A little D-I-Y gift for the bridesmaids...

A lot of people look to D-I-Y gifts as a way to save money and provide a personal touch...and in this case, I think we accomplished both! 

My future daughter-in-law, Mary, bought a cute stretch bracelet on Etsy a few months back, and then decided that she wanted to make similar ones for the members of her wedding party and a few close friends.    She visited The Bead Garden in Havertown, Pa., one afternoon (when I was not working), and spent an hour with the owner, Leslie, designing the bracelets and selecting the supplies we would need to finish the project. 

Violet crystals, pave crosses and Stretch Magic is all it take!

Of course, we had to order some supplies, and unfortunately, couldn't find a wholesale source for the crosses Mary wanted to use.  Luckily, I found them on Etsy and ordered what we needed. With everything delivered this week, we finally had a chance to sit down and work on them.  

There is one thing about making bracelets for someone else -- they are tough to fit if you don't know the recipient's wrist circumference.  After some discussion, we decided to make a variety of sizes, and Mary will have the girls try them on and swap if they need to have a better fitting bracelet.  Also, making them using stretchy cord will help.

This size fits me -- and I have a large wrist!

Mary selected silver crosses and infinity symbols embedded with clear pave crystals.  Then she picked out tanzanite-colored Preciosa crystal beads to coordinate with the bridesmaids' dresses. Her flower girl's bracelet is in pink pave crystal with clear Swarovski crystal.  The bracelets were strung on .7mm Stretch Magic elastic cord.  I incorporated two silver-plated 4mm round beads to cover the knots.     

Together, I think Mary and I created a beautiful, D-I-Y gift that the girls will enjoy.  And we did it for about $4.15 each -- half the cost of purchasing them through Etsy.

That's D-I-Y done right!