Tuesday, May 29, 2012

My Kawaii Cutie Bracelet

Last weekend I decided to clean out my jewelry stash, since it's once again grown beyond any semblance of decency or control. (I've been a cheap jewelry junkie since I was old enough to grab at sparkly things on chains. It's one of my many weaknesses.)

Anyway, as I was sorting through it all, I thought I might use some of these pieces to make a new charm bracelet:

Yucky dark night shot - sorry.

Only one of these cost more than a few dollars originally - and that one I've worn to death - so I didn't mind taking 'em all apart for parts.

So, I harvested the bits I liked, re-wired a few beads, re-painted the top of the giant cupcake charm (it had yellowed with age) plus the red Munny charm and a couple of the tiny pink hearts.

A few hours later...

Ta-da!

I'm especially proud of the painted Munny charm. I just used regular acrylic craft paint on it and the little plastic hearts, and then top-coated them all with clear nail polish, which looks GORGEOUS. You'd never know they were painted - and they match the pink rose perfectly!

(I also used white nail polish on the cupcake charm, with acrylic paint & more clear nail polish for the sprinkles.)

Here are some much better shots during the daylight:

I really like the way it hangs; chunky charm bracelets are my favorite. (And I just realized I'm dressed to match today - how's that for a crazy random happenstance?)

I think my favorite is the yellow gumball bead with the white bow on it. It's so Kawaii and cute!

I hope this inspires you guys to re-mix your own jewelry cast-offs. Remember, never throw old jewelry away! Always keep it for parts or give it to a friend or thrift store. Also, if you have way too many necklaces like I do, consider using the pendants as charms on a bracelet - that way you can wear more of your favorite sparklies at once!

12 comments:

  1. SO much CUTE! :D

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  2. Looks good!! I like chunky charm bracelet's too, to the point that one bracelet takes 15 minutes to explain what each one means! LOL I also "collect" charms, beads and old bracelets to make new ones. Fun stuff! :-)

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  3. Love the bracelet and the Dr. Horrible reference!

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  4. Ooohhh - pendants as a charm bracelet! That's brilliant!
    Mwahahaha - my jewelry box is about to be rocked...
    ^_^

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  5. I LOVE charm bracelets, but I have never been able to make one right (and I have tried.) My sister and I are getting together for some crafting. We will be using this post as a reference. Thank you so much.

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  6. I use repurposed jewelry from church members to make new pieces with some of the kids from our youth group...it's loads of fun, and then we sell them back to church members. (it's also a racket)

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  7. I can't believe I heard of this from someone else:

    http://www.etsy.com/shop/TheScienceBoutique

    I'm a little disappointed in you Jen! I count on you for my geek-girl knowledge.

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  8. I'm alternating between loving this idea and wishing I was half as clever as you. Thanks for filling in those areas where I'm lacking.

    "Kawaii" always gives me flashbacks to the time I was in Japan as an exchange student. I spent my first three months there telling everyone their kids were "kowai," as in scary and frightening, instead of "kawaii," as in cute and adorable. I felt like such a jerk when I realized I had gotten the word wrong.

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  9. Love this! I love wearing big chunky bracelets. Delicate jewelery looks silly on my hands. The only trait I got from my polish peasant great grandmother and there is nothing in this world that will pretty them up so I hide them with bling. I probably would have piled on ALL the charms though. :)

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  10. I work at a huge costume jewelry store, and my craft room is well-stocked with jewelry I've gotten there on the cheap for the beads. I will never buy beads and charms from the craft store again (unless they're really awesome) because it's such a good deal for a lot of beads\charms. They used to do their prices in such a way that every now and again, you could get stuff for as low as 25 cents, but now it's no less than a dollar. Good thing I got a lot back when it was even cheaper!

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  11. so cute!!!!!! I love charms<3
    check out my blog im doing a giveaway for 3 cute kawaii rings [:

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