Easy Peasy Tie Cuff Bracelet

I love easy jewelry making projects!  Today I'll show you how to make a cuff bracelet from a thrift store tie and an old button with little more than a glue gun.  Yep, that's right....no jewelry tools are required.  Here are a few that I've made:

You'll need a few supplies that you're likely to have in your crafting arsenal already:

- Glue; both hot glue and E6000®
- Small scrap of felt
- A button, piece of broken jewelry or some other embellishment of your choosing
- A cuff bracelet blank
- Several binder clips (AKA: alligator clips)
- And....a tie, silk or otherwise

Of course there is a video tutorial for this one that you'll want to watch for all the little tips and tricks.  But in a nutshell, here's how I made these bracelets:

1. Cut your tie so the it completely covers the front of your bracelet blank with enough extra to fold over the edges.  It is best if it does not completely cover the back.
2. Use a bit of hot glue along the edges on the back to tack your tie into place.
3. Cut a piece of felt big enough to cover all of the rough edges that you just hot glued into place but small enough that it's not visible from the front of the bracelet.  Use E-6000 to glue it into place.
4.  Use your binder clips to hold the felt in place while it dries.
5.  Glue your embellishment (with E-6000) into place on the front of the bracelet and clip it into place with another binder clip.
6.  Let everything dry for an hour and remove your clips.  And, viola! Your cuff tie bracelet is done!

Second Chance Sewing Month Competition

Right after I started posting the sewing month challenges at the beginning of the month, there was a very enthusiastic resurgence of interest in participating.  I was oh so happy to have the extra blog posts that were not only incredibly creative but that didn't require me to think.  So, I decided I'd open a second chance opportunity for those who learned of the challenge a little late.  And I'm very happy I did...lots more creativity and a lot less brain activity on my part.  I don't know what I'm going to next week when I have to start to writing on my own again!

Bee from the Wooden Bee submitted a fabulous project utilizing some pretty odd bits of trash.  I sent her several round plastic containers that came from a gumball type machine, old clothing tags and the skinny part of a tie - yep, JUST the skinny part.

Bee made some fabulous decorative fabric balls, check 'em out:

You'll have to hop over to her blog to see how she creatively used the clothing tags.

Fun, right?  Well stay tuned because I'll be posting a couple more trash to treasure projects this week and give you another chance to vote for a winner.  This time, participants are competing for a $50 shopping spree in the Upcycled Stuff shop.

Oh and don't forget, voting for the first round of competition closes tomorrow.  Be sure to get your vote in!