Fashion Trend: DIY Shamballa Bracelets

I’ve been on a jewelry making bender lately. Don’t worry paper, I still love you so much, and Fall and Winter is when I tend to get my glitter on, but right now it’s a bead thing.

Have you Shamballa’d? Shamballa bracelets have their origin in Tibetan Buddhism but they have become a very popular fashion accessory. Here's what one looks like:

Like every other fashion trend, they range from the high end in the thousands of dollars, to where people like you and I come in…knocking them off at a fraction of the price.

The core of the Shamballa bracelet is a macrame square knot. I just love the look of them. And so did Mr. Chocolate who had the nerve to tell me he thought it looked too hard for me to make.

Of course that meant it was ON. I was planning to try to make one already,  but there’s nothing like a little competitive incentive am I right?

The one on the left I used moonstone and a charcoal crystal bead in the middle and waxed cotton cord by Bead Landing from Michaels; the one on the right I used these kind of foiled / dusted silver beads and a thicker twisted Bead Landing cord.

The square knots you see in the middle are actually a type of sliding clasp and the ends with beads slide within the knots to tighten / loosen the bracelet so you can get it on and off.

There are tons of videos out there so I will not try to teach the knotting technique. I used a three part series from Beadaholique. You can find them all on You Tube and the first one is here: Shamballa Bracelet Pt 1. There are several other videos on You Tube so you can easily find one that works with your learning style.

The most important thing is to make sure the beads you choose have holes big enough for the cording you choose.  You can use hemp, leather, waxed cotton cord, whatever you want.

The other tip I’ll share is to glue your knots before you cut the ends of your cord. For this I like the original drippy kind of super glue. For other projects I prefer the gel kind for more control ( and less likelihood of gluing my fingers together) but you want this to seep into the knots. 

The supplies you’ll need are:

• Beads of choice
• Cord of choice
• Super glue
• A little patience to get the knot technique

So here is the inspiration for what Mr. Chocolate wanted:

$550 David Yurman . Uh No. He also didn’t want the double strand.

Here’s what he got:

He even went with me to Michaels and picked out the beads ( that’s a whole nother blog post!). Lava rock and silver.

He also didn’t want the long dangly ends ( picky customer!). It might not be David Yurman but it also wasn’t $550! The most expensive item was the 250 feet of cording for which of course I used a 40% off coupon. Total cost was less than $20 with cord and beads left over for other projects.

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BFF Open House Link Party #69 Wrap Up and Features

Fall is definitely in the air both in real life and blog life. In just a week, I’ve noticed our leaves starting to turn into those vibrant golds and oranges that only come with fall. I hope you all enjoyed meeting Marcie from I Gotta Try That. Her Halloween series continues.

This week’s party had so many great Fall and Halloween ideas. Here are just a few!

Check out this mirrored pumpkin from Closet Crafter Ohio. What an elegant way to update your Fall Décor from now all the way through Thanksgiving.

I adore this necklace from Rena at Jewelry making Journal. She calls it “A Love Letter From Autumn” which is so perfect since it involves a Fall themed postage stamp:

I love how Sarah at Alderberry Hill went glam on this addition to her Halloween décor: 

Mich in LA has a gorgeous nature inspired bracelet that she came up with as a perfect addition for a Halloween costume appropriate for any elf, fairy, or mother nature themed idea. I think smaller versions of these would make wonderful napkin rings.

I just got a huge catalog in the mail from Restoration Hardware and before I even had a chance to peek at it, Rachel at Holy Craft shared this awesome knock off that she did for $5 vs the $550 RHW wants for it! I like Rachel’s price and hers looks every bit as incredible as the inspiration piece!

And finally, I think I am going to have to try a batch of these to send to College Boy. Check out these Monster Cookie Dough Truffles from Mommy’s Sweet Confessions:

This is definitely one kind of Monster that wouldn’t scare me! Thanks to everyone who linked up as always. Make it a creative week!

BFF Open House Link Party #69 and BFF "I Gotta Try That"

Welcome to the first link party of September! Time is just going to speed up (even faster) from here on out. Now that Summer’s done, I’m going to bring back the blog feature part of the BFF Open House, so let’s get right to it. This week’s BFF is Marcie from I Gotta Try That.  Marcie is a mom of five and a grandmother of six soon to be seven and believe me, you would NEVER guess that from her profile pic. She loves to create and when she see's something, well you get where the name of her blog comes from:

I’m totally getting in the mood for Halloween and Marcie has got a fantastic series going right now so if you’re looking for some inspiration, she’s got you covered. Let’s start with this easy and inexpensive Swamp Slime Martini.

Non-alcoholic and totally fun.

Or how about this “Wicked” glow in the dark tutu Trick or Treat bag! Complete with legs!

And this super easy but perfectly spooky Skeleton Frame. Love!

I hope you’ll go share some bloggy love with Marcie.

Now, let’s get to this week’s party!

Easiest Jewelry Project Ever: Industrial Chic Watch Gear Ring

OK this was one of those projects that was so easy to make I’m embarrassed. On the other hand, it wasn’t something I thought of until I saw similar pieces in a museum gift shop. So total knock off, but easy knock off and at a fraction of the price!

I have this bag o watch parts in my stash . I picked up the parts and an equal amount of watch part containers at a street fair and have used pieces in several projects.

For this project you need the “guts” or gear of a watch, a ring form, and glue.

I like this Liquid Fusion clear urethane glue because it has no odor and is very strong. The ring form by Plaid, I picked up at Jo Ann’s on sale.

Here are the really complicated instructions. Glue watch part to ring form. OK I left out one step. Pull off the winder thingy first.

