Mother’s Day Gifts

Remember the birthday necklaces I made in January and posted last week? Well, I decided to make Mother’s Day gifts for my grandmothers that would go along with them. This time, I made bracelets.

I used the same amethyst chips, some silver wire, and some silver chain. I made five beaded links and connected them together with chains. I once again used a magnetic clasp, because it is one of my new favorite materials to use in jewelry.

I also made some Zentangle cards to send with them. I drew the patterns with a Sharpie pen, and then colored them with Prismacolor markers.

Valentine’s Gifts for the Kids 2015

In the midst of the many other projects I have going on, I needed to make some quick valentines for the kids I babysit. I originally was trying to make a couple things, but in the end it was taking too long and I just went with the smallest, fastest ones I had.

The oldest boy had found a beaded bracelet in a shop that he liked, but his mom wasn’t about to spend over $50 for a bracelet for a kid. I thought that was a little insane as well, so I decided to go back to another craft I had abandoned a while before and make him one. But what I make for one, I have to make for all. Luckily this was around the time I was thinking of valentines anyway.

I made one for each, with their initial in the middle. That way there will be no fighting over whose was whose. I had originally planned out the pattern, but then ended up messing up early on and created the rest of the pattern as I went along. Once I had one finished, I used it as a template for the rest.

Then, because I decided to give up on the second thing I was making (which will now likely become Easter presents), I was ready to make the cards at 10:00 at night. And I had no red paper. And I had been to the craft store earlier that day to get crimper beads…Anyway, I made the colored paper again and cut out hearts. Then I cut the spots for the bracelets wrong and ended up having to tape the bracelets in place in the back. That is what I get for doing this at bedtime the night before I needed to give some of them.

Growing Obsession

I did get a bit more than coffee and Simpsons memorabilia for Christmas. One of those things has launched a slight bit of an obsession. I’m talking about the Rainbow Loom.

Here I have four of the bracelets I’ve made so far. Left to right we have the regular bracelet made with two bands in each link, a ladder bracelet, a hexagon bracelet, and the “triple single” bracelet that I made just today. I also have a “hibiscus flower” bracelet, plus I’ve made many bracelets for the rest of the people in the house at the request of the four-year-old who was the first to catch the Rainbow Loom fever at school.

These bracelets are incredibly fun to make. It’s so interesting seeing what you can make just using rubber bands. I think I’m going to work my way through the instructional videos on the Rainbow Loom website. Like I said, making these things has gotten addictive. Perhaps a bracelet of the day on Twitter?