I was first introduced to eye miniatures in season 1 of Outlander when Geillis Duncan wore a Lover’s Eye brooch on her Arisaid at the Gathering. And then diving deeper into 18th century fashion, I started to see them everywhere. When Natasha (Sewcialist Revolution) organized a Hogwarts inspired 18th century quidditch costume group for DragonCon 2019, she had the idea of house crests miniatures to be worn with our broom riding habits. I happily offered to make them for the group. Read on for how I made six of them, and my plans for more. You can make them too!
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The supplies I bought were in bulk buys on Amazon. I wanted to see different colors, and maybe even combinations of colors for the miniatures. I do want to make additional miniatures for myself, and maybe for close friends if they’re interested. So I’ve included links for what I purchased (bulk), as well as single size/color options (saver). I spent around $45 for pendants, ribbon, and pin backs to make 45 miniatures, not including the Mod Podge that I already had in my garage.
Supplies List
[Bulk Option] Flat Oval Pendant Bezels and Glass Cabochon Dome Tiles (assorted sizes and metal finishes): PH PandaHall 3 Sizes 3 Color Flat Oval Trays (45 Pcs) with Glass Cabochon Dome Tiles Clear Cameo (45 Pcs), Total 90 Pieces (45 Sets) for Crafting DIY Jewelry Making
[Saver Option] Flat Oval Pendant Bezels and Glass Cabochon Dome Tiles (40x30mm): PH PandaHall 5 Sets – 5pcs Alloy Oval Cabochon Covers Bezel Pendant Trays and 5pcs Glass Cabochon Dome Tiles Clear Cameo for Crafting DIY Jewelry Making, Trays: 40x30mm
[Bulk Option] Velvet Ribbon for Larger Miniatures, 5/8″ (assorted colors): Chenkou Craft 20 Yards 5/8″ Velvet Ribbon Total 20 Colors Assorted Lots Bulk
[Saver Option] Velvet Ribbon for Larger Miniatures, 5/8″ (black): 10 Yards Velvet Ribbon Spool Available in Many Colors (Black, 5/8″)
[Bulk Option] Velvet Ribbon for Smaller Miniatures, 3/8″ (assorted colors): Chenkou Craft 30 Yards 3/8″ Velvet Ribbon Total 30 Colors Assorted Lots Bulk
[Saver Option] Velvet Ribbon for Smaller Miniatures, 3/8″ (black): 10 Yards Velvet Ribbon Spool Available in Many Colors (Black, 3/8″)
Brooch/Pin Back Clasps (100 pieces): Mudder 100 Pieces Silver Tone Pin Back Clasp Brooch Name Badge Craft (0.75 Inch)
Mod Podge Spray for Sealing Paper: Mod Podge 1470 Clear Acrylic Sealer, 12 oz, Gloss
Mod Podge Glue for Assembling Miniatures: Mod Podge CS11303 Waterbase Sealer, Glue and Finish,Matte,32 Ounce
Small Paint Brush(es) for Gluing: Artlicious – 10 Hand Made All Purpose Nylon Hair Brush Set – Acrylic, Oil, Watercolor Paints
General Instructions
When making lover’s eyes/miniatures, the only semi-time consuming part is scaling images down to the size needed for the pendant plates, and even that isn’t difficult if you can use PowerPoint (at a minimum). I crop my images to squares the height of the plates, and also scale a few larger and smaller (to see what looks best). Adding a Texturizer filter in PowerPoint is optional but works well with cartoon/graphics. Full resolution pictures do not need a filter. I highly recommend printing on card stock paper. I lack the Photoshop/craft skills to otherwise make images look as if they were 18th century paintings, so card stock provides a nice effect.
[Related: No Photoshop, No Problem: How I Make PowerPoint My B!tch]
After printing, I spray the card stock with Mod Podge and let dry. Then I cut out the ovals for each miniature. Using a small tip paint brush, I apply Mod Podge glue to the plate and set the paper over over the glue, printed side up (let dry). I apply another thin layer of Mod Podge glue to the top/printed side of the paper. Glass cabochons can be glued to the print on the plate as well, but when making the Hogwarts house crests, I opted to not use them.
I think any ribbon material can be used, but I prefer velvet for miniatures. I also like the clean lines of a faux bow (a flat horizontal loop with a vertical loop center tie). For this project, I budgeted about 6″ ribbon per miniature. I used 5/8″ for the horizontal loop and 3/8″ for the vertical center. Those who can tie bows with more skill should experiment, particularly if a more showy bow is desired. The pendant tops that I bought have a small loop for a necklace, so I used black embroidery thread and hot glued the thread to the back of the bows. The pendants can also be sewn to the ribbons. I also used E6000 glue to adhere brooch/pin closures to the backs of the bows, and let dry overnight. And that’s it! Below are a few photos from DragonCon and our group’s shenanigans. Everyone looked marvelous!
For Ginger, Belle, Floyd, and other fur babies we’ve lost…
A Georgian Lover’s Eye is also a beautiful way to honor the fur babies separated from us, and is a small display of remembrance that can be worn with both historical and modern clothing. I found a listing on Etsy for custom Lover’s Eyes and requested the shop send one to me without a picture so I could customize it at home for Natasha’s sweet Belle. Hers is rather unique since I can’t find bezels with pearls elsewhere. I’ll likely purchase another one from the shop for my sweet Ginger, who passed away last year. Or I’ll make a collection of them for each of my fur babies with the pendants that I have, whether they’re gone or still with us. And then they can be with me always.
