local sugar rockin'

How are ya?  It's Monday.  I don't know about you but these Monday days are pretty darn funky for me.  You know, we have just the most beautiful weekends in Hawaii and add in Easter and spring time fun and you just never wanna see them end, and then... along comes Monday.  

So that's how I woke up this morning.  

And then I remembered I picked up awesome Jamberry nail shields in the most fun shades of blue for you on Saturday, and I had such a rush after that that I had to stop by Hawaiian Island Creations where the young, hip sales girl and sales dude helped me pick out an amazing bag for our "Sneak Peek Giveaway".  And then, I picked up another little one for a mini giveaway.  And then, be still my local sugar soul, I remembered we were dong more t-shirt up-cycling today and I jumped up ready for some serious rockin'!

Here's a super cool braided bracelet that's easy to make and 

will have you local sugar rockin' in no time.

 

Supplies:

A used t-shirt or 6 strips of fabric

1 Large welded ring

1 Small welded ring (optional)

Scissors

 

First cut 6 t-shirt strips about 12 inches long.  These will be wa-a-ay longer than you'll actually need but will give ya the freedom a little later to play with lengths and design.

Take one large welded ring and slip three fabric strips through, folding ends over.  (Welded rings can be found in your local hardware store.  In Hawaii even the very biggest ones are less than a dollar, making me pretty darn sure that someone somewhere in hardware heaven is smiling down on us rockers today)  

Open up each strip and wrap the longer part around the end that has been folded over.  As you braid, this will help to secure your fabric and hide the ends.

( I used a paper towel stand to hold my bracelet while I braided, a willing friend works well too, just be prepared to make an extra bracelet for them-- they'll love you for it!)

Continue braiding while making adjustments as necessary, those little ends like to sneak out be patient with them, and no worries if they refuse to stay hidden, I think the rustic t-shirt ends add character.   

Braid... braid... braid... 

I wanted my braid to be uniform in width, so, once I got to the point where the folded over edges ended and the fabric became half the thickness I added in another strip to each strand by wrapping the first around the newly added piece and continuing the braid.

The above picture shows me cutting out off the original piece once I reached the desired length for my bracelet.  I did this so that when I folded the braid over my last welded ring I had less bulk to deal with.  

You could stop here and simply knot the end.  


Pulling the knot through the welded ring will secure your bracelet.

I totally recommend doing this as an easy peasy way to finish off your bracelet and, bonus... since it will mean you only need one welded ring for your bracelet you will spend half as much on supplies.

Finally, fold over your fabric pieces that have been fed through your small welded ring and carefully tuck them in to the back of your braided bracelet.  It looks best if you follow the braided pattern working in each strip until it is secure.  

I trimmed one of the strips and made sure to tuck it completely out of view.  The other two pieces I cut at varying length and decided to leave as they were, 'cause I just loved the way they dangled.

Keep Calm 

and 

Rock On

live sweet, 

n

Our April 18th, "Sneak Peek Giveaway" is coming up fast, We wanna thank you for being with us atop this wave so...comment away and be entered to win our collection of local sugar.  

Come "Join The Ride"