DIY In The Dark : A Gathering Of Ghosts

Productivity is one of my favourite words and a productive day, for me, is a great day. If I manage to get everything ticked off my ‘to do’ list, you can’t look at me because I become as bright as the fucking sun. However, encounter me when my list hasn’t been scratched through and there’s a risk I’d either rip your head off or drown you in my gloom.

But recently, I’ve started to realize and accept, that I need some time in my day when I do something that isn’t on my ‘to do’ list. When I do something just for the fun of it.

I realized how much I needed an element of ‘fun’ in my life when I spontaneously – not a word that often appears in my vocabulary – made a pair of earrings out of some jump rings from one of those silver metal Gypsy style belts. I was so damn happy with how they turned out, I’ve been wearing them ever since.

Making those earrings and wearing them has been one of the most empowering things I’ve done for myself this year. Seems daft, doesn’t it, that doing something so small could have such a transformative impact. But I love it, the fact making a pair of earrings propelled me to adjust my life.

Now, two weeks later, I’m making jewellery for myself out of beachcombed treasures. I’m teaching myself how to cast resin jewellery and I’m making little stone ghosts for Saga and I. I feel a sense of freedom that I haven’t felt since I was under double figures – a freedom I never want to lose hold of again.

If you’d like to make some ghosts of your own, first you’ll need to go and comb your beach for stones. Look for flat and smooth ones of varying sizes. When you’re back home, wash your stones with a damp cloth and leave them to dry.

Once they’re dry, decide which sides you want your ghosts faces to appear, and apply several layers of white acrylic paint to your stones, leaving each layer to dry before applying the next. You can also coat both sides of the stones if you wish to. I did.

Once your white paint is dry, it’s time to add your faces. Use black acrylic paint and one of those tiny artist brushes to do so. I should add that you don’t need a lot of paint for this project (unless your stones are massive or you’re planning on making hundreds), so only squidge out a little bit at a time to prevent wastage.

Let your ghosts faces dry. You can, if you want, apply a gloss or a matt acrylic varnish to increase the longevity of the paint. It’s a good idea to do this if the stones are going to end up in the hands of your offspring.