Helpful Ideas For a DC Producer
I have been a DC Producer for a while now and I would like to share some of tricks of the trade that has helped me along the way.
Being a Disciple's Cross Producer can be pretty tough. The concept of making a wire-wrapped cross necklace is pretty easy. Just bend a few nails, wrap wire around them and attach a leather cord. Now your necklace is ready to wear. NOT!!!
Now, I'm not going to go into everything it takes to make a Disciple's Cross necklace, you can find out all you need to know by going to the Disciple's Cross website
here.
What I would like to share with you is some of the short cuts I've learned while making the necklaces. Hopefully, I can help someone out that's just starting and make their life a little easier.
So let's get started shall we......?
Shortcut #1
Buy pre-bent nails. I can't tell you enough how much of a time saver it is not having to bend your own nails. Yes, you do pay a little bit more but the extra cost is worth it. I purchase all my pre-bent nails from James McDonald with
Angel Cross.org.
James is a super guy, very eager to please and all his nails are perfect. What a time-saver. Thanks AngelCross.org!!
Shortcut #2
Cross Drying Board
As a DC Producer, one of the steps of making these cute little crosses is the drying process. Each cross has to be dipped twice in a clear acrylic. The first dip takes 20 minutes to dry. The second dip takes 2 hours or sometimes more to dry before you can continue to make the rest of the cross.
While the crosses dry, you need a place to hang them. I used to hang mine on a tie rack on a cupboard door in my kitchen. Everytime someone went in the cupboard to get a glass or plate, the crosses would get moved to a new cupboard door. And I could only hang ten at a time. Once they were dry, I could hang 10 more.
Now......I have a Cross Drying Board that my wonderful husband made me. He saw that I needed to speed up the drying process and built me this drying board............
It's nothing pretty to look at but it sure gets the job done. Now I hang approx. 50 crosses at one time to dry. Woo Hoo!!!!
He also made a small cross drying board so I can offer two different sizes to other DC Producers to help speed up their drying process too. This small drying board holds up to 20 crosses at one time.
If you are interested in either the large or the small drying board for yourself just select the size you want and click the Add-To-Cart button below and you will be re-directed to Paypal.com to complete your purchase.
Shortcut #3
Wooden Display Stand vs. Mug TreeOkay, this one is according to preference. I can only tell you what I used before versus what I use now.
I have sold my cute little cross necklaces at various craft shows and I have sold them at my girls football games. Picture this...... I set my table up, drape my table cloth over it, put my wooden display stands on the table, get my necklaces out and proceed to put them on the stand. I can fit at least 40 or more necklaces on one stand putting 10 or more necklaces on each arm. What happens......? Kids came along, pulled on one of the necklaces and tipped the whole necklace stand over. What a mess. The cords were all tangled up in each other. Not only did it happen to me once...it happened to me four times in one night. I finally took them off the stands and spread them out on the table. Conclusion: The wooden stands are not heavy enough. The base is too small.
What do I use now? I'm sooo glad you asked. A mug tree. Cast iron to be exact. I love it. It has several arms to hold just as many necklaces (if not more) as the wooden necklace stand and it's heavy enough (being cast iron) that it doesn't tip over all the time. Now I have two mug trees that I take everywhere that I want to display my necklaces. They're awesome!
Where did I purchase my set of mug trees youa ask? At Garden Ridge. You can visit their website at www.gardenridge.com. They don't offer a on-line catalog at this time but you can check out the store locater for a Garden Ridge near you.
Shortcut #4
Wire Wrapping:
Here are some resources for you to get your wire. Of course you have the
Disciple's Cross Website
where they have a large selection of colors.
Another great place for wire is
Authorized DC Naibenders.
They have a huge selection of wire and other DC supplies. Let them know that Faithful Cross sent you. Maybe they'll give you a discount :-)
And lastly.....Have you heard of Fun Wire!!!!! The folks over at
Toner Crafts
have some really bendable wire called "Fun Wire". This wire makes wire wrapping so much easier (especially for beginners).
They also have some really awesome colors to choose from like Bubble Gum Pink, Icy Kiwi, Sour Apple, Grape Soda, and many more.
You can purchase Fun Wire in kits, by coil or by spool.
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