think of something clever to do instead I'll alter my course of action. The necklace in the movie had a simple black thread though, so who knows.

[Anonymous No.320818]

>>320808
The necklace will probably be much more comfortable if you don't tie knots to keep it in place. Maybe instead you could put something on each end of the necklace to keep the shell pendant on? Were you just going to have it tie or were you going to put a clasp of some type on it?

Have you thought about making the necklace out of hemp? You can even use a little knotwork to fancy it up a bit, and dye it black or just buy black hemp thread/twine if you want it that way.

[Anonymous No.321613]

Still rooting for OP as the day gets closer to the girl's birthday.

[Anonymous No.322528]

Any updates, OP? When's her birthday again?

[OP No.322918]

>>322917
*No gifts will not be exchanged.

[OP No.322917]

>>322528
her birthday is November 4th, but I have run into a recent drawback for giving her the gift: She actually is NOT having a birthday party, so now gifts shall be exchanged. I told my friends I'd make them all cute Disney themed items, but now I'm worried this might be a little bit more awkward than I had planned. I mean I'm still going to give it to her, I just need to decide if I want to wait for something tangible (Like Christmas), or just give it to her whenever. For now lets assume I'll have received her gift in the mail over this passing weekend, and I'll give it to her Monday, and I could also say that she could consider it a birthday present if she wants. Or something. I'm also worried how I can actually make romantic progress with her, but thats something for /adv/ to help me out with.

[Anonymous No.323000]

>>322917
Just give it to her. And the simple truth that you can tell her is that you made it, so it's not like you can return it or anything, so she might as well have it. Waiting til xmas just takes away one less opportunity to present another gift. Yes, you want her. Look at her, you know you do. It’s possible she wants you, too, there is one way to ask her. It don’t take a word, not a single word, go on and kiss the girl.

[Anonymous No.323013]

>>323000
Goddamn, if nothing else that's motivating. I suppose I'll give it to her Monday then. Thanks based anons of /diy/. I shall try my best to succeed with her and make sure you have not misplaced hope in me.

[Anonymous No.323052]

Link to /adv/ thread if you do post it.

Nice job weaving in "Kiss The Girl" lyrics into that reply, haha. So true.

OP, do it, and update us on what happens.

[Anonymous No.323116]

>>322917
God damn it, man! Just man up give the gift to her. If you are seeking her attention then let her know. Don't pussy foot around that shit or you'll end up as a bad half hour plot on some shitty comedy show.

This is why on /diy/ you stick to the basics instead of volunteering irrelevant info that has no fucking business on /diy/.

[Anonymous No.323646]

The day is getting close, OP! Do it!