Bangle Bracelets

God surely has a sense of humor. My sweet cow farmer of a husband has two very lovely, trendy sisters. Now, I may have been raised a "city girl" (if you can call a town of 5,000 souls a "city"), but I have completely adapted to the rural life where a normal day means you see cows, cats, chickens, and an occasional neighbor drive by. I would hardly know a trend if it knocked on the door and invited itself for dinner.

So, when it comes to coming up with gifts for these lovely girls, I turn to one million of my closest crafty "friends" on the internet for guidance. Whenever I see something that I can make for them without a lot of expensive purchased inputs - but into which I can pour a lot of love - I bookmark it! (And I now pass all these ideas on to you, in my reading the whole internet posts.)

One such idea that I found last year turned into Christmas presents for my trendy sisters - One Pearl Button's decoupaged bangle bracelets. The instructions are easy enough for ME to follow, and the results were pretty good, I thought! (Photo is my sister-in-law who happened to be wearing one of her bracelets on the same day I posted this!)

Basically, you tear pages from a magazine or catalog and use Mod Podge to stick them on a wooden bracelet "blank". This was my first time with Mod Podge and I really got into it. I also sprayed them with an acrylic sealant so hopefully they wouldn't feel tacky. I enjoyed picking colors that I thought reflected their personalities and mixing and matching them so they'd flow well together.

I recently came across a similar version for the younger set at Whipup. I haven't made any yet, but perhaps Goose needs a couple so she can dress up like her aunties? I don't know - what's the old saying about how do you keep them down on the farm once they've seen the light of the city? Nah . . . I have a feeling Goose's favorite thing will always be tractor rides with papa so hopefully we're safe. :>)

Also, I'm soliciting advice on a vacuum sealer and a dehydrator to preserve our garden goodness . . . I'd love it if you Frugal Friday folk would head over to that post and share any knowledge you have!

And for more frugal ideas, visit Life as Mom.