So, here you are, friends.
What you need:
- 1 ordinary wooden saints bracelet from ebay or a church shop. There are different sized bracelets, make sure your has exactly 10 rectangular tiles. Many bracelets have 12 tiles and those tiles are too small for this pictures (no to mention the band has 10 members...) The photos will fit 15/16mm x 22mm tiles. For shorter (20mm) tiles you can simpy cut them shorter but it’s easy to adjust the size of the pics in the original document as well, just use your mouse to drag the corner of one set and make it smaller.)
- the printed pictures - you can use your own printer or go to a copy shop.
- a brush (Any kind of brush will be fine but a flat one would make the work even easier. Still, I used normal round brush for the first 10 bracelets without any problem.)
- A jar of glossy „glue and lacquer” for decoupage. Go to a craft/hobby/art supplies store and buy the smallest bottle, it will be enough for at least 20 bracelets.
- scissors
- a small cup of water
Instructions:
- Download the document with the pictures from http://depositfiles.com/files/5e7bj39z7
Even if you want to make just 1 bracelet, better to have more sets of pictures to replace the ruined pieces (if there’s any
so I included 3 sets) Print it in A4 size on a normal sheet of paper. (Don't use glossy photo paper, it won't absorb the water and the glue.)- cut the pictures. Check the size of the tiles and make adjustments if it’s needed. (You can cut the photos shorter if they’re too big for the tiles.) Better leave about 1mm of the wood off, like a frame on the tile to make sure the glue works properly.
- Flatten the bracelet, pick up one of the pictures, put it in the water for a moment then place it on a tile. The wet paper will stick to the wood a bit but you can move it if adjustment is necessary.
- Apply a thick (1-2 mm is fine) layer of glue on the whole tile (coat the paper covered and not covered part as well). It will be opaque but will clear up while drying. Try not to leave air bubbles and not to apply any glue on the beads next to the tile.
- Leave it to dry completely. If you touch it before it’s hardened, you will leave fingerprints and ruin it. If it happened, remove the picture, clean the tile and start over
- Wash the glue from your brush after you finished 1 pic.
If you feel confident enough, it’s possible to make multiple tiles for one go. After finishing one of the tiles, you can continue it with the next 4. You have to be even more careful not to touch the glued part. Complete 5 pics and leave it to dry for a few hours. Don’t forget to clean you brush!
If you got some glue on the beads, there will be some remains of hardened glue on the tile or the bead after you managed to separate them. Use a nail file to remove it.
Wear your creation proudly for the next show
(This is a picture of my old bracelet for the previous tour. The uploaded file contains the photos of the current band members.)
