Friday, April 09, 2010

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!)

3 comments:

  1. Cool! If it's too big and heavy to be a bindi, can it be made into an Indian style forehead pendant?

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  2. Wow, how serendipitous that you had the skull! I hope it stays on her forehead. The green one is very nice, too, and will go with just about everything you have. ;)

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  3. SaraBeth, it might work for that! Meghan was also talking about temporarily attaching it to a tiny pirate hat, so I'm sure it could become a permanent hat-fixture if it doesn't work out as a bindi.

    Marilee, that is true :D I also have a silver and green bindi, from Gypsy Kiss, so all my green bindi needs are covered! Probably won't stop me from buying more, there's this one seller that makes them with LOTS of Swarovskis... *drool*

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