February 3, 2012: Finally Got My Black Belt!

You may or may not know that one of my passions is MMA. Yeahhh... so I have not been training lately... which really bothers me :(. The reason I am not training boils down to 50% living so darn far away from where I train, 25% is the fact that I am obsessed with Period Ten, 15% is lack of TIME and 10% is the need to just get over the other 90% and just DO IT AGAIN ALREADY! (end rant...) So, I jokingly titled this post "Finally got my black belt." Hmmm... NOT. But, I did make a cuff out of an old black leather belt!? Check it out:

I cut the strips with a razor blade, keeping the belt in one piece at either end. I set the snaps fastener (technique in earlier post) on either end and viola! I have seen ones like this on Etsy many times before and always wanted one. What better way to get one than to DIY!!!?

February 1, 2012: Cuffed

Last summer I made a cuff out of an old belt and wove chain through the belt holes. I got tons of compliments on it. Basically... the story is that I made another one today :). I have developed an obsession of sorts, with old leather belts. I literally stalk thrift stores for vintage leather belts... but generally will settle for any leather belt that has the slightest sign of being worn before. Haha. I really need to get to making more of these. Super simple - cut the belt to the size that you need (easily measurable by wrapping it around your wrist and overlapping it about 1in to account for the snap). Then, take a piece of chain (could be purchased at a craft store, jewelry supply store, or even just taken from an old piece of jewelry that you don't wear anymore) and weave the chain in and out of the holes. Once you get to the last hole, go back through the holes the opposite way (so there are no gaps between chain sections). When you get back to the beginning, secure the two ends of the chain with a jump ring (preferably the same metal/color as your chain). Side note: if you want to make more cuffs out of the same belt and need to make more holes, get a leather hole-punch tool or set. 

When you are done, you will need to set a snap fastener. You can buy snaps at a craft store like A.C. Moore or Michaels and the snap set usually comes with tools for setting. Some people would recommend using a more professional tool for better setting but if you are only beginning and do not know how much snap setting is in your future, I would recommend just going with the tools that come in the kit for now. This guy does a pretty good job demonstrating how to use set snaps this way. If you decide to go big-time, this lady will let you know how! :) Have fun!

January 2, 2012: Leather Cuff

I have always admired cool leather cuff bracelets. After scouting Etsy and some funky street markets in NYC I started buying used leather belts at thrift stores and rummage sales. Now I have a beastly collection! This past summer I played around with making a couple of cuffs. My father works with tons of leather for work and also has a snap fastener and hole punchers, etc. Naturally, having tools available made my dreams of creating leather cuffs more realistic. So the crafting began :). However, I had seen all types of bracelets that had different types of fabric, metal, other leather pieces, etc. attached to the leather cuff with metal fasteners. Well, this 2012 endevor inspired me to see what I could do. I learned the difference between rivets, grommets and eyelets. Not an easy task! Rivets are solid on top and are used to fasten two pieces of fabric together. Grommets (larger) and eyelets (smaller) have holes in them, creating a reinforced hole in the fabric. Anyway... I found rivets at A.C. Moore and used them to stick two pieces of leather (from repurposed leather belts) together. I stamped the word "live." in the top piece. Check it out!