DIY BRACELETS: revealed!

Welcome 2012! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Years! I don't know about you, but it has taken me a bit to get back into the swing of things! Well, over the break I received several emails and comments about Dana and I's DIY bracelet/jewelry project. Remember this "update" picture I shared a while back?

Well I realized I never fully shared the directions of how to make the braided hex nut bracelet. In my original post I just included this simple instructional picture I found via truly smitten:

For those of you curious on how to make this bracelet, I snapped a few photos of Dana and I in the process of making ours. It is hard to braid and thread + work a DSLR camera at the same time so a few are blurry. I apologize, but you should be able to get the gist. 


Here are the supplies:
• Suede or leather cording, the thinner the cording the easier it is to braid
• About 19 hex nuts, we bought ours at a hardware store in packs of 2

I bought my suede cording from our local fabric store (Jo Ann's) and cut three pieces the same length. We measured by wrapping it around our wrists twice and then added extra to compensate for the braid. We then tied all three pieces together at one end in a knot and secured it between books. 

*I made this change after I was finished, but I would recommend sliding 1 hex nut on before you start braiding to help secure your bracelet in the end.

Braid a few inches of the cording until you want to add the hex nuts.

Alternate sliding a hex nut onto the outside pieces while continuing to braid. (slide hex nut on the left outer cord then switch it with middle piece, slide hex nut on right outer cord and then trade with middle piece, repeat sliding hex nuts (left, right, left, right, etc.) on the outer pieces until you have used them all)

Braid a few more inches - equal to the first braid and knot it off again. You should still have enough cording to wrap around your wrist a second time (if you wish). You are pretty much done at this point!

This may be hard to follow but this is how I decided to tie my bracelet off: I slipped the end knot (the one you just made) through one of the braid sections closest to the first knot/before the hex nut; I then wrapped the extra cording around my wrist and decided on how long I wanted it; I tied another knot at that spot and looped the knot over the hex nut by separating the three cords (so 1 cord on one side and 2 on the other).

To remove the bracelet I take the knot off the hex nut and slide it off my wrist. For me, this technique worked out well! Here are some pictures I snapped last night to show an example of the tie off.

We also made these ball and chain bracelets for football season (WAR EAGLE!)and they were pretty easy too. We used the tutorial found on everything fabulous. We plan to make some more fun colors soon! Note - a friend told us the secret to these bracelets, use fan pull chains! It was genius! We searched high and low for ball chain that was long enough to wrap our wrists twice and found nothing. Thanks Jessica and Deidra!

Along with the followers asking how to make the bracelets I posted, I also received comments about other blogger's successful attempts at making their own DIY bracelets. What a fun trend! 


Dana and I are also in the process of perfecting our braided beaded necklaces that have been a big hit amongst our friends. We hope to post some pictures soon and have a few up for grabs! Here is a sneak peek of my favorite one!

Do you have any new DIY jewelry you have found tutorials for or made lately? Please share! I love a new project.