How to make a fabric bracelet - upcycled from a jeans waistband

I sew and upcycle a lot, especially from old jeans and I wanted to find something that our girls could upcycle and sew for themselves and get a bit creative.

These bracelets are super simple and allow for plenty of decoration and creativity!

Here's how to make a fabric bracelet from a jeans waistband:

First of all cut the waistband from an old pair of jeans.

Unpick the belt loops and remove.

Fasten the button on the waistband and wrap it around your wrist for size. Remember to overlap the two pieces!

Cut the waistband the size you would like and lay if flat.

Then unfasten the button and overlap the two raw edges where you just cut and pin together.

Stitch using a zig zig stitch for strength in a box shape where the two pieces overlap. Use a denim or larger needle on your machine for this as the layers are quite thick. You could also hand stitch this if you don't have a sewing machine!

And that is your basic fabric bracelet finished!

Now comes the fun part - adding the embellishments.

For this one I added a fabric flower - just simple circles of varying sizes cut from denim and other scrap fabric. 

Place the circles on top of each other and stitch through the centre with a button to hold in place. Then snip around each circle to make the 'petals'.

Then scrunch the flower up and roll between your hands to make it look more like a flower!

And stitch it to the bracelet - hiding your previous stitching!

One finished flower fabric bracelet!

You can embellish these bracelets with anything you choose.

My girls chose beads, an old kids plastic necklace and some ribbon. They are all just hand stitched into place in designs they chose.

I want our girls to learn to create with upcycled materials, and these bracelets are simple enough for them to make by themselves, and flexible enough to make them with endless different designs!

What have you or your kids created with upcycled materials? Maybe you have an old pair of jeans you could try one of these bracelets with?

Homemade vs Packet Brownies - our experiment

A comment from Euan a couple of weeks ago prompted this experiment. He has a memory from when he was a kid of the best brownies he ever tasted - made from a packet.

So we decided to test which actually tasted better by making both home made and packet brownies at the same time.

The Packet Mix

There were a few different brownie mixes to choose from at the supermarket. After checking out the ingredients and finding that they're all basically the same, I chose the cheapest one - which incidentally had the highest proportion of chocolate chips in the ingredients list!

All we had to do to make was to pour the packet mix into a bowl,

add water, melted butter and eggs; mix together and pour into the pan, then bake for 20 mins.

Homemade Brownies

For the home-made brownies we sieved the dry ingredients together into the bowl, which then resembled the packet mix. To this we added eggs, melted butter (I use margarine) and chocolate chips. Mixed all together and baked for 16 mins.

In appearance, both brownie 'slabs' looked much the same. the homemade one had risen a little more.

We cut the brownies into sample squares from each type and all tried them out......

The verdict?

You could barely tell any difference between them. The home-made ones were slightly 'cakier' and a little moister in the centre, other than that - the same.

I have to say I was disappointed with the result. I would always say that I prefer homemade - and that of course it has a better taste, but I have to admit that for this one, I couldn't really tell the difference. 

This was in contrast to the last experiment we did like this with bought premade chocolate chip cookie dough vs homemade chocolate chip cookies. Then, the homemade was a clear winner!

But how about the brownies?  Well although the taste was the same, the packet mix plus added ingredients was about $4.20 whereas homemade cost about $2.75. So the homemade brownies were cheaper - and of course no preservatives or additives!

I will still stick to homemade brownies and other cakes and biscuits, but I'm not against trying out more packet and convenience foods so our kids can see the comparisons and make their own decisions about which they think is better.

How about you? Do you use packet mixes for baking cakes and cookies? Or do you bake from scratch?

The importance of creativity

On our recent trip Backpacking around Asia we saw a lot of local handicrafts - on markets and in the streets. The girls bought lots of small purses, key rings and other knick knacks, but there were endless things we looked at that they wanted to try making for themselves when we got home. I sew a lot - especially things for them, and this probably made them realise that they could make a lot of these things for themselves rather than having to buy them. We took lots of photos of things for inspiration and made notes and drawings of things we saw.

Now we're home, it's trying to find time to make these things that is the challenge. Now that school has started up, with all the homework, clubs and after school sports they want to do, not much time is left to spare.

The importance of creativity

The more I have thought about it though, the more I want to find that time to follow through on things our girls wanted to do and make after the holiday, but overall to encourage that spark of creativity, which is a skill I believe will help them immensely in their future lives.

When we think of how to help our kids grow up to be the best they can be, we think about them getting good grades at school, or being physically good at something, but encouraging their creative side isn't always focussed on.

Creativity is an important skill to nurture for anyone.  There are endless articles and research that shows that creative people are happier, healthier and generally more positive than those who do not explore their creative side.

So what is Creativity?

Sometimes we think of creativity as being artistic, but creativity has so many and varied forms. It is not about being good at what you create but it is the act of creating itself that is important. 

From cooking, sewing, painting and knitting to woodwork, jewellery making, pottery and so much more.

  Lego building is a excellent creative pursuit for kids of all ages. There are endless kits and projects in the toy aisles of stores, but you don't need to buy anything to be creative. Any household is full of items that can be used to make and build, create and imagine.  

Outside in nature - building dams, huts and fairy gardens; drawing in chalk on pavements and driveways can provide endless hours of creative fun.

Music is also a creative pastime - singing, playing instruments and even forming your own band! I remember doing this as a kid with friends. We worked out our hairstyles and outfits and all sorts of details like that, but never actually played or sung any music! Still we had fun making it all up.

