Yay! All these years of piling old belts have finally been useful! Yesterday, when I was laying in bed, I had this brilliant idea about a DIY bracelet. I got up and I wrote it down so I wouldn't forget it! And here's the result! A very cool music bracelet, modesty aside :)

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I made two versions: one by recycling an old belt and another one using a plain looking black leather bracelet. (I had it for years but never wore it).

People who want to reuse an old belt to make this project should read steps 1 and 7. Those who prefer recycling a leather bracelet need to start with step 2.

P.S. I couldn't finish the belt bracelet because I ran out of musical charms... but both bracelets look very similar when finished. The only difference is in the way to close them (see step 7).

MATERIALS:

- Old belt or a leather bracelet (as the one of the picture)

- Musical notes charms

- Jumping rings

- Glue

- From an old belt: a clasp and a piece of chain

TOOLS:

- Cutter

- Pencil or white pen (erasable)

- Ruler

- Gimlet

- Scissors

- Pliers

Step 1: Old Belt Step

If you reuse an old belt, you need to cut a piece of leather that fits your wrist (it needs to be a bit smaller than your wrist, though, because you will add a clasp).

If you want to use a recycled bracelet you can go to next step.

Step 2:

Let's do some maths! Mesure the leather's width. You need to divide the width by five (the five lines of the stave). The result is the distance you need to keep between these lines.

TOTAL WIDTH OF THE BRACELET - COMBINED WIDTHS OF THE LINES = TOTAL AMOUNT OF GAP SPACE

TOTAL AMOUNT OF GAP SPACE / 4 = EACH GAPE WIDTH

By the way, the calculation you can see in the pictures are in my language... here's the traduction:

Cuir = Leather

Forat = Gap

Of course, you can make a rough guess :) Just make sure that the spaces are even and that the final result is nice.

Step 3:

Take a ruler and mark the distance on the leather. Depending the leather, you can write on it with a pencil, if not, you will need a white pen or similar. Once the marks are ready, draw the lines. (you have examples this on the pictures).

REMEMBER to leave a border on each edge. I left 0,5 cm.

Step 4:

Then, with a cutter and a ruler, cut the gaps. Be very careful, specially at the endings of each line. You can use a pair of scissors to be a bit more precise on the borders.

Step 5:

Take the charms and distribute them on the staff as you please.

Step 6:

Take the pliers. Take one charm and add a jumping ring to it. Then hang it on the staff line you like. The idea is to close the jumping ring enough to set the note on the desired place.

Step 7:

To strengthen the leather, you can add two leather strips behind the bracelet, on each edge (see pictures). This will make it stronger. The strips needs to be hidden, they should not be seen between the gaps you made.

Then cut some more leather strips (I needed two, maybe you'll need more). These will be in the front: they will be the bars on the music score. But they also will help strengthen the whole thing. The weight of the notes could eventually bend the leather, but this should prevent it.

Step 8: Old Belt

If you recycle an old belt, you will need to add a clasp. So, make two holes on the second and the forth lines of the stove (as you can see in the picture). To make the holes you can use a gimlet, a hot wire or a machine to make holes on belts (sorry, but I don't know the name in English!).

On one edge, add a piece of chain and a clasp (see the picture). On the other edge, add a jumping ring on both holes and then another one to hold both rings. The clasp goes here.

And... it's ready!