What I Wore

I do have one more bracelet as part of Bracelet Week, but it's going to have to be kind of an encore to the week. It will be coming. Sometime. At least you have something to look forward too! : )

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July! We hosted a party at our house with a few different sides of the family. It rained a little bit, but wasn't hot, which was nice. The food was amazing (thanks everyone!). The kids were fun. The live music was great. The fireworks that could be seen just from our backyard were fabulous (the city ones as well as neighbors). I haven't discovered a single mosquito bite yet (knock on wood) so all in all it was a great night.

T-shirt: Old Navy, Tank: Ross, Shorts: Shade, Shoes: Toms, Necklace: Yellow Blackbird

This is what I wore on the 4th. Husband also gets to show his clothes too because this is the only picture I got. : ) I had the fireworks bracelet but you can't see it. I was wearing this headband for a lot of the day too.

Dress: Forever 21, Necklace: Forever 21, Shoes: Maurices
I started feeling festive a few days early when husband and I went to the LDS temple. I really like this picture. :)

T-shirt: Old Navy, Tank: Ross, Shorts: Shade, Belt: Ross?, Shoes: Mervyn's (so they are old!)

I have never worn this pink t-shirt as a real shirt before, just PJs and working out. I didn't think it fit well, but I made it work here, right?

Dress: Forever 21, Cardigan: Target, Shoes: Payless, Necklace: Forever 21, Bracelet: Made by me

Since Sunday was the day before the holiday, I wanted to look festive, but too obvious so I wore this dress again hoping I could pull it off.

Shirt: DownEast, Blazer: Vanity, Pants: Aeropostale, Shoes: Mudd

And of course, this is the outfit I just posted a few days ago for Shop Your Closet.

Shop Your Closet: Color Blocking

Shop Your Closet is a feature where I find some inspiration and then go shopping in my closet to recreate it. This way I am exercising my creativity without spending any money.

I feel a little behind. I didn't know that color blocking was such a big trend this season until just recently. In fact, I may have missed it already and not even know. It all started when I saw this picture at Saucy Glossie and loved the bright colors.

As I read more, I found out that I had been living under a rock. I don't claim to be any sort of "fashionista" or expert, but for someone who spends a bit of time reading fashion blogs I can't believe I missed it.

If you need more info too, here is a video from Stacey London on the Today Show, a tutorial from My Style Pill, and another video from Stylelist.

I don't really have any solid color bottoms. I have some hot pink pants, but they don't fit anymore. The only solid skirts I have are black and white. So I followed the "level 1" advice from these sites to use two bright colors and some neutrals. I may not be Gucci level color-blocked, but it's good enough for LDS girls from Utah color-blocked!

I also realized that I have already worn the blazer and the yellow shirt on Shop Your Closet. I guess that means I truly am shopping my closet!

Feel free to link up any outfits or inspiration that you may have for us! Maybe you will inspire me to continue to shop in my closet!

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Colorful Spiral Bracelet

Today's bracelet is so simple that you don't really even need a tutorial! But I will give you one anyway just so you can quickly see how to make this bright, fun bracelet.

You will need a package of wire that keeps it's shape like this. You can find it at any craft store.

You will also need a whole bunch of colorful seed beads.

Begin by turning one end of the wire into a loop with some jewelry making pliers.

At the other end, begin to string on the beads. And string and string and string....

When you reach the end, make another loop so the beads don't fall off.

And it's as simple as that! It will take a good amount of time to thread all the beads onto the wire, maybe an hour so. You can find bracelets like this for really cheap, but I had all the supplies on hand and the time to make one so I did.

I really love the trend I am seeing online of people wearing a lot of bracelets and a watch all on one hand. I want to do a post about this as part of this bracelet event.

I hope you are enjoying bracelet week! I know I haven't shown any out-of-this-world projects, but hopefully easy things that anyone can do to inexpensively increase the bracelets in their wardrobe.

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!

BONUS: Fireworks Bracelet

Because Bracelet Week is so close to the 4th of July I thought I would repost this project that I showed last year. there are a lot of new friends around here who may have not seen it. I call it the "Fireworks Bracelet." Enjoy! I will be back later today with another Anthropologie knock-off bracelet...

I LOVE the 4th of July! It is probably my favorite holiday. I am a history teacher so I love to celebrate the Founding Fathers, independence, and freedom. I go all out for the holiday. I decorate my yard and myself. I always go crazy with red, white, and blue. This bracelet is the perfect addition to my holiday- and can be for yours too!


Materials:
Plain chain bracelet (or make your own with chain and a clasp)
Headpins and/or eye pins
Red, white, blue, clear, and/or silver beads (gold would be pretty too)
Round nose and regular jewelry pliers
Wire cutters



Begin by arranging your beads on the headpins. The more random, the better.
Here are three examples of my headpins

Use the round-nose pliers to curve the end of the headpin.

Hook it on the chain of the bracelet.

Clip the end of the wire if necessary and close the loop with your jewelry pliers.

Now, add the rest of your headpins to the bracelet. The number of pins will depend on the size of your bracelet, the size of the links, and desired thickness. I used 1 or 2 pins per link depending on the size of the beads.

I call this the "Fireworks" bracelet because (obviously) it looks like a fireworks burst with the long skinny beads that stick out.

Here is a close-up view so you can see some of my other headpins.

Doesn't it look great? So fun for the 4th of July or any other patriotic holiday. It really can be worn all summer if you want. You could, of course, use this technique for any color and style of beads too!

I hope you are enjoying bracelet week. As I said above, come back later today for another tutorial.

The Chevron Bangle

Welcome to day 2 of Bracelet Week! Today's project is pretty simple, but a fun idea nonetheless. Chevron seem to be a trendy pattern right now so I made this cute chevron bangle.

Sorry about the quality of the photos. That is what you get when you craft in your yellow room in the basement at night... : (

Begin with a bunch of bangle bracelets. I used 6 small bracelets for this project. You also need 2 1/2 feet of ribbon. I found that for my size of bracelets that 3/8" wide ribbon worked best.

Begin by weaving the ribbon through the bracelets.

Pull it through until only a few inches of ribbon remain at the end.

Pull the ribbon down in a 'V' shape and weave the opposite direction.

Continue this pattern of weaving all the way around the bracelet, making sure to space the peaks of the 'V's evenly and not lose the tail at the end.

When you get to the end, make sure the end of the ribbon is pointing the same direction as the beginning of the ribbon so that you have a complete 'V' at the end.

Tie the ends of the ribbon into a bow. You will want to hold the edges of the ribbon over a candle to melt the edges to prevent fraying. You may also want to glue down the ribbon so that the bow doesn't come undone.

Very simple! Very quick! A quick trip to the store or a raid on your own jewelry box could have you a new bracelet in just minutes!

I used blue and gold because I am kind of into nautical right now. I would love to have one with silver bangles and orange ribbon. There are so many different color combos you can use to make it your own! Or customize it for gifts, holidays, or school colors!

Tomorrow, the bracelet will be another Anthropologie knock-off, PLUS a bonus bracelet in the morning. Come check it out!