Make-your-own buckle....the cheapskate way! (Or, "making the best of what you have!")

I decided I wanted a buckle for my hat, and all I had on hand was some silver ones. I really wanted gold, since silver would look quite out of place on my outfit, so I ransacked my sewing room to see if I could find anything that would work in a pinch.

I had this large oval cabachon pendant lying around, and decided it was the perfect shape


I snipped off the pendant-y part with a pair of clippers. (I could have filed down the nubs a bit, but since it would be in my hat, I decided it wouldn't be that noticable.


I dug around some more, and found some gold-toned craft wire....


I wrapped the wire vertically, going through the conveniently spaced holes, and then wrapped around again to give a bit more bulk and stability. Not the prettiest thing in the world, but since it'd be covered by ribbon anyway, I wasn't that worried about making it beautiful.


Ta-da! Buckle!


And here it is on the hat....