I would like to start by first saying that I am so greatful to Alex of Mommy's Craft Obsession for this opportunity. I have been thinking about starting my own blog for a few months now and then I saw Alex's post and knew that this was the little push that I needed.
My name is Sarah and I am a mommy to two super special kids. My daughter is 11 and my son is 22 months. Now that is a BIG gap (that is always what people say to me....it makes me laugh every time because you have
NO idea!). I thought I was one and done and then we got a suprise and what a blessing he has been. After my son was born in 2011 I quit my job in the banking world and became a stay at home mommy. I love this new job and journey but I have a great perspective on both sides. It is hard to be a working mom, the struggles of missing things, guilt and work always being there needing more time. It is also hard being a stay at home mom. People think you do nothing as if taking care of kids, home and everyone elses needs it not a FULL time job. So I totally get it! But I would not trade this great time with my kids for anything. Then there is my husband we have been together for 10 plus years he is my best friend and the person who gets me better than anyone, he makes me laugh when I shouldn't and brings great joy to my life. I wouldn't want to tackle this crazy world with anyone else! Check out my awesome family below this is four generations of love!
So now to the good stuff, my blog is new and hopefully will grow with each new friend we make. It is called Faith Filled Footsteps because that is what I do every day. I step out into this crazy world with Faith the God knows what he is doing and that what we have is provided by him. He places things in our paths for our growth in him. I raise my children to believe that he is our all and the only thing that we need. So please join us in this crazy journey as we take every day with Faith Filled Footsteps.
The fun stuff.............
We just finished up spring break here and I don't know about you but all I hear from my daughter during school breaks is " I AM BORED!". So we try and find something to do a few days during breaks. This time we tackled a super fun project a pop cap bracelet. My daughter saw these on Etsy and they were $8.00-$13.00. Now I don't know about you but my budget does not allow for kids jewelry in this price range. So we set out to make one. We tried a few that ended up terrible but here is the one we ended up making and my daughter loved. In fact my 23 year old sister wanted one too!
Pop Cap Bracelets
What you will need:
Ribbon of your choice (thinner is better)
18-26 pop caps
tape
scissors
To start off take the ribbon and wrap it around your wrist 4 times this is to allow for the proper length. Fold the ribbon in half to find the middle. Once you have the center take a few pieces of tape and tape in to your working surface tightly (you will be pulling on this so tape it down good, I used 3 or 4 pieces).
You can do this 2 ways you can face all the pop caps the same direction (this is what we did to eliminate any confusion) or you can alternate them to make the bracelet a little wider.
Take your first pop cap and lace the ribbon up from the bottom through the 1st cap. Pull this cap tight to your tape. You don't want the loop to be to large at the top because this is how you tie the bracelet on.
Take your second pop cap and lace the ribbons down through the holes. Your ribbons will go straight they never criss cross (thought you could probably do this for a more decorative look if you wanted but after so many tries I wasn't going to make this any harder!). Then lace the ribbon back down trough the first cap. Remember to keep the first cap thight to the tape as you tighten them down!
Take your third cap and lace the ribbon up through the holes don't pull it tight to the second cap because you need to lace the ribbon up through the second cap then pull tight.
The first and third cap should be making a row on the bottom with cap two making a row on the top. The side should look like one cap stacked on two caps.
Now take cap four and lace the ribbon down through the holes don't pull tight because you then need to lace the ribbon down through the cap underneath it cap 3.
Continue these steps until you have the desired length for my daughter it was 18 caps for my sister 21 caps. Then tie a double knot underneath the last cap and lace up to make your end ties. Tie the braclet around your wrsit like a friendship bracelet making a bow then you can cut any extra ribbon. You can also make a belt but that takes about 65 pop cans!
We loved the way these look. Just a side note we found 1 yard spools of great pattern ribbon at Jo Anns Fabric for $1.00 so these bracelts were CHEAP! And the yard of ribbon was the perfect length. You can also use colored pop caps some different sodas have different colors or you can spray paint them. These are the three we made!
I hope you love this craft enough to checkout my blog and Facebook page. I can't wait to bring you another guest blog next time. Remember to make everyday a day of Faith Filled Footsteps
Love,
Sarah
