I’ve always wished I could wear strings of dew-laden spider silk, so I played around with some hot glue and cabochons to create this necklace you see here. It’s my little homage to one of the most beautiful things in nature: a sparkly spider’s web shimmering in the morning sun.

You’ll need:
• Glue gun with glue stick
• Parchment paper
• Scissors
• Rhinestones or dewdrop cabochons (I used dewdrop water droplets by Maitys)
• Necklace chains
• Pliers or wire cutters
• A clasp

This necklace is simple to make, but it looks like it was fashioned with magic!

Use a glue gun to create a web over parchment paper. You might want to sketch out the web on the parchment paper first and then follow your lines with glue, which will adhere as long as the glue is reasonably hot. Otherwise, you can freestyle and see what looks good to you. Either way, don’t place the glue in perfect lines; weaving your web haphazardly will help make it look more natural.

To prevent each line from being gloopy, continue past where you want the line to stop, then cut the ends with scissors after they cool.

When you’ve finished your web, cover the glue with rhinestones or dewdrop cabochons, using a combination of small and large drops. If the gems don’t already have a sticky backing, you can gently heat the web with the top of the glue gun and delicately place the ornaments on the reheated glue. This can be a tricky process; it took me a few tries to perfect this technique!

Attach the necklace chains with another dab of glue on each corner and then add the clasp.

Once everything is dry, pull the glue web from the parchment paper. It should come right off!

Add sparkly beads to your chain for more dew around your neck.

Now you can adorn yourself with a gossamer necklace fit for a fairy queen!

It’s fragile and may last only a little longer than the webs it imitates, so handle with care. But how beautiful a thing it is while it lasts!

Visit Bridget at floraforager.com or on Instagram @flora.forager.

We’ve been enamored of the work of Bridget Beth Collins, a.k.a. Flora Forager, for some time.

She’s a self-described petal painter, light seeker, magic weaver, and flower nymph, as well as the author of several books, including The Fairy Journals, Flora Forager ABC, and the recently released Moth Dust, which she describes as “an Edwardian, flowery, starry smorgasbord of everything I love.” We asked if she’d write something for our theme, “about the magic of flowers and webs and dewdrops and what have you.” Below is what she sent us.

There is a place I like to go when the world becomes too big. I shrink down down down in my mind, to where no human eyes can see me. Dewdrops sparkle as giant orbs; diamonds drift in a muted landscape of blue-green. A flower unfurls and I clamber inside.

The moon brightens its petals until I’m wrapped in a glowing lantern of light. Fresh, curling air fills my lungs, which have felt clamped until this very moment. Like an elixir in a dry desert, the sweet-smelling newness of growing things delights me. Here, anything is possible. I could shimmer into stardust, or hold tight to the ruby feathers of a hummingbird as we flit through the sweet peas. I could dust my cheeks with the rainbow mist from a waterfall, or fall madly in love with a summer breeze.

Somehow, I always get tearful in this dreamy state, thinking of how easy it is to forget the enchantment of this world. I think the shift in perspective comes from remembering what truly matters. Why am I fretting over the worries of the material world when the magical one has so much to offer me? And here’s the most beautiful secret: It is real too.

Wander into the garden or put your nose in the little tuft of wildflowers along the pavement and look: The daisies have their crowns, the beetles have their armor, the snails have their forever homes swirling around them.

The flora and fauna of our world are but a mirror of your own glimmering soul. You have a kingdom, shining armor, and a crown at your disposal if you have the eyes to see them. Surely there are fairies crafting iridescent wings for us each time we view something extravagant or precious in nature … Haven’t you ever felt your heart soar?

Sometimes it can be too hard to see beyond the veil of this ordinary world, which as children we could brush aside and tumble through. Life draws a curtain of sorrow and drudgery that can be hard to look beyond. But that doesn’t mean that magic isn’t there right now, shimmering in the shadows, waiting for our return.

Sometimes just the thought of it waiting beyond my window is enough to get me through.

See more of Bridget Beth Collins’s work at floraforager.com and visit her on Instagram @flora.forager.