Make a unique bracelet by recycling can pull-tabs
Making creative jewelry with your own hands is always a fun activity, and it can also be useful for making personalized gifts. The techniques that can be used are truly innumerable, depending on the possible materials available or even what's around to recycle.
Even objects that generally end up in the garbage without too much thought can, in fact, be transformed into something creative - as in the case of the tabs (ring-pulls) of soda and beer cans, the ones we pull on to open these containers. With beads and aluminum wire, in fact, you can join them together and decorate them to make a customised bracelet.
What you need:
- Tin container pull tabs (in the region of twenty or more);
- Colored beads: they will be need to be large enough to fill the largest hole in each tab;
- Aluminum wire (that used for costume jewellery);
- Tweezers with a curved tip;
- Cutter for costume jewellery;
- Hooks/clasp for closing the bracelet.
Video tutorial via Ecobrisa Manualidades con Reciclaje/YouTube
Unroll some of the aluminum wire, and then take a piece at the end, fold it and with the help of tweezers create a loop, wrapping the base of the loop around a couple of times (you will use the hooks for closing), and leaving the rest of the wire loose.
Take this free piece of wire and thread it through a hole in the first tab, wrapping around one of the sides to secure it tightly, then cut off the protruding piece, folding it tight against the tab so it doesn't stick out and become a dangerous point. You can also file it down.
Unroll the rest of the aluminum wire, and cut it keeping it fairly long in length, as it will be used to work on the other tabs.
Video tutorial via Ecobrisa Manualidades con Reciclaje/YouTube
Insert the other end of the wire (the long one) inside the second hole of the tab, thread a bead on the wire and make sure to position it in the center of the hole, as if it were set. Wrap around the side of the tab again to secure and then start pulling the new tab together. Make sure you keep it in the same direction as the first.
Now you just have to repeat these steps on each tab, so as to juxtapose them, and each with a bead in the center. You decide which colors to use for the beads. You could even use smaller beads to fit in the center of the other photo of each tab.
Video tutorial via Ecobrisa Manualidades con Reciclaje/YouTube
When you come to have a bracelet that closes snugly around the wrist, create a buttonhole with the end of the aluminum wire as well, hook the fasteners to both buttonholes on both ends and your bracelet will be ready to wear.
If you want to look at the various steps specifically, click here for the video tutorial.
