15 Minute Scrabble Tile Bracelet!

Hey loves (pictures will be up later, I promise)!

Here's a really cute idea- making bracelts and other jewelry out of, get this, Scrabble tiles! I had some mini ones laying around the house, and 10 minutes on the Internet inspired me to make these :)

WHAT YOU NEED

thin metal wire (but it needs to be strong, I use the one with 15 pounds strength/capacity)

wire cutters or scissors

Scrabble tiles

needle or a pin

tape

beads (optional)

1. Choose a word or short phrase that you want to write with your tiles (it really depends on the size of your tiles- if you have big ones, you might only be able to fit a word, but if you have smaller ones, you could easily fit a short phrase)

2. Cut your wire to the approximate size that you want for a bracelet

3. Working one at a time, turn a tile up onto its side. Using your needle or pin, insert in the middle of an edge, and push it through until it comes out in the center of the tile. Remove the needle or pin, and repeat until all of your tiles have holes in them (you have to do this so that you can string them)

4. Begin to string on your letters onto your wire (remember, you have to work backwards. It's trick at first, but you get used to it). You can use beads if you want if your design has several words in it, to seperate one word from another.

5. Once all of your tiles are threaded, you'll notice that the tiles will be crooked, and not aligned well with the wire. To fix this, place a thin piece of tape on the back of each tile to keep the wire in place.

6. Attach a jewelry clasp to each end, and show off your cute new recycled bracelet!

10 Minute Jazzed-Up Bangle!

*I'll add pictures later to all of my tutorials- my camera's having an off-day today

So this a really cute idea for any old bangle that you might have lying around the house. You can write on it with beads! I used tiny seed beads to spell out simple words like 'love' on my bangles, but the possibilities are endless!

WHAT YOU NEED
an old bangle
Aleene's Tacky Glue (you could actually use *any* craft glue, but I'm partial to Aleene's)
seed beads
pliers (optional, I use them for handling beads because I'm a klutz)

1. Think of a word or short phrase that you want to write on your bangle. Trace it onto the bangle with a pencil, to make sure the word(s) fit.
2. Split each letter into sections- for example, if you have a letter A, do one slant first, then another, before finally doing the middle bar. You only have to do this part in your head, but don't apply glue to the whole letter, because you don't want it drying on you before you can attach your beads!
3. Apply a stream of glue to one section of a letter, and, with a stead hand or some pliers, adhere seed beads to the bangle, one at a time.
4. Continue this until your whole word is complete. Then, let it dry for an hour or two before showing it off to the world!

Some thoughts-
*you could put some simple designs on these bangles too, like hearts or peace signs
*this is a great craft for any age, but I think little kids might have some trouble with the whole steady-hand concept.

Some Really Cool Jewelry I Made

Hey loves! Hope the weekend treated you well :)



I had a lot of free time, so I sat down and made some pretty cool jewelry. So far, I made three bracelets- one out of buttons, one out of Scrabble tiles, and the other one out of an old bangle. I'll put pictures up a little later, but I figured I'd go ahead and write the tutorials



Button Bracelets



WHAT YOU NEED

a couple of buttons (you can choose color-coordinating ones, or any random ones you can find around the house)

some embroidery floss (I used about 19 inches)

a needle (make sure it's small enough to fit through the holes of the button)

scissors



1. Cut your embroidery floss to double the length that you want your bracelet. Go ahead and thread your needle.

2. Choose a button (I find that the ones with 4 holes work best). Starting at any hole on the button, thread the needle through it, and then, thread the needle through the hole diagonal to the previous (if your button only has 2 holes, then just put it through the other).

3. Bring the needle out from the hole, and repeat the process until your bracelt is filled with buttons.

4. Once you've reached your desired amount, either attach clasps to both ends, or simply knot both ends (if you choose this method, know that you'll have to actually tie and untie this bracelet onto your wrist whenever you want to wear it).

5. Viola! Now you have your very own button bracelet to accessorize any outfit!