I’m sure you can find spare watch parts on Etsy or flea markets.

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BFF Open House Link Party #68 Wrap Up and Features

Thanks everyone for a great party last week. Creativity is boundless in the blogosphere. Here are just a few ideas that caught my eye.

Marty, from Marty’s Musings shared a lovely way to collect and display cards for her daughter’s wedding. This could adapted for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations etc.

Janet, from Janet of All Trades, shared this fun bracelet idea.

Danni, from Silo Hill Farm, showed how to make a cute Fall Subway Art sign using scrapbooking stickers.

There were also several chocolate confections. Like these amazing looking cupcakes from Mommy’s Sweet Confessions

Or this incredible cake from Back for Seconds:

How adorable is this?!

Thanks everyone who linked up and for choosing to share your creativity here at The Answer Is Chocolate. Make it a creative week!

Decor Craft: Numbers, Time Pieces, and Mod Podge

You can still link up to this week’s BFF Open House here.

I thought I’d share a little something I made to commemorate our Anniversary. We both love clocks, time pieces, etc. For Mother’s Day this year we went to a local flea market where I found an antique pocket watch casing but hadn’t decided what I wanted to do with it. Then this idea came to me when I picked up some of this numbers paper by Recollections at Michaels recently.

I had some  Tim Holtz time piece and gear pieces in my stash, and Mr. C gave me a couple of wood discs ( I have no idea what they are) he found in his den. Add to that an MDF plaque from stash and another piece of scrap paper.

I traced the plaque and disc on the papers and cut out. Then applied with Mod Podge and sanded the edges when dry.

I liked the design I used from the Damask Décor Cricut Cartridge on my upcycled cheese box so I cut another one out of chocolate brown vinyl.  I antiqued both the paper covered disc and the plaque with Ranger Distress  Inks:

and edged the wooden disc with some aluminum tape. Once the paper pieces were done, I glued all my watch pieces together with E-6000.

I’d debated whether to use the inside or back of the pocket watch casing and decided to go with the back. So glued the time pieces together then glued to the casing , then glued to the disc.

Me, being me, I had to add a rhinestone in the middle as the final touch! Gotta have bling!

The most expensive piece of this was the pocket watch casing…$10 which I still don’t know if that was a good deal or not, but it’s silver and it spoke to me, and so there.

The Tim Holtz sets are around $5 or $6 each ( of course I buy these w/ 40% coupons!) and you get several projects out of them. The MDF frame I got at Ben Franklin for $1.99 and the rest of the stuff I had. Oh the Recollections paper was 4 for $1 on sale at Michaels.

The 21 years of memories that this project represents? Priceless.

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BFF Open House Link Party #68: William Shakespeare Edition

Doesn’t it seem like Summer just started? And here we are at the end of August already!


So what’s up with the title you’re thinking. . Thanks to old Will, 21 years ago tomorrow ( Friday ) I married the guy I met in a College Shakespeare class  5 years earlier. I chose the class specifically for its content; he needed an English credit and it fit into his schedule.

The Tempest – Act 3, Scene 1

I would not wish any companion in the world but you

We still debate about who liked who first ( he totally liked me first) and we were just friends for four years before we actually dated. Then “twu wuv” ( Princess Bride). I love you Mr. Chocolate and hopefully you won’t be too mad at me for getting all mushy gushy on my blog.

Now, whatcha been up to this week? Who’s going to be the first to share a Halloween project? Let’s see!

Green Craft: Turn A Cheese Box Into A Gift Box

I recently shared this project over at the Expressions Vinyl blog but wanted to share it here with all of my readers.

I know I'm not the only one who looks at something for its crafty possibilities before recycling or putting it in the trash. I've seen some other crafty peeps use these cheese boxes and had been saving one to play with. 

I used my box to trace two circles onto the scrapbook paper you see in the background, cut them out and then applied them to the box using Mod Podge. 

While that was drying, I went to work on what would be the focal point of my box. I alternate between my Silhouette Cameo and my Cricut Expression, both of which I love to use to cut vinyl. I used the Cricut for this.

I used the Damask Décor cartridge and a taupe vinyl scrap and cut out my image ( #30).

Here’s the vinyl all cut out and placed on the top of the box. I liked it well enough at that point but never being one to leave anything alone, I went to my embellishment stash and decided on a paper flower and some chocolate colored self adhesive pearls.

The whole thing took maybe an hour and most of that was drying time for the Mod Podge.  Simple, inexpensive, uses what you might already have on hand. Now I just have to finish the gift that is going inside the gift box!

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BFF Open House #67 Wrap Up and Features

Thanks everyone for joining in the fun another week. Here are just a few of the fabulous projects that were shared:

Bev from Flamingo Toes shared thise Faux-Bois painted tumblers. Be sure to check out her tutorial for the glass painting technique she used.

I have yet to make one of these yarn wreaths but the gals over at Six Sisters Stuff have definitely inspired me to try with this cute ruffled wreath!

Sometimes the prettiest things are also the simplest. Like this trash can from the Dollar Tree wrapped in burlap. Go see Rhonda at The Messy Roost for another high impact low cost idea.
And finally, if you want to see the CUTEST party ever ( I could have featured this entire party!) go visit Jennifer at One Thrifty Chick to see this amazing Curious George extravaganza!

Thanks again to everyone who linked up and hope you have a creative week!

BFF Open House Link Party #67

Hey there, howdy, and hello and welcome to another party! Nothing too exciting on this end. College Boy is settled in his new dorm and we’re adjusting to the empty nest again. We’re in high back to school time so I’ve been seeing some really fun projects. Let’s get right to it!

Don’t forget to spread the party love and go visit each other!