Thursday, February 17, 2011

Pretty Easy Bracelet

Yesterday my friend Lindsey showed me how to make a really easy leather bracelet. She bought an awesome one at a boutique, and then realized that she could make them on her own! So... she brought her supplies and shared them (along with her crafting wisdom) with us lucky ladies.
Look at all of these beautiful leather scraps!
First I cut out the base shape of the bracelet out of a thicker leather, then I cut little circles for the flower layers out of the thinner, softer leather. I snipped some slits around the perimeter of each circle, then held them over a flame from a candle for a second or two until they started to curl. Isn't it amazing that a little fire can do that? I guess this would be a good time to tell you to be careful, and also that it's not a good idea to do this craft with little ones.
Then I layered three or four petal circles on top of each other, chose their placement, and hand-sewed them on. A thimble is a handy tool for this step. I also sewed a few seed beads in the center for a little extra sparkle. Then, I cut the slit for the button hole (notice that mine is a little crooked :), sewed on the button, and voila!
Cute, one-of-a-kind leather bracelet!
The great thing about this project is that you don't even have to break out the sewing machine! No finished edges needed.
Fun, right? Now you just have to go out and try to find a place that sells leather scraps. If you live in Phoenix, they sell them at SAS Fabrics on Indian School.. just don't clean them out before I get there!

29 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this bracelet! Thanks for giving me one more thing to do. ;)

Amy said...

Love this, it's such a great and cute idea. I think I might just have to try it :). Thanks for sharing.

Ashley said...

The bracelet is AMAZING! I definitely need to make one. Gorgeous!

Jennifer Hanson said...

SO adorable. You could totally do a belt version of this as well. Love that the leather curls like that under the heat of the fire.

The Splendiferous Life said...

Love these I am going to the Tandy Leather here in Raleigh NC to go get some tomorrow..it is right down the street..oh how I can't wait to make on..thank you so much for sharing..

sherry

Unknown said...

It turned out beautiful JJ! I can't wait to make some more! The great thing about them is that there are endless possibilities to be creative and put your own personality into them. ( :

Amanda Rodriguez said...

OoOoOoOooooo....LOVE!!!

The Darbzilla said...

I love seeing your craftiness! That's really adorable, I may have to try my hand at making one! :)

Anonymous said...

JJ, these are gorgeous! As if I need more things to make ;) Thanks for sharing & congratulations on babe2.0

Kim @ Home Is Where The Heart Is said...

What a beautiful bracelet :)

I posted your video, "What Love Really Means" on my blog...I absolutely LOVE this song...it has touched my heart and I had to share it with my blog readers!

xoxo

Mia Helen said...

I was just at SAS last week and bought a few scraps of leather with good intentions to make something. Now I have a beautiful project to work on! Thank you! I'm going to your benefit concert tomorrow and am so very excited to see you perform live and hear all of your stories! :)

Jodi said...

I love these--- funny-- I looked through the blog for a long time last night before I realized it was JJ Hellers Blog--- I love your music and this just makes me love you more-- thank you for letting us all in to your life--- I am sooo making the jewelry organizer!!! Love it - Love it all!
Thank you for blessing us :)

Raquel said...

awesome idea to do with the discipleship group I lead in youth group. The girls will love it! Thanks.

Valonda L. said...

what a great, easy project! Very cute

MEl :) said...

So fun! I love how simple and cute it is! great idea

JustJoy said...

Great bracelet, just discovered your music thru a FB Friend and it is amazing. Listened to some of your music today for 1st time on youtube and it is great.Funny thing is that my maiden name is Heller. Is Heller your maiden or married name?

Leah said...

I cannot wait to make one of these!! Thanks for sharing!!

www.blessedunderthebigsky.blogspot.com

A Fuller Day said...

JJ,
This is Brooke, Matt's friend, we talked when you sang at Bethel. I've been working on some of my pdf tutorial for one of my etsy stores and I just posted this one on my blog. I thought you might enjoy it based on your beautiful bracelet making skills and overall craftiness. Its a t shirt flower tutorial, I'm sure you could attach these flowers to some super cute things for Lucy :) http://stilllearninglife.blogspot.com/2011/02/im-back-and-sharing-fun-and-simple.html

Brandon Stone said...

Hey JJ,
I am a good friend of Ryan Gilbert, the YL area director here in town. I didn't know how else to contact you but I figured you might want to take a look at my engagement video centered around "When I'm with you"

Thanks for your music and depicting what love truly is meant to be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Kp9LELajD4

christine said...

hi jj. i'm a little shy to comment here because you probably get a lot of "these"...but i just needed to thank you, somehow, for your album Painted Red. i've listened to it for 2 days straight in the car and the words are beautiful. they have helped me hold on during a turbulent time... reminded me of God's faithfulness. thanks for sharing your gift of music with the world.

Kara said...

This is awesome! I will totally try this with my daughters as I'm trying to find new ways to bond as they are growing up! :) Thanks so much for your blog. I just found it tonight as I just blogged about you since I'm an elected blogger for the Girls Get Away Cruise! :) Here's the link
http://typicallifecfdwife.blogspot.com/2011/02/more-artists-revealed-for-girls-get.html
I hope it was ok that I found an image and used it. I just hit search online images and it came up. If not, please let me know I will gladly replace. I'm a new follower and blogger. I appreciate your music, you have spoke to us in many ways.

will + adri said...

That is awesome!

Kerra said...

JJ, on the weekend top 20 countdown on the radio today, I heard you'd been enjoying your winter break from concerts and traveling so you could spend time with your family and work on crafts. It was really fun to hear, since I've been following your blog. I was just like, "YES! She *loves* doing crafts! They're all over her blog!" ;)
I love your music and your creativity.

Unknown said...

That is awesome! Where is that SAS on Indian School? The only one I know of is in Tempe.

Amy Frederick said...

JJ, Hey there. Hope all is going well. It's Amy from Ohio. Just wanted to revisit this post in hopes that maybe one day I'll be able to make one of these lovely bracelets. Hope to catch up soon. God bless.

Beth Brubaker said...

The bracelet is a cute idea! You know, if you use fabric scraps and do a satin stitch BEFORE you cut out the petals, it might do the same thing! I was thinking about doing this with my fabric stash scraps, because I don't have anything leather. :)

Kamikazeherz said...

Thanks so much for sharing this cute idea! Would have never thought of burning the leather. Found this on Pinterest yesterday and had to try it just today :) Unfortunately my leather was a bit thick, but I'll definitely have a look if I can find anything better and try it again. If you wanna see my attempt, here's the link: http://luftmasche.blogspot.de/2013/03/und-dann-auch-noch-leder.html

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing this information and Very good looking blog.
It is Very nice info.............
The Cobbleroad

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