DIY Chain bracelet from Somewhat Simple

 

Hi everyone! I'm Stephanie from Somewhat Simple and I'm excited to be here today to share a {simple} bracelet idea.

The inspiration for today's idea came to me while browsing one of my favorite stores- Lowes! I was walking down an aisle that had shelves full of boxes and rolls of chains.

 

I grabbed the first person in a red vest I could find and asked him {very nicely} to cut 2 feet of this chain for me. From the 2 feet of chain (for only $1.40 a foot) I was able to get 3 bracelets. (The worker actually cut the 2 feet into 3 pieces for me so I didn't have to buy my own tools- yay!) I thought the chain I chose is perfect for a chunky bracelet, but still delicate and feminine.

I had an image in my mind of what I wanted to create with this chain, but when I got home, I actually just started playing around with some ribbon and different weaving methods to see which bracelet I liked best.

 

Here is just the basic method of weaving a ribbon in and out of the chain and tying a bow at the wrist. Simple.

 

This one I created simply by slipping ribbon loops up into each chain link. I really liked the way this looked, but I should warn you to keep this type of bracelet away from kids- it will hold up fine until someone pulls on the loops, then the entire thing comes undone. It's easy to fix, but just be careful.

The last method I tried was probably my favorite.

 

I took this fun trim and just wrapped in and over both sides of the chain. I left enough ribbon hanging from each side that I was able to tie a bow and slip it over my wrist! This one would be for more casual days, but using this same method, you can dress it up with fancier (or more plain) ribbon and embellish it with pearls or buttons for a fun kids bracelet. Or, to see more of the chain, use a skinnier ribbon. {Maybe even spray paint your chain before hand to make it extra matchy!)

 

I love how versatile this project can be.

Jewelry from the home improvement store, who would've thought? :)

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Mom I'm bored!!! - Somewhat Simple

Stephanie from Somewhat Simple is sharing her "mom I'm bored jar" today!Take it away Stephanie.....

By about the second week of summer, moms all over the world have one thing in common- we are all sick and tired of the age-old phrase, "Mom, I'm bored!" 

Last summer, my friend told me that every time her son said he was bored, she would give him a baby wipe and pick a room of the house and have him dust all the baseboards in that room! It didn't take him too long to find something else to do and stop telling his mom he was bored! 

I loved this idea and decided I needed to make my own go-to jar with lots of ideas on how to keep my kids busy. Some of the ideas are fun, some of the ideas are not, so before my kids decide to have me entertain them, they really need to decide if its worth it or not! They might get "Make cookies with Mom", or they might get "Pull weeds." They could get "Play in the sprinklers", or they could get "Do a chore of Mom's choice!" 

Here is how I made it:

• I simply took a plain cookie jar- you could even recycle something from a spaghetti sauce jar or something you already have.

• I filled the jar with strips of paper with printed "activities" on each of them. Here are the activities I used. Feel free to print them out and use them if you'd like! (click on the photos to enlarge)

• I tied some ribbon around the neck of the jar for some added color. (Tip: You'll notice in the picture below, I tied only 1 thin ribbon around the entire neck of the jar so that the lid will still close and the ribbon won't be in the way. Then I tied other ribbon onto that 1 ribbon just at the top.)

• Lastly, I added this image to the top of the lid. 

And that's it!

The perfect Summer Boredom Buster!

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