More Colors for Anthro Bracelet Kits and a GIVEAWAY!

Remember these beauties? I did a tutorial on how to make the bracelets, and I have been selling kits to make your own in my Etsy shop.

Keep reading for info on the giveaway!

I just added many new colors to my shop to add variety to the kits. There are still some of the pastels left, many neutrals, and now some more fun bright colors for spring and summer!

CURRENT COLORS AVAILABLE:

Orange
Mustard Yellow
Light pink
Brown
Black
Cream
White
Bright green
Bright blue
Purple
Red
Yellow
(You can see all the colors in the listing.)

I WANT TO GIVE SOME AWAY!

THREE lucky readers will win a kit with materials to make 1 bracelet in the color of their choice, based on what is available at the end of the giveaway.

To enter, make sure you are a blog follower and do one or more of the following:

LEAVE ONE COMMENT FOR EACH THING YOU DO

1. Leave a comment telling me what colors you think you might choose
2. Pin these bracelets on Pinterest (either from here or the tutorial) and leave a comment
3. Talk about this giveaway or the bracelet kits on Facebook, Twitter, or your blog and leave a comment
4. Follow Yellow Blackbird on Facebook and leave a comment
5. Like Yellow Blackbird or the kits on Etsy and leave a comment

If you enter more than once there is a chance that you could win more than one kit!

The giveaway will be open until Friday, April 13. That's got to be a lucky day, right? After that, random.org will choose a winner and it will be announced! Please be sure to make sure I can contact you via your comments.

Good luck! And thanks for supporting me!

Anthropologie Knock-Off Kit has New Colors

Hi! I am just popping in again to let you know that the Anthropologie Knock-off Bracelet Kits have new colors available. Bright blue, orange, lime green, and white are now available in addition to the brown, light blue, lavender, pink, and mustard yellow.

Click here for the origional tutorial.

Click here to purchase a kit to make one bracelet.

Click here to purchase a kit to make two bracelets.

Click here to purchase one ready made bracelet.

Click here to purchase two ready made bracelets.

Anthropologie Strung Shapes Bracelet Tutorial

The next bracelet tutorial is another Anthropologie inspired bracelet that uses the same hemp technique as in the Terra Scintilla bracelet earlier this week.

Here is my bracelet-

This is the one from Anthropologie. This Strung Shapes bracelet retails at $88.

I made my bracelet using a medallion from an old broken necklace. You should be able to find a similar piece metal in the jewelry making section of a craft store.

The length of hemp that you need will depend on the size of the medallion and desired size of the bracelet. I used 2 pieces about 40 inces long for each side (4 pieces total).

Begin by looping the hemp through the whole in the metal ring. The now 4 ends of hemp should all be the same length.

Use this tutorial to learn how to make the knots, but instead of having a bangle bracelet as the middle piece, you will use two ends of hemp.

Braid the hemp until it reached the desired length to go about half way around your wrist. At the very end, attach a bead to the middle two strands and tie two more knots. Follow the instructions here for finishing off the end- tie it in a basic knot and glue before trimming.

For the middle two pieces, leave about 3 inches of the hemp before trimming it off.

Tie a knot at the end of these two pieces.

REPEAT ON THE OTHER SIDE

To make the "clasp" hold the two end pieces together as shown below.

Cut another piece of hemp about 12 inches long (better safe than sorry).

Start another knot, and continue until you have a series of knots about 1 inch long, using all of the bracelet end pieces as a center.

When you reach the end, tie a basic knot and glue the ends before trimming.

This small section (called a slider knot) should slide back and forth to make the bracelet adjustable.

And that's it! You can experiment with a variety of hemp colors, beads, metal shapes, etc. The Anthro bracelet used two different colors of hemp. There are a lot of possibilities!

Maybe my shape is a little too large... : )

Enjoy!

Anthropologie Terra Scintilla Bracelet Knock-Off Tutorial

Welcome to bracelet week!
It's going to be great fun!

Our first bracelet this week is an Anthropologie inspired bracelet. Like the tutorial I did for the Accordion Strands necklace, this is a designer piece of jewelry that uses techniques I did as a child and have made for as long as I can remember.

Here are my bracelets:

This is the Anthro version:

While the colors are a bit different, mine looks just the same! The Terra Scintilla bracelet retails at $38 for two bracelets (although it does appear to be marked down). You can make your own for much, much less!

Materials:
Hemp
(get this colorful pack at a craft store, or find brown at Walmart)
Thin bangle bracelet
(any color will do- find large packs at Forver 21 or Walmart)
Jeweled trim
(I found it packaged in the jewelry section of a craft store)

If you can find a bracelet with the 4 jewels already attached, that would be a little easier to use. I looked and looked for one but had no luck.

Tools:
Ruler
Scissors
Strong glue such as E-6000

Cut four jewels from your trim. Follow the directions on the package of your glue to attach the jewels to the bracelet. Allow for the drying time specified for your glue. This will also work if the bracelet has a slight texture.

Cut 120 inches from your hemp. Find the middle and put it behind the bracelet. I like to start on the opposite side from the glued jewels.

Cross the left end of the hemp over the bracelet.

Cross the right end of the hemp over the left end.

Pull the right end under the bracelet and up through the loop on the left.

Pull it tight and you have your first knot.

Now, repeat on the other side. Cross the right end over the bracelet.

