Embossed Metal Squirrel Fall Charm Bracelet

This post contains affiliate links.  Thanks for supporting Pitter & Glink! Hey, y'all!  It has finally started to feel a little like fall here in the South.  The leaves are changing, and it's even getting a little cooler.  This weather change inspired my latest jewelry project: an Embossed Metal Squirrel Fall Charm Bracelet.

We don't get much of a fall here in the South.  It often goes from sweltering hot to cold, but when we do get a day that feels like fall, I enjoy it so much!  This bracelet is an homage to those beautiful, enjoyable days.  I love the maple leaf and acorn, and the squirrel is just too cute!  I made this super-easy jewelry project in no time using my Sizzix BIGkick and Vintaj metal dies and blanks.

A Handmade Gift Idea: DIY Metal Stamped Bracelet

Hey, y'all!  Since Christmas has come and gone, I can share one of my DIY gifts now.  I have a cousin who LOVES The Phantom of the Opera.  I mean, I can't blame the girl because the play and movie are great, and the book is my favorite book of all time.  (And, yes, the book is better than the play and movie, but it doesn't have the awesome music.)  I really wanted to make her something inspired by The Phantom of the Opera, so I decided to practice my metal stamping skills more and make her a metal stamped bracelet.

 Even if you're a beginner metal stamper like myself, with a little practice you can make a bracelet like this yourself in less than an hour.

To create the stamped portion of the bracelet, you need several supplies.  Many of my supplies were sent to me a few months ago by GoodyBeads.

Supplies:

• Stamping Strips
• Brass Metal Stamping Hammer
• Stamp Straight Tape
• Bench Block
• Lower Case Metal Stamp Set
• Upper Case Metal Stamp Set--I bought this set from Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon.
• Metal Punch--The one I have is not currently on the GoodyBead website.
• Nylon Jaw Bracelet Bending Plier--I bought these from Amazon, and this is an affiliate link.
• Black Permanent Marker
• Alcohol
• Polishing Pad (not pictured)

First, take the metal blank and punch holes in each end.  I will be honest with y'all.  I just eyeballed it.  I don't have the patience to measure where a little tiny hole should go.

After your holes are punched, stamp your design.  Use the straight tape to line up the metal blank on the bench block.  Use a ruler to make evenly spaced marks on the tape to help you space out your letters and words properly.  You can even write the letters on the tape where you want them to go.  Then stamp each letter, making sure to hit the stamps VERY hard with the brass hammer.

Remove the blank from the block, and color in the letters with a permanent marker.  Remove the excess marker with a soft cloth and rubbing alcohol.  Use the polishing pad to shine the piece and remove any fine scratches.

Use the nylon bracelet bending pliers to bend your blank into a shape that will fit snuggly against a wrist.  Do this by putting a small portion of the bracelet in the pliers and pressing down hard.  Slide the bracelet down a little and close the pliers again.  Keep repeating this process until the whole blank is curved.  And that's all there is to the stamping portion of the bracelet.  All that's left is making the blank into a bracelet.

Cut a piece of chain the desired size of your bracelet minus the length of the blank.  Attach the end of the chain to the blank with a jump ring.  Use another jump ring to attach a clasp to the other end of the blank.  You can then just open the clasp and insert the end of the chain to close the bracelet.

If you want to make the bracelet a little fancier, make a small charm with a headpin and a few beads.  Attach that to one of the jump rings.

Then your (or in my case, my cousin's) DIY metal stamped bracelet is done.

The cool thing about this gift is that it's completely unique, plus it's easy to make and inexpensive. I used this same process to create a few other stamped bracelets for gifts.

I created this one for my cousin-in-law.  It features the name of her brand new baby girl.  I'm pretty sure that I'll be making these often when I need personalized, inexpensive gifts.

If you haven't tried metal stamping before, I highly suggest you buy a few starter tools and blanks and give it a try.  It's pretty addictive, and you can make so many great personalized pieces of jewelry!

Related Posts:

 A Beginner's Guide to Metal Stamping

Owl Necklace with Stamped Metal Charm

{Trendy DIY Bracelet}

Hey, y'all!  I have another really simple jewelry tutorial for you today.  I'm calling it my Trendy DIY Bracelet.

As with all my simple jewelry tutorials, you only need a few supplies.

You need a charm with loops on each side, chain, three jump rings, and one lobster clasp.

To begin, measure your wrist.  My wrist measures exactly 6", so I cut my chain that length.  (Don't worry.  Since we're adding a charm to the middle of the bracelet, the bracelet won't be too snug.)

Use wire cutters to cut the piece of chain in half.

Open one of the jump rings with your pliers and thread it onto the charm.

Thread your chain onto the jump ring and close it with pliers.  Repeat this step for the other side of the bracelet.

Next, open the last jump ring.  Thread it through the lobster clasp and the end of one of the chains.  Close the jump ring, and your bracelet is finished.  (You don't need a jump ring on the other end of the chain if you use chain like I used, and the bracelet can be adjustable.)

The finished bracelet is so pretty, and you can stack it with other bracelets.

