InspirationFX: Trash to Treasure

InspirationFX
Get your creative juices flowing

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Trash to Treasure
by: Pam Kearns
We were in a staff meeting, discussing what to do with left-over "scrap" pieces  of Regaliz leather - ends of rolls, etc. When I spoke up and said they were still useful, I was given the challenge of creating a piece of jewelry with those scraps. Bet you don't have staff meetings quite like that!

Here is my challenge response - from Trash to Treasure - using too-small and left-over pieces of Regaliz leather. The same approach would work for flat and round leather too!

By gluing the small pieces of leather into the centre bead, you are creating a longer piece that adds new dimension to a bracelet. These pieces are inserted only about .5 inch into the bead, and held in place with the Super New Glue. In this case, I added 22 gauge non-tarnish wire and inserted the ends into the beads with the leather, at the time of gluing. The 4 mm metal beads are added as the wire is wrapped around the wire. The wire is trimmed and inserted into the clasp, again at the same times as the leather. The bracelet is stiffer than with a single piece of leather, so you want to use a little extra glue.

The end result is very handsome - and you can feel good about using up those last little pieces!

Components

Go to our components list for this project and to buy what you need!
Need some help with some of the techniques? Check our tips page.