Creativity as a form of expression

There are an increasing number of 'creative therapies' where people are encouraged to find alternate ways to express themselves or alternate ways to channel negative energies.

Sometimes kids find it hard to express themselves and their feelings, particularly when hormones start to kick in.  They are still learning how to control their emotions. Creative pursuits can be a great way for kids to channel those feelings and emotions they are struggling with.

So what can we do to help?

Creativity for future job prospects

In a world where job opportunities are changing so dramatically, how can we best prepare our kids for the future?  So many jobs are now outsourced to other countries, or the need for staff is replaced by computers.  Things are changing so rapidly that who knows what the world will be like when our kids graduate from school and make their way into the workplace.

The ability to adapt and think outside the box are skills that are going to stand our kids in good stead for a constantly changing future.  Good grades and studying hard may still be important, but encouraging creativity is more important than ever in preparing our kids for the future.

An interesting book to read on this topic is "A Whole New Mind" by Daniel Pink.  He believes that what is happening now is that it is not the people who do well at studying and learning facts, figures, academic subjects etc who are headed for the top jobs; it is those who are good at being creative. It is those who can offer something different, new and innovative that are headed for success now.

Ways to encourage creativity

Hobbies

If you yourself have a creative hobby, perhaps you can share this with your kids. I sew a lot and over the years have helped my girls make a few things. 

For example they've made pencil cases, bags and place mats. However, proud as they are of the things they've made, the most fun they've had has been when I've just given them a pile of scrap fabrics, and buttons etc and let them loose with needle and thread and my sewing machine. 

Don't limit 

It is important to allow kids imagination full reign. I remember when our daughters were at kindergarten, talking to their teacher about a planned new playground. There was a fancy set up that had the play equipment in the shape of a train. Exciting as this looked, the teacher was strongly against this as she felt it would limit the children's imaginative play as they would only ever see it as a train, whereas play equipment with no theme could turn into anything at all - a train, a fairy house, a pirate ship, a hospital - the possibilities are endless.

I think this was a valuable lesson in allowing our kids to express themselves and find their own meaning. 

Switch them off!

By far the best way to encourage creativity is to switch off the television, take away the tablets and electronic games and let the kids create their own entertainment. 

 I've seen this effect clearly with our girls. They both have tablets and like to play games on them. I remember one time in particular (I'm sure there have been more) when I told our youngest it was time to switch her tablet off and do something else. She turned it off and put it away, then sat down looking fed up and said, "But I don't know what to do!".  

When she was sitting at her tablet playing the game, there were set moves she had to make - goals to achieve and clear instructions of how to play the game. Now that had been taken away she had to think for herself again.

On the other hand, sometimes we'll take the girls to a nearby creek to play. They find endless games to play and things to do, making dams, racing sticks, arranging stones to make pretty areas and just endless imaginary games with no instructions or anyone telling them what to do. They are never bored there!

This is the kind of play kids need to foster their creativity and encourage free thinking and independence.

How about you?

Whether it's creative play or making things, do your kids find enough time for creativity? 

How do you encourage your kids to be creative?  

Do you agree about the importance of fostering creativity in your kids?

Encouraging fine motor skills in kids - making 3D hands

Recently our local paper - the Cairns Post, ran an article about kids losing their fine motor skills as a result of using computers and swipe screens rather than writing.

There are kids that are going to occupational therapy classes to learn fine motor skills and handwriting. A teacher of these classes in Cairns said,

"90 per cent of her students, the majority of whom were under nine, had handwriting problems as a result of the over-use of technology."

Now while I do believe it is vitally important that kids learn how to use computers and technology in this fast developing world, they do still need to learn to write, and use those fine motor skills that begin to develop in early childhood with manipulating toys, drawing, playing with blocks, lego, dolls, etc.  

You can find virtually every kind of game on computers, tablets and mobile phones now, from drawing to building games and much much more. This makes it convenient for parents to entertain their kids in any space -  at home or out and about, without having a mess to clear up, or to find materials or toys necessary for the activity. 

However, this also means that kids are missing out on an important part of their physical and mental development.

I saw a funny French advert recently - where a husband is frustrated with his wife for not using her tablet to do everyday things like drawing with their kid, writing notes, or reading a book - but it makes a good point at the end... 

(go to see it here - it's only 39 seconds!)

So here's a simple and fun thing to do with your kids that uses their fine motor skills. All you need is pens/pencils and paper.

Make your own 3D Hands

A while ago I found the instructions for making these pictures on Pinterest. It's very simple - you can see an instructional video here.

Basically you draw around your hand on a piece of paper, then draw lines across the page, making an upwards curve inside the outline of your hand and fingers. Then colour in between the lines.

It was a great thing to do with the kids on the spur of the moment - using scrap paper and pens and pencils, and needs very little space!

We found that more lines closer together produced a better effect..

Such a neat thing to do!

Our younger daughter then wondered if you could do the same with curved lines outside the hand and straight inside. I'm not how that would look- but you could draw the curves going down instead of up to make it look like a sunken rather than a raised hand!

It's good to get kids to do activities like this with pens and paper. It takes no preparation, only pens/pencils and paper, and can be done with almost any age kid - (or adult - I enjoyed doing this myself!)

Have you ever tried these 3D hands?  Do your kids use technology too much? Or do you encourage them to do other more tangible an physical activities with their hands too?