DIY Wedding Arm Candy

I have no shame in declaring that I love all things weddings. In fact, if you say the word "wedding" or "bride", my ears will perk up in a second!

When it came time for me to start wedding planning, I was all about research research research and of course some DIY DIY DIY! Mr Lee and I got married last November and one of the things I spent a long time searching, umm-ing and ahh-ing over, were beautiful accessories. There are a GAZILLION amazing options out there, but not a lot that caught my eye for something unique ... and at an affordable price.
Having gone a bit over budget on the dress (whoopsy hehe), I still couldn't let go of the fact that I wanted some arm candy...something that was blingy, yet girly and whimsical.

Hours and hours spent online later... I decided to visit Tessuti Fabrics here in Sydney for some inspiration. They have heaps of swarovski crystal and also lace motifs. One motif that caught my eye (and fit my wrist...and my budget) for a bracelet idea was this one:

From there, I had a light bulb moment, bought the motif and some additional goodies, and did the following...
(click on image to zoom in):

1. Using a pencil roughly trace around your motif on a piece of paper
2. Use this piece of paper as a stencil, pin it to a piece of wool felt and cut out the motif shape
3. Line up your felt and your chosen ribbon on the backside of the motif (I used grosgrain for its sturdiness, you can trim the length of the ribbon later)
4. Cut 2 slits on one side of the felt and thread your ribbon through
5. Do the same again so that there are 4 slits in total
6. Using your white thread, sew the felt onto the motif, using one-stitch along the whole perimeter and also along both sides of the ribbon. Trim any excess felt part that may be sticking outside the motif border.
7. Tie the bracelet onto your wrist with the bow on the underside and trim the ribbon to whatever length you like. I kept mine long so that it was flowy with my wedding bouquet ribbon, and I was also toying with the option of wearing this motif on my head :)

You can also simply glue the felt and ribbon onto the motif with a glue-gun, but I felt threading and sewing the felt and ribbon through would make the bracelet less stiff! Also, stitching to me meant it gave me the future option to un-stitch and use the motif for another DIY project!

Voila!

{last three photos shot by our wonderful wedding photographers; Coralee & Alex}

For all you future bridies, how about a motif backed with lace? or tulle? incorporate with silk flowers and arranged in your hair?
Or even non-bridies...how about a crystal motif set on coloured ribbon? Colour the crystal in jewel tones? Backed with netting and a haircomb for the races? 

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