Craft stores have lots of charms like the one I used: feathers, arrows, and keys just to name a few.  You can make a bracelet featuring whatever interests you.  You can make several of these to give as gifts too because Christmas will be here before we know it!  That reminds me that I should probably start on my Christmas crafting soon... RELATED POSTS:

 Simple DIY Bracelet

 Leather & Stone Bracelet

Gold & Green Bracelet

{An Inexpensive DIY Gift Idea: Gold & Green Bracelet}

Hey, y'all!  Have you seen those pretty chunky chain bracelets that are so "in" right now?  I'm kind of digging them, especially the ones with the gemstones in the middle.  They're pretty pricey, though, so being the crafter that I am, I decided to make my own version that is a PERFECT DIY gift just in time for the holidays!

You only need a few supplies to make this pretty bracelet.

You need…

• chunky gold chain (I chose matte gold.)
• findings to match: one eye pin, two jump rings, and a clasp
• a large glass bead or gemstone
• jewelry pliers

Thread the eye pin through your bead.  Use your pliers to create a loop on the opposite end of the eye pin.

Set this aside while you cut your chain.

Measure your wrist.  If you want your bracelet to fit tightly, subtract the length of the bead from the measurement of your wrist.  If you want your bracelet to be a little loose, you can cut the chain the same measurement as your wrist.  Take the chain you cut and cut it in half so that you have two equal pieces.

Connect your chains to the bead using the loops.  Then connect a jump ring to one end of the bracelet and a jump ring and clasp to the other end of the bracelet.  All that's left is the wearing or maybe the gifting.  ;)

I really like the matte gold paired with the chunky glass bead.

This would be a great Christmas gift for those ladies on your list who love jewelry, and the best part is the bracelet only costs a few dollars to make!  That's the beauty of DIY gifts done right: you can give someone a gift that looks like it came from a catalog or a pricey store, and they'll have no idea that you didn't spend a lot to purchase it.  If you're in the market for more inexpensive gift ideas, I've teamed up with my favorite bloggers again this month exactly for that purpose.

We're sharing DIY gift ideas for $20 or less, so please be sure to visit these awesome ladies' blogs for even more inexpensive gift ideas! 

Sarah's Handmade Hand Warmers

Lauren's Painted Cork Coasters

ChiWei's Basket-Weave Cup Cozy Crochet Pattern

Bethany's Gold and Green Bracelet 

Kara's Crochet Pattern Roundup

Kirsten's Glittery Utensil Gift Set

Sky's Simple Fleece Face Guards 

Marilyn's Individual Peppermint Solid Sugar Scrubs

Kara's DIY Necklace Holder

Kadie's Easy Crocheted Hot Pads

Melanie's DIY Photo Desk Organizer Gift

Nancy's DIY Wedding Photo Canvas Print

Happy crafting, friends!

{Summer Fun Camp: Felt Bracelets}

Hey, y'all!  Welcome to day day two of Summer Fun Camp!

I hope that you're enjoying camp so far and that you aren't getting too homesick.  Just kidding.  ;)  Today, I have a very fun craft to share with all you campers.

To make these felt bracelets, the main supply you need is felt sheets.

You will also need fabric glue (I used Fabri-Tac.), velcro strips, and scissors.  The first step to making your bracelet is cutting a felt strip.  

To determine the length of your felt strip, measure your wrist and add two inches to the measurement.  For example, my wrist measures six inches, so I cut an eight inch long strip of felt.  The width of my strip was two inches, but if you're a tiny camper, you may want to make your strip and bit narrower.  Then it's time for the fun part of the craft: creating embellishments for your bracelet.

I cut two thin strips of gray felt to go on the edges of my bracelet, and I also cut a flower shape out of blue felt and center for the flower out of yellow felt.  When you finish cutting your embellishments, glue them to the strip using fabric glue.  All that's left then is cutting and attaching the velcro.

If your velcro comes in two long strips like mine, attach the two strips and cut a piece the size of the space between your two small strips of felt.

Separate the velcro pieces and use the fabric glue to glue a velcro piece to each end of the bracelet on opposite sides.  To understand what I mean, look at the photo above.  There's one piece of velcro on the decorative side of the bracelet and one on the non-decorative side of the bracelet.  When your glue is dry, your bracelet is finished.  :)

I made two bracelets.  The zebra one is cute and girly.

The lightning bolt one is something I think a super hero would appreciate.

The bracelets are only limited by your imagination, though.  :)  

And now on to the day's activity!

At camp, you tell stories around the camp fire, right?  Well, this activity involves that.  When I was younger, I loved fill-in-the-blank stories.  Mad Libs.  You know the ones I'm talking about--a person asks you to list a place, thing, animal, etc, to fill in the blanks of a story before reading you the story, of course.  Then you read the story.  I always thought the stories that resulted from this little activity were hilarious.  (I did turn out to be an English teacher and lover of words, though, but hopefully I'm not the only person who enjoys this activity.)

Here's a fill-in-the-blank story I created for you campers to have fun with.  To play along, have someone give an answer for all the items in red and fill in his or her answers in the story.  Then read the completed  story aloud and giggle at how silly or nonsensical it turns out.  Once you get the hang of it, you can create your own fill-in-the-blank stories to have fun with.  You can download the above file {HERE} so that you can easily print it out. 

And before you get busy crafting and giggling at your silly story, you must enter the giveaway for this great Craft Prize Pack from Craft Project Ideas!

It's easy to enter through the Rafflecopter widget below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have fun crafting, campers!  And don't forget to visit Craftiments tomorrow for day three or Summer Fun Camp!  :)