Remember the days of wrapping your boyfriend’s class ring in mohair to make it small enough to fit your finger? After I covered all my wire hangers in t-shirt yarn, I started looking for other metal that needed softening and decided to use a bangle bracelet as my next guinea pig.

The bracelet I chose was too big for me and pretty cheap looking, so anything I did to it would/could be an improvement. Not only did the wrapping make it smaller (a la a mohair wrapped ring), it’s more comfortable to wear and doesn’t clink or clank against surfaces when I’m trying to work or write. Brilliant!

Believe it or not, it’s possible for a project to be too quick. I was just getting warmed up and had already depleted my stash of bracelets.

So I dipped into my husband’s jewelry supplies and borrowed some metal cuffs (intended as bases for more elaborate creations). I pulled out my glue gun, denim scraps and buttons, turned on Hulu, and settled in for an afternoon of crafting.

Projects like this are awesome because they help make a dent in my pile of scrap materials – but not by much, since they also reveal new ways to use what I previously considered useless.

My challenge now is to find bracelet-shaped items in my recycling bin, since trash and recyclables are the piles I should be trying to make smaller. Any suggestions?