Jewelry illiterate

In all my crafty endeavors, one area I've never really delved into is jewelry making. I love looking at pretty jewelry, but I don't really wear it too much. I don't want to spend much money on something my baby is just going to chew on.

But I do love entering contests for pretty things. I admire all the wonderful etsy shops full of creative necklaces, bracelets, and rings.

Today I entered that fray - just a tiny bit.

See, I have this watch:

I got it on clearance a couple of years ago, and I love it. The cute flowers, the neutrals - it just makes me happy. I don't wear it very much (since having kids I've gotten out of that habit), but it lives in my church bag and saved me more than once when I taught primary.

Two weeks ago, I pulled it out, and actually started wearing it again. I wanted to get back in the habit of being a watch person. The next day, it broke.

I guess that's why I stopped wearing watches! But I wanted to still wear it. I wasn't sure what to do, until I saw this post. Yes, I realize that an adorable St Patty's day necklace doesn't have much to do with a watch band, but she introduced me to crimp beads. I've never used - or even heard of - them before. But I knew it would be a huge help in my band endeavors.

I headed off to Joann's. $6.74 later, I had these:

(I did have a 50% coupon for the beads)

My before and after isn't very hard to accomplish. I cut off the leather band. Then I looped the elastic string over the remaining post. I added a crimp bead, strung on some pretty beads, and finished off the other end the same way.

But I have a pretty band now. And a watch I can actually wear.

*You want to make your loop as small as possible so the band doesn't slide around too much!

linking here!