Watch It!

Well!  Another day, another upcycled jewelry project.  This time, it's a restyle of sorts.  Do you love the look of wearing a chunky vintage man's watch as a bracelet?  I do!  But sometimes, I want just a touch more.

Watch closely, now...

Whee!  Vintage watchband flower bracelets!

Want to make one?  It's sinfully simple.

Find a chunky man's watch with a stretchy metal watchband.  Or just the band, with pins and watch removed.

I have two versions to show you.  First using the naked watchband.

Start by choosing some kind of fiber for a tassel.  (Yarn, embroidery thread, ribbon, etc.)  You also need something skinny to use as a needle threader.  Here's my favorite tool: a dental flosser!

Using your giant needle threader, pull your fibers through the ends of the watchband, like so:

Gather the fibers and tie a knot to form a tassel.  (It can be loosey goosey or righty tighty, your choice.)

Hey howdy!  That's a cute bracelet already!

If you like the chunky watchband look, you will love wearing one this way, with a little tasseled oomph.

But let's take it a step further.

In a previous post, I showed you a fabulous cheater's way to score a whole bunch of crocheted flowers without actually crocheting anything.

Of course you could crochet your own flowers, if that's your thing...

Take a button and a small piece of craft wire.  Fold the wire in half and insert through the button.  Then poke the wire ends through the watchband, like this:

Stack a flower, some silk leaves and another button onto the wire.  Twist the wire ends together to secure.  Then use roundnose pliers to turn little loops or curlicues with the extra wire.

And wOOt wOOt!!!  It's a bracelet!

I love the industrial band next to the frilly flower.

Okay, now one more version, even easier.  Find an old chunky watch, but do not take it apart!  Gather a flower, a leaf, a bead cap and a headpin.

Put the beadcap on the headpin, and poke them through the band, exactly opposite the watch.

Then stack your leaf and flower onto the headpin, add a bead or another beadcap (my flower already had a center bead, so I used that), and make a loop or swirly with the end of the headpin to secure everything together.

Voila!

Photobomb!

And you do realize that this version still functions as a watch, right?  Way coolio!

These flowery versions are just one way to approach this restyle.  I love that this is a true blank slate project.  Add anything you like to the watchband - how about steampunk, or a big rhinestone brooch, or a hand-felted focal bead?  Rummage your brain and your stash and see what else you can think up.

Okay, peeps, that's it for now!  Oh, and - smirk, smirk - thanks for watching.