Cheap Thrills

Part of waking Lucia involves becoming a little more fashion conscious.  But let's face it, deciding to dress better doesn't change the fact that you may not have the means to do so; at least not all at once.  So I've been looking for inexpensive ways to accessories outfits I already have.  I came up with the idea of embellishing cheap bangles and decided to write a tutorial about it, not because it's that ingenious of an idea (because it's not) but because I realize there may be someone out there (like ME!)  that likes to actually see how to do something instead of just reading about it.  So here's my ridiculously easy diy accessory.

I started out with two cheap bracelets from Walmart.  The silver one had texture to it and I wasn't sure how it would fare, but it worked well.

Bought some ribbon on clearance.  The red one was quite wide and was wired, but I fell in love with the pattern.

I pulled out the wire.  It slides right out.

Then I tore the side seams off.  I wanted the ribbon to look more like torn fabric and not so neat.

It wound up looking like this.

Then all I did was fire up the ol' hot glue gun and started gluing every so often as I wrapped the ribbon.  This may go without saying, but it's better if you put your dots of glue on the inside of the bracelet so you don't have any lumps on the outside.

I wrapped the other one in a thin sea-foam green ribbon.  It wrapped much easier but took a little longer.  So pretty.

Here they are in action.  

Ok, so these may not be the best shots of the bracelets themselves, but look at that cute, chunky baby!

 

The awful photo quality doesn't do these bracelets justice.  They really are cute.  But don't take my word for it!  Make some yourself.  You could make one for every outfit.  It would also be cute to add more embellishments to them, say a fabric flower or some beads?

Ciao,
Lucia