Easy DIY Knotted Cord Bracelet

While in the States for my conference, I squeezed in a (too short) visit with the lovely Erica, from Wicked Bride.  I got to see her gorgeous home in person, meet Ella (plus her kitties and Hubby), and we got a little crafty.  We whipped up some super cute, and super simple, knotted cord bracelets.  I had pinned a lot of knotted bracelets to my "DIY to try" board, but Hubby joined in to help us try out a few different knots before finding an awesome one that lies flat, works perfectly and looks so sweet.

Supplies:

• Cord (two strands approximately 22" long each)
• Two 1" gold ribbon crimp ends (they also come in silver)
• Lobster clasp with tag connector and two jump rings
• Needle nose pliers
• Gel Epoxy (E-6000 glue works too)
• Toothpick & scrap cardboard (to mix the epoxy)
• Scissors
• Tape

Before you get started, open up the crimp ends a little, using pliers.

Take one length of cord, fold it in half.  Lay it down on your work surface so it forms a loop.  For my bracelets, I used 2 pieces of cord, each 22" long, and that made a 6" long bracelet (including the clasp).  Use more cord if you have thicker cord or want a longer bracelet.

Sneak your second length of cord (also folded in half), under the loop.

Loop the bottom cord over and then under the tails of the loop you made.

Then wrap it over one half of the loop, then under itself and then over the second half of the loop.  It's tricky to explain this, so ignore my yammering and just follow the photos.

Gently pull the knot tight, fiddling with it a bit so it lies flat and is even.

Measure how long you would like your bracelet (don't forget the clasp adds length).  Place tape all the way around the four strands where you want to cut them.

Using sharp scissors, cut all four ends after the tape so the tape holds the cord together.  This type of cord unravels quickly, so we immediately added epoxy to the ends.  Some tutorials show gluing on the sides of the cord but then it shows, so we glued the ends and only a millimeter between each cord to hold them together invisibly.  We mixed the two-part epoxy with a toothpick and used the toothpick to spread on the glue and coax a little between the cords.

Hubby's hands!

Let the epoxy dry for a minute, just so it's tacky but not hard (this epoxy dries rock hard).

Place the cord into the opened ribbon crimp and use a toothpick to push it all in.  It's wriggly and will try to escape, but the epoxy (still pliable but not totally glued) will help hold it together.

Close the crimp with needle nosed pliers and let dry 24 hours.

Add a clasp using two small jump rings.  Our clasps were provided by the Etsy shop, Antiqued and I really love them because they already come with tag connectors and look really sleek.  The Antiqued shop is stocked with great findings and supplies (almost 1000 listings!), so take a peek.  At this point, you can also add some chain in lieu of the connector to make the length adjustable.

These bracelets took minutes to make (and cost only $1-2 per bracelet), so we made a bunch!  Erica's versions of these bracelets are totally different than mine so take a look at her blog.  It was serendipitous that we each just happened to find, and favor, really different cording for a really different look.

I made this two-tone one first, but Erica and I both decided we love the look of the solid colour best.

 
After we made so many, I wasn't 100% sure I'd wear them (silk cord overload maybe?) but I wore this peachy-coral coloured one to work the next day and loved it!  It's super light and comfy, really cheery for summer and garnered lots of compliments!  So I made room in my jewellery box for all four.

P.S. This is a project kitties love to help with.

Awwwww.

Treasure Hunting Report: Pyrex and More

The last couple of weeks I have been swamped with work, which included preparing for a conference and then traveling to the good 'ole US of A to present my paper.  It was well received (yay) and had the added bonus of a road trip with Hubs!  On our way there, part of the highway was shut down so we had to take a secondary road which, despite slowing us down, had a real silver lining: a great roadside antique shop!  The tiny shop was packed with jadeite, Pyrex and vintage glassware.  Prices were good: higher than thrift stores, but below typical antique store prices.  I didn't buy a lot because I didn't have much time to make selections, and we still had days of driving ahead of us so I didn't want to pack the car with breakables.  In hindsight, I wish I bought more but I took home a few gems and am definitely returning for a Pyrex fix soon.

The snowflake casserole is my fourth one (I have two with white snowflakes on turquoise and two in this pattern).  The pink casserole is for my Mom.  I have finally collected a full set of the Butterprint Cinderella bowls and and am now halfway to a second set.  The small Cinderella (white with yellow flowers, a pattern from the 1970s), completes my thrifted set.  The round turquoise casserole is the prettiest shade and a totally new design for me!

My turquoise collection is growing and now takes over a whole cupboard, displacing my browns and yellows (which look so good with this DIY tablecloth) into the glassware cupboard.  See the last photo taken of the cupboard here.  There is still room and I plan to pack this with turquoise Pyrex.  I might just have to steal this bowl back out of the shop . . .

I also bought a Capri glass creamer to match a sugar bowl Mom thrifted for me.  I found some shot glasses at a local VV and now my turquoise glassware collection is also blossoming, adding some colour to the teak cabinet and complementing the DIY agate art above.

Once home from the trip, Hubs and I set to work on the basement again and I did a lot of decluttering, donating about six boxes and a chair to Value Village.  While Hubby made the donation, I scurried inside and found a few items for the shop (including two really cool Pyrex pitchers, like this), plus I bought this fun lamp.  After an hour of cleaning its grimy edges, it gleams and all I need now is a nice drum shade!

Have you done any treasure hunting of late?  This weekend I'll hit my first yard sales of the season!  I'm trying to decide if the Glebe sale next weekend is worth it.  In my 15+ years of yard saling, in three cities, I find people with expensive homes often (but not always) have disappointing yard sales and charge an arm and a leg, while the gems and deals are waiting at the homes you might think are the least treasure-filled.

See My DIY in a Magazine (Again)!

In the fall, my DIY Christmas spider tutorial was featured in Ottawa at Home magazine.  This spring I'm sharing another DIY project!  Because my blog tutorials for DIY art projects are so popular, I wanted to show Ottawa at Home readers how easy it is to make their very own DIY abstract.  What wasn't easy, for me, was painting on demand!  Let me tell you, painting while a photographer hung around and waited for me to say "okay, snap a shot now" was a teeny bit stressful.  As you know, I normally have to tackle the same painting a couple of times (like these and this one), sometimes over days, weeks or months, to get it "right," but this time I only had a few hours!  Happily, I love the finished piece and the only change I made was to hang it sideways. 

See the full tutorial (with glossy, gorgeous photos) in Ottawa at Home online, or head to one of these fine retailers to pick up a copy of the magazine.

I love a DIY painting tutorial that offers step-by-step photos but that can be sooooo tricky to do because stopping to take a photo often means I lose my mojo and the painting turns out weird.  But I've tried to share as many tutorials as I can, with step-by-step photos to give you a feel for how my (novice) paintings take shape.  Check out this black and white painting, the abstract triptych in the bedroom, my fun drippy painting, the Rothko-inspired trio, the geometric painting and its makeover, or, for something a little different, see how I made a simple striped piece with text.

I should mention that although Hubby & I try to support artists when we can (we have bought pottery from independent Canadian galleries and have often bought small works of art when traveling), right now we just can't afford to adorn all of our walls with the work of professional artists.  Happily, many of our family members are artists so we have their work livening up the townhouse.  Our DIY pieces fill in the gaps and add even more colour and life to our walls.  I love our DIY art and think that making your own art really is doable, but I'm not suggesting that the work professional artists do is as easy as 1-2-3.  Please support local artists and artisans when you can! 

P.S. You might have spied this painting in the reveal of a corner of our basement makeover (more soon).  We shot this project before I went to Hungary!  I've been itching to tell you . . .