Cross the left end over the right piece.

Take the left end, pull it under the bracelet and up through the loop.

Pull it tight.

That's it! Now continue this process. Be sure to switch back and forth from left to right side with each knot. You can tell which side you are supposed to be on by looking at the last knot you did. Look at the photo below. See how the outside loop is on the right hand side? That means that my next knot will begin with the right side of the hemp.

Continue this process until you reach the jewels. Be sure to tie as many knots as you can so that the hemp is snug up against the first jewel.

Now, tie your next knot as described above, just go around the jewel.

For the size of my materials, I could fit two knots in between each jewel. Do as many as you can to make it a snug fit until you reach the end of the jewels.

Continue tying knots until you reach the beginning of the hemp. Again, fit as many knots to make it nice and tight. You will want to end on a knot that starts by crossing the right piece first so that you can't tell where the end is.

Bring the strings to the inside of the bracelet and tie one simple knot just like you are about to tie a bow. Put glue over the knot, wait for it to dry, and trim the ends of the string. DO NOT cut the ends off until you have finished the gluing process or your knot will come undone.

That's it! Now you have your own Terra Scintilla Bracelet.

Make some in all different colors!

This is a really fun project, but can be a lot of materials to buy (and money to invest) if you only want to make one or two bracelets. To help you out, I have created "Anthropologie Inspired Bracelet Kits" for sale in my Etsy shop.

For $2.50, your kit includes one bangle bracelet, 120" of hemp in your choice of color, and a piece of trim with four jewels

Buy a kit to make two bracelets for $4.50.

You can also buy the finished bracelet in your choice of colors 1 for $9.50 or 2 for $18.

If any of the listings appear to be sold out, let me know and I can set up a custom order for you!

Please don't hesitate to ask questions! It takes just a minute to catch on to the process, but once you have got it- it's pretty simple. I taught my teenage nieces how to make these the other day and they were able to pick up on it really fast.

Good luck and have fun!

Upcycled: clothes into accessories

I have been compiling some ideas on recycled crafts for an upcoming church activity. This is what I have made out of old clothes.

#1: Jersey necklace. This necklace was made by cutting long strips of a t-shirt and pulling them to stretch them out. I got my inspiration from The Sisters 4 Say More is More. They are the queens of jersey necklaces. Here is a link to their fabulous jewelry tutorials. This necklace took mere minutes to make! (picture is sideways)

#2 T-shirt flowers necklace. I made this using the same technique as an Anthro knock-off necklace shown at this link. I just used more petals this time and used ribbon instead of chain. Pretty for spring!

#3. Denim flower. This idea came from Tea Rose Home. This flower can be used as a brooch or hair accessory. I found it easier to scrunch up after I sprayed it with water.

#4 T-shirt flower. I sewed a pin back on this one because it is a little big for me to wear in my hair. I will post a tutorial for this simple flower soon!
Upcycling is fun! Do you have any other ideas that I could use for my activity? Leave a link in your comment!

YOUR Accordion Strands and a lot of blabbering

Several of you have now tried the Accordion Strands Anthropologie knock-off tutorial. Check out these lovelies for more inspiration to make your own!

This leopard print version is by Melissa at Ador.

I love the hot pink! Find this one at Heidi's Hobby.

I want to make a yellow one like this one at Salt and Pepper.

Again, here is the one found at Two Carolina Nesters.

Go tell these bloggers what a great job they did on the project!


I have been doing A TON of research and "Googling" looking for upcycled and repurposed projects (neither of which is a real word) for a church activity I am making. I am going to have some incredible projects to share with you! I have found some amazing stuff out there. If you click here I will give you a tantalizing peek at the inspiration for an upcoming project. Although I hope mine is half as good as this project is! And please save your tp holders for me...

I am so worn out tonight. I am continuing to write so that I can procrastinate going to the grocery store. I want to finish listening to the BYU game before I go- there's only a few minutes left. Yes, husband, I am listening to the BYU game all by myself. But you will never know because you never read this blog. He said he would read it if I ever wrote about deep thoughts or something but how will he know if I blog about my deep thoughts if he never reads it?

Earlier tonight a salesman or someone came to my door. I never answer if I am home alone. I just peek out the window and watch until they leave. We have a No Soliciting sign so it irks me to no end when someone comes. As I am peering out the window I SWEAR I heard the guy trying the knob. I almost passed out! I was SO scared! In a millisecond I formulated a plan to run out the garage door so he couldn't get me. Then he walked away and it took 10 minutes for my heart to slow down.

The game is in commercial now so I will tell you another story about a salesman. Last week I was expecting my SIL so when the doorbell rang I flung the door open all excited-like. It was not her. It was some dude wanting me to sign a petition. Correction- he wanted my parents to sign the petition. He asked if my mom and dad were home. This happened to husband once and he just said no they are not and closed the door. Hilarious! I was annoyed so I gave the guy a stern look and explained that I was the homeowner, thank you very much. He gaped at me and just looked stupid. Finally he asked how old I was. I acted all offended and said that I didn't feel comfortable telling him that. Dur. Did he think I was a 16-year-old homeowner or something? Don't people know that "soliciting" means asking for something, not just money. So ANYTHING you are asking for at my door violates my No Soliciting sign. *Sigh*


Oh man, overtime!!! I wonder if it will be over by the time I get to the store... Dang it!