Mama Leisha's Super Duper Bracelet Tutorial!

I love accessories.

No, really.  I loooove them.  I "L-O-V-E" love them.  I love them like crazy.  I love them like a love song!  I love them like I love Diet Coke.  (WOW!  Huge.)  I ADORE adornment.  Give me some big, dangly earrings and I'm a happy girl.  Give me a bright-colored, chunky necklace, and I'm in heaven.  Give me some animal print bangles and a "blinged out" ring and I'll pretty much worship the ground you walk on until the day I die.

Not only do I love accessories, I love to make them too.  IT'S SO MUCH FUN!  My most favorite accessory to make lately is an embellished cuff bracelet.  These bracelets rock my world with their gorgeousness!  Want to know how I do it?

Step 1--You need a plain, metal cuff.  (Check the jewelry sections at the craft stores.)  You will also need a yard and a half of ribbon.  Hot glue the end of the ribbon to the end of the cuff.

Step 2--Wrap the ribbon around the entire cuff--periodically gluing it down.  Wrap and glue and wrap and glue and wrap and glue!

Step 3--Next, you'll need some fabric scraps for making yo-yos.  If you are unsure of how to make a yo-yo, I HIGHLY recommend the tutorial on this website.  I made six for my bracelet.  Each circle was two inches in diameter.

Step 4--Once your yo-yos are finished, hot glue them onto your cuff bracelet.  Like this:

Step 5--My FAVORITE step!!  Embellishing!  Blinging!  Bedazzling!  You can have oodles of creative fun with this step.  Think of all the embellishments you could use on your bracelet.  Buttons!  Beads!  Grandma's old costume jewelry!  Sequins!  Feathers!  Pearls!  Rhinestones!  So many possibilites.  It's a riot!

Several years ago, I inherited all of my grandma's costume jewelry.  A box full of mismatched clip-on earrings has sat on my dresser for forever...  Until one day, I realized I could break the backs off of them and use them on my bracelets.  A stroke of genius, people!  Look at the pretty end result:

Use a hot glue gun to glue your buttons, beads, jewels, etc. to the top of your yo-yos.  And...ta-da...you have a pretty, unique, eye catching piece of jewelry.

(Here's an Instagram pic of a bracelet I made for a friend, for her birthday.)

Wouldn't these make the most fantastic Christmas gifts for your girlfriends?  You could make them as different as your friends are, and to fit their various personalities.  But then again, why give them away when you can keep them for yourself!?