Tutorial: Shower Curtain Ring Turned Bracelet

In case you missed it when it was part of Readers Tutorial Week on Craftaholics Anonymous, here is my tutorial for Shower Curtain Ring Bracelets.


A lot of what I do is someone else's original idea that I just tweak, but every once in a while I get a stroke of genius. Like these Shower Curtain Ring Bracelets!

Materials Needed:
- one cheap plastic shower curtain ring (you don't have a dozen of these just lying around the house? check your dollar store)
- 2 coordinating ribbons (length needed will depend on the width of the ribbon and your particular ring, give yourself at least 18 inches for wrapping and 12 inches of another ribbon for the bow)
- lighter (or whatever you prefer to use to prevent fraying)
- hot glue gun (can you believe I was married for two years before I had one of my own? me either!)
- scissors

Step One:
Heat seal one end of the ribbon that you plan on wrapping around the shower curtain ring (sorry I'm just not talented enough to take a picture of myself burning the end of my ribbon and I would have enlisted the hubbs but he was ever so sweetly folding the laundry).

Step Two:
Put a glob of hot glue (not too much, since as I'm sure you all know, it will ooze as you press the ribbon on it) on the inside of your shower curtain ring (which from here on out will just be referred to as "ring") right where the thick part of the ring meets the thin part that usually goes through the holes of your shower curtain, and press the ribbon down firmly.

Step Three:
Wind your ribbon around your ring, slightly overlapping the edges. This might take a little bit of practice at first  the get it to line up just right since the ring probably narrows just a little bit.

To make winding a little bit easier you can either put a dab of hot glue every couple of "laps"...

...or put an alligator clip on the ribbon that you have already wound to hold it in place. Make sure you pull tight on the ribbon as you are winding it around the ring! This helps prevent bunching.

Step Four:
When  you get to the other end of your ring, put another dab of hot glue on the top of the ring and press the ribbon down.

Step Five:
Pull your ribbon to the bottom side of the ring and figure out where you need to cut it to cover up the last little bit of ring showing. Cut, heat seal (or fray-check...whatever, it doesn't matter), and glue the puppy down!

Step Six:
Take ribbon number 2 and tie it into a bow around the narrow part of the ring (which should be the only part showing by now). Tie the knot so that the ribbon goes the same direction as the ring (you don't want the ring and ribbon to make an X or your bow will be sideways).

Cut tails of bow to desired length and heat seal. TADAA! You've just made a super cute bracelet!

You can even change the bow to coordinate with a different outfit.

So many possibilities!

A FEW NOTES:
- These fit my 1 1/2 year old and my 5 year old niece (ok, and me but I have to open the ring to get it on and I have freakishly thin wrists) so they are great for lots of different ages.
- If you are like me and don't want to have to retie the bow every 2 minutes you can stitch it shut. Or maybe your child won't untie it. You will still be able to change the bow out. Just open the ring and slip it off. It is a little tricky to get back on, but it can be done!