Cheap and unique ID Bracelets

The backs of "Lee Low Rise Jeans" has a copper plate on the
size/price/content labels to prove authenticitiy. These copper plaes
are almost the exact size of an ID tag. So, I took all the copper
plates off the jeans Santa brought, and punched an additional hole in
them (the tags have one, because they're only meant to hang along
with the price tag.)

I coated the skin side of the tag with nail polish for two reasons:
to cover the "Lee" brand name on the tag, and to keep Manda from
developing a rash. With the two holes on the metal tag, it was a
simple matter to make a bracelet. (I made a bunch, and you can be
creative without my help)

For the lettering, I chose not to take out my letter stamping set,
but rather used the letters that came with some scrapbooking
supplies. Joann's (www.joann.com) sells a kit that uses teeny bottle
caps for letters. A little glue and voila'! A name bracelet like no
other. The whole bracelet idea was cheap, too - the only things I
didn't have already kicking around the house were the alphabet
letters.

BTW, Joann's also sells a complete spare set of Scrabble letters to
either replace your hideous, cannibalized set or to use in a
scrapbook. However, if you're me, you realize that this makes way
cool letters for bracelets with little work involved. Small, plastic
coated paper clips can be glued to the backs of the tiles, leaving a
couple of loops for attaching the braclet components to one another.
To keep the child from fiddling with the paper clips, I covered the
whole apparatus with a few teeny glued on squares of Ultra-Suede.

For longer names or smaller people, Joann's (and most likely, all of
those chain craft stores) have the scrabble letters in a mini size.
Same directons would apply: Just go to a stationery story and ask
the clerk for some teeny paper clips.

If you're an overachiever, drill holes in each corner of each tile,
then sew the tiles to a leather cuff, or use wire to wre them all
together. Since I am a lazy sloth, paperclips work just fine for me,
and no one who has seen the bracelets has had the slightest clue.

Odd game pieces from long wrecked games make cool jewelry, too. I'd
love a pair of Stratego pieces (a strategy war game from when I was a
kid) or the smallest sized "Battleships" made into earrings. The
plastic markers from "Sorry" or a million such games could be easily
wire wrapped, too. To "drill" holes in the soft plastic, use a
soldering iron. I have some full sized dice that I've partially
drilled with a hot needle: I'll add eye hooks from the hardware
store and then attach them to a cheap charm bracelet. Perfect
"lucky" bracelet for when Bob's bowling team goes for a casino
evening.

If I start crossing the line from "frugal" into "nuts," please let me
know. Everything seems like a component when you're in the groove.

Kathy N-V