Elevated Popsicle Stick Bracelets

My friend Jen recently told me about a t-shirt purchase she made. She kept referring to the shirts as "elevated t-shirts." What the hell is an elevated t-shirt? I thought it must be some new brand I'm completely ignorant of, or a new style that, again, I am completely ignorant of. When I finally asked her it turned out to be nothing more than a regular t-shirt that had been altered for a more fitted shape. Is this a new way of speaking? Is this how all the kids are describing things these days? Am I now at the age where I am easily confounded by new language usage? Am I now Grampa from the Simpsons? 

Fraid so. 

The only reason I tell that story is because when I first attempted to make some popsicle stick bracelets I quickly realized that they would be too flimsy for real-world wear. It's a great craft to do with kids and the resulting bracelet is great...for kids. I knew that if I wanted them to be functional for hardcore jewelry rough riders I'd have to beef them up. I'd have to ELEVATE them. So here we are with the Elevated Popsicle Stick Bracelets.  

This is my first project in my new era of using what supplies I already have (see my last post). I have popsicle sticks (these are actually called craft sticks - much wider and much longer than regular popsicle sticks) and I have piles of monoprints (see the first photo) that I obsessively made several years ago. I've used my prints to make earrings, which I love, so it seemed only logical to make some bracelets as well.

Without boring you too much with the details on how to actually form these bracelets just know that it involves boiling and soaking the sticks in water and gently bending them into shape, putting them into a form, such as a glass, and letting them dry completely. The result of all that is a pretty flimsy, bendy bracelet situation. So I glued two together. Problem solved. 

Staining and polyurethaning the inside gives them a nice smooth feel and, say it with me.... an ELEVATED look. Fancy, you might say.

My favorite part of this entire project is selecting the areas of my prints to cut out and adhere to the bracelets. It's amazing how different a print looks when viewed in snippets. I used an archival UV resistant paper glue followed by many layers of polyurethane. These bracelets are water resistant, but not waterproof. No wearing in the pool. 

I have, of course, over simplified the description of the construction of these bracelets. Because I have, of course, made the construction of these bracelets ridiculously complicated and labor intensive. I probably don't need to wood-fill and sand and sand and sand and paint and layer and layer and agonize over every aspect... but I do and I will. And I'm not done yet because I'm not in love with the way the ends overlap and how that looks. So stayed tuned for part 2 and let's see if I improve things or end up overworking them into oblivion. It could go either way. 😑