January 5, 2012: Wrap it up!

One of my favorite jewelry trends is the wrap bracelet. And, as I have mentioned before, I have been collecting old leather belts from thrift stores and rummage sales. Also, this is a great time to mention that I am a huge fan of upcycling, so you will see much more of old things becoming new things!...For this brown, leather creation, I took apart one of those braided leather belts and stretched and hammered the strands until they were somewhat straight and softened (not too straight though because I like the worn, rugged look of them). As you can see, I made two separate bracelets; one is braided with chain and the other contains two plain strands. I used little clamp ends that you basically just hammer closed on the ends of the leather. then I attached magnetic fasteners, which are fabulous! A frustrating thing about wrap bracelets is that they can be a pain to close... not these ones! I found these clamp ends and closures at a Bead World on Broadway (around 37th street) in NYC. My favorite thing about these are the fact that you could wear them separately or you can use the opposite magnetic ends and make one large wrap bracelet or even a funky necklace (with the braided chain one hanging in front and the plain one behind your neck). Cool look :)