Seed Bead Bracelets

I am not one to wear expensive jewelry. I would rather have lots of costume jewelry. And I do. My favorite pieces to wear are earrings and bracelets. I always have my left wrist stacked with bracelets usually from PuraVida bracelets. 

I like beaded jewelry too. Native American style is my favorite beaded jewelry. I find it so interesting how they can create beautiful jewelry using tiny seed beads. 

After studying some photos of seed bead bracelets, I went to Amazon and ordered what I needed to create my own beaded bracelet.

I bought a loom, beads, bead thread and a beading needle. Then I began to create. 

This is not the first time I have played with beads. 

I remember during my school days back in the 80’s we would make little friendship pens. They were fun to create and the girls would make and trade them around the school. 

Now I’ve been making bracelets. Here are a few I have made so far.

The blue one was made for my sister by request. They are not professional quality but no to bad for a first timer.  The problem I have is finding beads that are uniform in size. Some are thick, some are thin and some are lopsided.

My favorite one is the green one. This is the second one I made and It goes with a lot of different outfits. 

Loom beading is a little tedious but easy. I found some “how to” videos on the internet and began creating. Threading the loom is the hardest part. I find it rewarding to see a pattern appear and how the colors come together. 

As an Amazon Affiliate, the following is a Marketing Link, 

which means I make a small percentage on the sales

 but it in no way affects the price a buyer may pay

Weaving

For years now, I have enjoyed working with yarns. I used to do a lot of crocheting and made a lot of things for my Etsy shop. I closed my shop last year. I did not want to price my items too high and it got to the point where the price of yarn went up and so did the selling fees. Rather than raising my prices, I just closed down. Now I just make things for friends on a whelm or when I have a baby shower to attend.

I like to always be doing something with my hands. I like to settle down after my evening shower and watch tv. I admit, If I am not doing something, I will go to sleep and miss the whole show. So I will usually pick up some fiber from my yarn basket and play around with crochet, macreme or weave.

Did you read that? I have been weaving now too. I was looking around on Pinterest and seen where you can weave with only a board or picture frame and a few feet of yarn or cord and thought I’d give it a try.

I found an old picture frame and began wrapping some cotton yarn in a figure eight motion. Then I threaded a needle and began to weave.

Below is my first try. Nothing came of this and I started over with a different yarn. 

On my second try, I created a couple mug rugs (aka coasters). 

They are a little wonky, but not bad for a beginner. I already use them. I always use a coaster. Not to protect my table but because I can not stand the sound of my cup hitting a hard surface. 

It was relaxing sitting in my recliner and weaving. When my eyes get heavy, I will put it down and work on it again the next day. 

I also made a couple weaved bracelets.

 

I have actually been wearing them to work and get lots of compliments. They are just my style. They are light weight, warm and comfy. 

Always stay tuned because you never now what else I will decide to create. 

That’s if I can keep my eyes open after a long days work. 

MorningWood Bracelets

I have always been a resourceful person who thinks it is important to come up with ideas that use things we already have. I feel like there is a lot of waste in the world and people take for granted the useful things we throw away every day. This is also why I believe in shopping small businesses. They have a dream and a focus to create useful things people want or need. This is what keeps the world going around and people grateful. 

I discovered a small business that uses donated scrap wood to make hand carved bracelets. Morning wood bracelets are family owned and operated right here in the USA since 2017. Their business began by accident when they hand carved a piece of jewelry for a friend and people fell in love with it. 

Each bracelet is carved by hand using recycled wooden materials. They do not use any paints or dyes in their art. The natural colors in the wood they use paint the story. Each design is unique and no two pieces are the same. I was excited to receive two Morningwood bracelets in the mail. Every bracelet comes with a handwritten note by the creator that lets you know what kind of wood was used to create your bracelet. This adds a special personal touch. 

I received a starfish made from reclaimed Maple.

I also received a little “ILY” hand sign made from a recycled skateboard. The wood on a skateboard is layered with different colors that bring out all the colors for the charm. 

Morningwood bracelets remind me of why I love shopping small businesses. They appreciate your business and find ways to give back. 

10% of their sales go to charities from helping families in need to disaster relief. How cool is that? Someone gives them scrap materials, they make it, you buy it, they give away portions to help others and you have a cool piece of handmade art to wear. 

You should go check them out at Morningwoodbracelets.com. You will be amazed at the delicate craftsmanship put into each piece. If you have Instagram, you can find them at @moringwoodbracelets where you might see videos of the bracelets in the making.

I love wearing my new bracelets and they are a fun conversation piece. I would love to know which design you like best. Check out their website and come back here and comment which one you like most. But let me warn you, the decision will be hard. 

Shop: Moringwoodbracelets.com

IG: @moringwoodbracelets

Facebook: Morningwoodbracelets

Crochet Earrings

March is finally here. This is the month we get to turn our clocks up an hour, the flowers start to bloom and days stay daylight longer. Soon it will be Spring. It is also when we will head down to the coast and get our camper ready for Summer. 

I have done a lot of crocheting this Winter. I have made several hats and blankets for my Etsy shop. Now it’s time to slow down as Winter wear is not a big seller in the warmer months. I haven’t been able to do much crocheting the past few days anyway.

Sunday while we were out walking, I took a nice ungraceful fall. We were about a quarter mile from the house when I tripped on an uneven crack in the sidewalk. The fall was quick and hard resulting in both palms cut and scraped along with two bruised knees. I was sore the next two days but by day three I was back out walking again. I heal pretty fast.

Once I was feeling better and my scraped palms are healing, I decided to pick up the crochet needle again and use up some of my small stashes of yarn. 

I had an idea. Once I get an idea in my head of something to make, I have to get to it. My idea was to crochet some fun earrings. 

These earrings will be perfect for the office or a day on the beach. My boho vibes are showing with the big mandalas and long tassels. 

I have these for sale in my shop while they last. I have already sold a few pair and hope to sell more. I will make more depending on the demand. They were fun to make and pretty easy. If you crochet, I have the pattern below. I may have to whip myself up a pair, in fact, I know I will soon. 

Earring Pattern: 

H hook

Make a magic circle.

8 sc in the circle. sl to the beginning sc (8)

2 sc in each sc around. sl to the beginning sc (16)

Tie off.

Add tassels using embroidered thread.

**Feel free to visit my Etsy shop and take a look around.**

LiLiDi at Etsy.com