I made bindis!

I took a break from beading on Wednesday to delve into the world of super-fancy bindis. These are especially popular with tribal and tribal fusion belly dancers, as we have a "too much is probably not quite enough" approach to costuming and accessorization. In fact, I got tips on how to make these from The Gypsy Kiss, a tribal fusion dancer and costumer of whom I am a big fan. If you'd like a bindi of your own, please click that link and shop with her!

My foray into bindi-craft was inspired by the fact that my friend and dance classmate Meghan recently had a birthday, and had mentioned wanting a bindi with a bird skull on it. When going through my supplies, I found a polymer clay bird skull that was sort of small enough to be a bindi, so I knew I had to do it! It's attached to a repurposed filligree earring, accented with an onyx or sardonyx or some other black stone with bits of brown and white.

But first I had to experiement with proper gluing, so I made myself one with the other earring, a long malachite cab, and a tiny vintage green class cab. Pretty! I think it will look great with the striped skirt that I wore to the Renaissance Festival back in February.
You can see from this side view that the skull has a pretty high profile. Hopefully it won't be too big and heavy to stay attached. Meghan loves it, and I think it will look pretty cool with her rat skull hair clip. (yes, we tribal dancers can be a little macabre, too!)