Beaded Charm Wine Stoppers

Handmade Wine Stoppers, $25 each

Looking for a personal, unique hostess gift this holiday season? Announcing the newest line to the Ash Tree Designs handmade gifts now available at the 6 In the Shipyard store location, Handmade Wine Stoppers

Set of 3 Nautical Charm Wine Stoppers

This set of 3 has tones of blue and white with matching antiqued pewter nautical charms: perfect for holiday parties for ocean lovers, or boat accessories to throw in that bottle of wine during the warm summer months. As of yesterday, also available at 6 In the Shipyard are beautiful red and green beads with Christmas tree charms, perfect gifts for hostesses this holiday season!

You can purchase this set or individually, and also available for special orders and customization, including 3 beads of virtually any color and charms of your choice. Please allow 10 days for ordering, processing and shipment, as each piece is 100% unique and handmade: direct shipping orders (shipping to the gift recipient) are also available - and a great idea for the holidays! Contact me to get started.

Customize your own wine stopper with beads and charms

Silver Rune Necklaces

Prosperity Rune Necklace, Othila $12

Announcing the newest line of jewelry from The Ash Tree, Rune Necklaces. I was going through some of my old posts and found inspiration from a particularly popular one on my old embroidered necklace line, which featured the popular rune symbol pendants. Now that the embroidered necklaces have been discontinued, I wanted to find a way to bring back the runes and the meanings they carry. 

 

I started with a real set of beautiful amethyst runes, which I was inspired by the color and organic, smooth shapes of the stones.  Each stone had a carved rune that represents some element that I wanted the wearer to carry, as you can see from the following card insert. I created silicone molds from the stones using iridescent pearl clay, which actually produced swirls of color and pigment that actually looked like rocks. I painted on the etched-in runes with black ink, inserted an eye hook for the pendant, then baked them. 

Once removed from the oven and cooled, I sprayed the batch with a gloss finishing coat, to make them shine like real stones would, without the weight of them around the neck. The results were amazing: I love the look of these silver pendants on a simple black cord - and at the right price, so will you!

Simple Rune Meanings by Symbol

Right now, there are several different rune necklaces listed on my website: Hope, Success, Safety, Enlightenment, Journey, and Prosperity. I thought these runes represented what I wanted to convey the most with this jewelry: that is, protection, and going through your journey safely. I imagine these would be a great gift to give a traveler to keep them safe on their journey, or to wish someone success in their daily lives.

Hope Rune Necklace, Dagaz $12

I also got started on another batch, which was a gorgeous deep black color with either silver or gold painted runes. All necklaces are now available in the 6 In the Shipyard store location, just in time for all of your holiday shopping. In the meantime, you can order online while supplies last. Don't see the rune you want? Convo me to order it in whatever color you want!

Rhinestone Cupcake Necklaces

Rhinestone Cupcake Necklaces, $20

Introducing the newest line in Ash Tree Designs handmade jewelry, the Rhinestone Cupcake Necklace. These adorable little treats have been in process for several weeks now - from original conception inspiration from the She's The First cupcakes for education nonprofit that I read about on the train in the Metro to sketching out and ordering (and waiting impatiently) for supplies.

When I first started, I really wanted a bright statement piece of jewelry in cupcake form. I did some research online and did sketches and took notes, but nothing I found really had the "look" I was going for, and I was excited to create my own.

Once I had a sketch in mind, I searched my favorite Etsy sellers for some supplies, as I figured a mold would be the only way to go when crafting something this small and delicate: I was lucky enough to stumble across WhysperFairy, an adorable shop that features molds spanning from anything you could ever imagine. I found a cupcake top and bottom, convo'd her to see if they'd fit, and anxiously awaited them to arrive.

 Meanwhile, I made a trip to Dick Blick art stores to pick up the polymer clay that I needed and a sealing agent that I could use to coat the finished cupcakes and give them a glossy finish and shine. I also ordered my Swarovski crystals in various sizes and colors to embellish the white "frosting" with.

Pink Rhinestone Cupcake Necklace, $20

When my molds came from WhysperFairy ahead of schedule (thanks again to Julie for such great customer service!) I got to work molding and experimenting with how to go about doing the cupcakes and getting them to fit together. Using about a quarter of each color, I made up to 5 cupcake molds, inserted an eye hook, designed and placed in the Swarovski crystals in the appropriate places, and set them in the oven. Once baked, each cupcake got a few coats of a glossy finish to both seal the whole piece together and to give it a glossy shine.


Right now, I have about 20 finished cupcakes and awaiting the arrival of more Swarovski crystals so I can get more out to place on my online store and at my retail location in Hingham, 6 In the Shipyard. But the interest has really taken off, and I'm so pleased to see the results of my time and efforts to come across so beautifully in these statement pieces.

Buy these necklaces at Ash Tree Designs online store

The colors available now (pictured) are red, yellow, green, blue, purple and magenta. I may experiment with some lighter pastel colors, but really like the vibrancy of these for now. You can purchase them online at my Ash Tree Designs handmade jewelry shop, or contact me if you'd like a special order or your color is not in stock. Happy holiday shopping!