Let's face it: There's probably an old bracelet in your personal jewelry collection that you haven't worn in a very long while. Whether it's because of the signs of aging or the fact that the style has gone out of vogue, everyone has a piece of bling that calls the dark shadowy part of your jewelry box home.
But with a little DIY know-how and some spare time, anyone can fix up their unwanted pieces of flair and turn them into some crafty, one-of-a-kind accessories.
We too managed to dig up an old chain-link bracelet, with a defunct looking charm, and planned to make it anew with some colored string in tow. Thanks to the revival of the friendship bracelet trend, we were inspired by many of the arm candy we've spotted on fashionistas all-over to make a friendship-bracelet-meets-metalware accessory.
To check out this dinky little bracelet's DIY transformation, and to get tips on how to give your own discarded jewelry a crafty makeover, be sure to click through the gallery above.
1. Measure out how much string you need, which will depend on the length of your bracelet. For this project, we used about 5 feet of string per color.
2. After measuring your ideal length for string, match up the other two colors to get the same exact length.
3. Tape down your bracelet.
4. Since our bracelet came with a round clasp at one end, we decided to decorate it with a series of cow hitch knots. To make a cow hitch knot, first fold the string in half and thread the looped end through the hole of the clasp.
5. Take the other end of the folded string, then thread and pull through the loop.
6. Continue to make about 10 more simple knots (depending on the size of your bracelet) around the clasp. Make sure to pull on the string tightly, and that each knot is pushed up against one another.
7. To start on your next color (we went with white), create another cow hitch knot around the hole of the clasp, making sure that the remaining red string is threaded through the knot.
8. Continuing making the same amount of knots as you did with the last color, this time making sure you tie around the clasp and the red string at the same time.
9. To start with your third and final string, make another cow hitch knot like previously, making sure that both the white and red strings are threaded into the knot.
10. And your knot should look something like this.
11. After you continue to make simple knots around the clasp, knotting over the red and white strings as you do so, the clasp will result like this.
12. Next, take remaining ends of all three strings and thread them through each chain link. As you weave the ends of the string through each link, be sure to alternate sides you thread the string through. (For example, if you thread to the right, then thread towards the left for the next link).
13. After threading the string throughout your bracelet, your bracelet should look like this. Now is also a good time to comb through your string, making sure to deal with any tangles.
knot, which will also double as a cute charm. Make a braid with the remaining string. (You should have two strings for each color).
15. Next, make a pretzel loop, as shown in the image.
16. Pull that remaining string as seen the previous image through the farthest left loop.
17. Next, pull the string from under and through the farthest right loop.
18. Pull tightly on the string and your stopper knot should look something like this.
19. Cut off the remaining string.
20. Now you have a semi-brand new bracelet, perfect to rock on the Fourth of July!