Lovely Leftover Leather

I received a Kindle for Christmas 2010. What does that have to do with crafting? Well, it turns out that the leather cover I purchased had a defect that interfered with the Kindle's circuits. Amazon was kind enough to send me a new cover, but I felt bad that the cover was going to go to waste. As someone who strives to be more green, I decided to keep the cover and make a bracelet out of the leftover leather.

And then the cover sat in my nightstand drawer for two years.

But now that I've had some time off, I decided to take action!

I found this DIY leather bracelet on Pinterest and decided that it would be perfect candidate for the leftover leather from the Kindle.

So, I had to strip the leather from the Kindle, which turned out to be the most excruciating part. Instead of just ripping apart the seaming, I had to cut off the sewn edges (like a clamshell plastic package) and then had to use both hands and feet to pry the pink leather off of the plastic reinforcement on the interior because it was glued on so well.. (Place both feet on the binding, step on it, get a corner of leather loose, and then PULL!)

After all that, I ended up with some surprisingly supple leather and started cutting.

Here are the detailed instructions from Oh The Lovely Things on how to do this yourself with any leftover leather or new leather you decide to purchase. I made a few adjustments for length of the bracelet (since I have a small wrist) and width of the leather (to match the proportion of my small wrist), but I otherwise mostly followed her instructions. I happened to have some big snaps that I had used for a project long ago. The only thing I had to actually purchase was some thread to match the leather where I sewed the snaps. I just cut a few ovals and strips, sewed the leather to secure the bow placement, put on the snaps, and voila!

One tip: instead of just gluing the small leather strip in place like Oh the lovely things suggests, I also sewed the overlapping leather together for a more secure placement. The leather is actually quite absorbent, so I was afraid that the glue wouldn't hold long term.

I have a navy blue cover, too, so I think I may make a few more and give them away as stocking stuffers for the holidays! But, they're so cute that I may just hoard them for myself.

Remnants to Romantic

I've been wanting to buy a lot of jewelry lately. I think I have inherited my obsession with shiny things from my mother. Her jewelry collection is impressive, to say the least, but her collection is mostly in precious metals and gemstones. I have been the lucky beneficiary of her generosity - she buys new stuff for me, and also has bequeathed several things to me that she thinks she's too old to wear.

When I was little, and even now when I visit on vacation, we used to sit and she would tell me about the stories behind all her acquisitions. Some are mundane (QVC!) and some are incredibly meaningful (one of the only pieces my grandmother didn't sell off for cash before she moved from Taiwan).

And so, I think I may have developed a similar attachment to my own jewelry, even some of the cheapie pieces. I have been indulging in a few purchases lately to add to the repertoire. And when I say "indulge," I really mean that I have been spending $7.99 on cheap stuff at Forever 21. Then I suddenly realized that I already have quite a few items that would work in producing my own creation. Wouldn't that be an even better story to attach to a piece?

I'm a total romantic at heart, so this whole ribbons and bows trend in jewelry is completely irresistable to me. It's a good thing that those happen to be the materials I have at hand.

I had a bunch of beads left over from party decorations (from 2005!) that have just been sitting in my craft drawer...

...some black satiny ribbon that I intended to use in my latest holiday card...

...and a little inspiration from the blog psimadethis.com and this necklace from Ann Taylor:

At first I thought that I would just copy the Ann Taylor design, but I realized with such small beads, you would only see the ribbon, not the beads. So, I decided to alternating sections of 4 single beads with a little knot of ribbon in between each interspersed with 3 clusters of 3 beads each. I made it symmetrical, so there are 5 single bead sections and 4 cluster bead sections.

I was initially going to use the length of ribbon just to create a tie in the back, but I decided I needed a little heft to this necklace, so I went to Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft to pick up a metal chain and clasp. In order to keep it the necklace from being too hard-edged, I wove about 4 inches of the remaining ribbon at the ends through the chain and tied a knot to secure it. Then, using pliers, I got the chain to the length I wanted (leaving a little room at the end of the ring end so I can adjust the length).

What do you think? Does this look like I made it for less than $5? I wore it to work yesterday (Thursday) and didn't receive a reaction either way, potentially meaning that it looks super cheap...

Materials used for this project:

• Plastic beads that look like crystal
• 1/4" black satiny ribbon
• Packing tape
• Metal chain
• Clasp

P.S. Definitely check out this week's psimadethis.com. Talk about a romantic creation!