Thrifty Thursday: Turning a Placemat into Jewelry

These cute accessories were made from a lonely bamboo placemat I picked up at Ross for 3 bucks.

They only take minutes each to make and you could literally get dozens out of one mat. I made the cuff by trimming my favorite color of cardstock (aqua) to fit over the tiles! You can find this subtle pattern and beautiful color in our Baby Jane Mini Deck. It took about 1/2 of one sheet for the whole bracelet.

I used Glossy Accents to glue the paper to the tiles and then covered them with it to make them look enameled. String it together with some elastic thread and you're done.

I really love it! My only issue will be keeping it out of Kate's hands. She's already been caught trying to sneak off with it.

With such a cute cuff to wear, I got to thinking about more accessories. How about a brooch pin?

For this one, I used one of the long pieces of bamboo, three 1" Glubers and a bit of aqua fabric from Odds and Ends.

You can see how I coil the roses onto the Glubers in this video. The technique is the same for the one inch size, you just go around the Gluber one time only.

After your flower is made, back it onto the fabric so that it won't be sticky. You do this because the flower overlaps the bamboo and the exposed backing is adhesive which would stick to you or your clothing. (This photo looks funny because I am so close to the flower.)

Trim around your flower and use a little hot glue to attach it to your bamboo piece. I thought that three were cute. Flip your bamboo over and add a brooch pin.

Embellish with a little bling if you like!

If you are planning to sell handmade items at a summer art fair or craft market... if you need summer camp or family reunion craft ideas... or, if you still need a Mother's Day gift idea.... these would be fabulous. You can get soooooo many accessories from one placemat. We have more placemat projects to show you tomorrow so check back!