Red Valentine Jewelry (Made From Cat Toys)

You know what's fun to do in January?  Buy super cheap discounted Christmas stuff in red-and-green...fer example, I got these kitty balls for 97 cents...

...then set aside the greens for later, and make Valentine crafts with the reds!

Do you like red and black for Valentine's Day?  I do - seems somehow more hip than pink.  (Not that there's anything wrong with pink.)  I made these cuties in just a few minutes, with no tools needed!

Ready to DIY?  Let's start with the cocktail ring.  You need a kitty ball, a ring blank and some skinny ribbon.

I used a little bit of craft wire as a needle, to help guide the ribbon where it needed to go.

Thread the ribbon through two holes in the ring blank, then up through the kitty ball.

Tip: it may take a couple of tries before you feel you've found the right holes in the kitty ball - just experiment a bit until they seem about right.  It doesn't need to be exactly symmetrical!  I actually prefer the look with a slightly off-center ribbon.

Tie a leetle bow!  Trim the ends.

Wear your kitty ball proudly!

Now the necklace - another very easy one.  I used some light plastic chain, which comes with its own linkers.  (Of course you can use ordinary chain and jump rings instead.)

First I connected two lengths, because I wanted a longer chain.

Then I used two more linkers to connect the chain to a couple of spots on the kitty ball.

That's pretty cute right there, eh?

But if you like, tie a little bow as follows:

Gosh, I love these!

I'll post something with the green kitty balls sometime in the near future.  Green for springtime.  Is it almost here?