DIY Lace and Pearls Cuff Bracelet

I know Marilyn Monroe said that diamonds were a girl's best friends, but I've always had a soft spot for pearls. I'm pretty sure it's closely related to my love for lace, because lace and pearls are just a match made in heaven. So, after drooling over oh-so-pretty lace and pearl cuffs on Pinterest (here's a little eye-candy for you), I decided it was time to DIY. Because I really can't afford real pearls, not to mention real diamonds, right now.

This is what you need:

• E6000 Craft Adhesive
• Floral venice lace (I bet this would look amazing)
• Cutting pliers
• Brass bracelet cuff (c/o Pandahall)
• Rhinestones (c/o Pandahall, I used the whole pack)
• Pearls (c/o Pandahall, I only used about a third)
• (sidenote: I had planned on using these big rhinestone buttons as well, but as I started glueing I realized they were way too big for the bracelet, so I skipped them. So that's why they're on the above photo, but not on the finished cuff.)

  STEP 1
Remove the stone tray in the center of the cuff with cutting pliers. It takes a little yanking, but it should come off just fine.

  STEP 2
Cut a piece of venice lace long enough to cover the cuff. The good thing about venice lace is that you can always cut the ends so that it looks like it was that long in the first place.
Apply glue to the outside of the bracelet cuff and carefully place the lace on top of it, making sure that it's centered both horizontally and vertically.

  STEP 3
Starting from the center, start glueing rhinestones and pearls onto the lace. I noticed that since the E6000 doesn't dry instantly, that some of the pearls (which are heavier) started to fall off as I turned the cuff and gravitation kicked in. So, I glued about 2-3 cm of lace at a time, full of pearls and rhinestone, alternating randomly between the two. Then used my blow-drier to dry the glue, and moved on to the next part.
After you're finished gluing and blow-drying, let the cuff dry for another few hours just to make sure. And you're done!

This cuff came together very quickly, and looks rather stunning in person. The rhinestones are much shinier, and the size difference between the pearls and stones gives the bracelet so much depth. It's hard to photograph sparkling things, so you'll just have to take my word for it. Now I just need a date-night to wear this to (hubby?).

Have fun creating!
xo. Hanna

This post contains Amazon affiliate links, and some of the items used to create this project were provided by Pandahall (marked with c/o). All the creativity and opinions are still my own. 

Refashionista: Button Cuff Bracelet

Today's refashion is not so much about refashoning a garment as it is about what to do with the leftovers. There are several ways to make use of the discarded cuffs of a simple button-down shirt, and a cuff bracelet is one of them. It a quick or a time-consuming project depending on the method you choose. But, either way, the result is pretty cool.

There are 2 possible methods to make the bracelet. One of which is pretty time-consuming, but the end result is prettier, and of higher quality. The other is super quick, but I can't give you life-long garantii.

METHOD 1 - Hand-stitching

1. Both methods start with the same step. Cut the cuff of a shirt off as close to the seam as possible. You could seam rip the cuff seam and resew it shut after detaching it from the sleeve. That would give a neater finish.
2. You can either figure out the placement of the buttons before starting sewing, or just decide as you go along. I did my design before-hand, because I wanted to visualize the end result before sewing the buttons on, in case I'd like to rearrange something.
3. After laying all the buttons as I wanted them, I put a wide tape over it, so that all the buttons would stick to it and remain in the right place.
4. I started sewing the buttons taking them one after another from the tape and sewing them onto the cuff.
5. After all the buttons were sewn on, I filled the gaps and the edges with small seed beads.

METHOD 2 - Glue

1. Same as the first method.
2. Arrange all the buttons the way you want.
3. Heat up your glue gun, or use some other adhesive, and start glueing the buttons on to the cuff.
The downside of this method is, that you can only use flat buttons. But other than that, it does the job fine, as you can see form the picture below.

Happy creating, my friends!

Soon in the Shop: Blue Button Bracelet

Remember last week's post about new design work in progress? Well, I've been at home because of health issues and that gave me some much needed sewing time to finish this gorgeous piece of jewelry. I'm planning to make at least 2 more in different colors.

Talk about statement jewelry! This one will not go unnoticed, I'm sure. I used a shirt cuff for the base. This way I can reuse some shirt scraps. And, of course a selection of unique vintage buttons, all sewn on by hand. I garnished the whole piece with lots and lots of seedbeads.

I'm in love! How about you?

Beading Basics: Memory wire bracelet

I remember when I first started making jewelry. I bought just a few notions to make earrings, and after making my first pair of earrings, I was hooked. I was so excited to make my own jewelry - I could make a new pair of earrings every day and the possibilities were endless. 

The basics are pretty simple and once you've mastered them, you can always learn more. But, I think having the basic skills will give you so much more freedom in your style, because you can design and make your own custom jewelry that's 100% you and nobody else has it. 

So, here's a simple project perfect for a beginner.

You'll need:
1. Beads - I used an assortment of different size beads that I had left over from previous projects.
2. Memory wire - it's a pre-bent wire that holds it's shape. You'll need the bracelet size.
3. Wire cutters - the one tool you can't do without when working with wire.
4. Round nose pliers - there are all kinds of pliers, but in my opinion, the round-nosed ones do the trick most of the time.

The steps are very simple and self-explanatory, but just in case:
1. Start beading the wire. I just crabbed the beads at random differing between smaller and larger ones to create a nice textured but non-symmetical look.
2. Just keep adding beads on the wire as long as you have as many bracelet layers as you'd like to have. I went for 5.
3. Bend a loop to one end of the wire.
4. Make sure all the beads are nice and tight and cut the wire about 1cm after the last bead. Bend the tip just like you did the other end.
5. There you have it!

My beading terminology is so bad in english, but hopefully the pictures speak for themselves. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask in comments or via email. I'll do my best to answer.

Working on...

...new designs for the shop. I'm playing around with different ideas. This is always the most fun part of the whole creative process - visualizing the outcome and what might work best. It always gets me so excited for the end result. Now I just need a little sewing time to finish these fabulous bracelets. Hopefully they'll be ready soon.

Recycled Braided Bracelet Tutorial

I saw this type of bracelet a long time ago on Pinterest and was immediately smitten. I thought it would be the perfect way to recycle old t-shirts. I made this about a month ago, and last week I started to see similar tutorials popping up all over the web. So, I was a little hesitant to put this tutorial up, but I thought I'd do it anyway since I feel that every tutorial offers something unique.

If you'd like to see how I did it click on "read more" below.