DIY Leather O-Ring Bracelet – Inspired by Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper!

• Sometimes Homemade
• February 18, 2015
• 2 Comments

This Leather O-Ring bracelet is inspired by one worn recently by Joanna Gaines on  HGTV’s Fixer Upper. Get the step-by-step instructions to make your own!

A few weeks ago I posted about a leather bracelet I was coveting that I saw Joanna Gaines from Fixer Upper wearing in an Instagram post (she’s got great style!). I immediately set out to recreate the brown leather bracelet with an antique brass o-ring. I am so pleased with how it turned out, and I’ve worn it several times with many compliments! If you’re not into DIY, you can buy one directly from Chip and Joanna’s online store Magnolia Market or I found a similar bracelet by Henri Lou Jewelry.

Now on to the tutorial. I’m no expert in working with leather, but I found this to be an easy project!

Supplies Needed:

• 1″ wide leather strap. Length will vary based on your wrist size. (I used a 14″ leather strap, and my wrist is 6″)
• O-Ring in your choice of metal finish. Mine was about 1.5″
• Hitch Fastener in matching finish to your o-ring.
• Rotary Cutter and/or Xacto Knife + Cutting Mat
• Leather Punch (you could also use a hammer and nail)

I got my leather at JoAnn’s Fabrics. It was originally marketed as a leather belt strap. It was a bit wider than I wanted, so I cut mine to be 1″ wide using my rotary cutter and mat.

I measured my wrist to see how long I needed to make my bracelet and where to punch the holes for the hitch fastener. It took me a little while to figure out how this bracelet worked, but essentially you wrap around the bottom part of your wrist with the under side (or suede side) out. Wrap both sides along your wrist then put both ends through the o-ring on top of your wrist.

Then wrap each side down and back under you wrist. Once wrapped back under my wrist, I used tape to hold it in place so I could check fit and mark the holes. I wanted a fairly tight fit, but not cutting off my circulation.

While holding the bracelet on my wrist, I used a pen to mark the placement of the hole on the outer side. This will be the “open hole” that will close over your hitch fastener, so it needs to be large enough to be able to get the ball through, but not so big it will slip out. I used a 4.5 mm punch. It will depend on the size of your fastener.

I used my razor cutter to make a small slit into the hole in order to allow a little more give when putting the bracelet on and taking off. Next, I put the bracelet back on in order to figure out where to put the hole for the hitch fastener so they lined up. Again I drew a circle for placement with a pen. This hole needs to be big enough for the screw part of the hitch fastener. This should be smaller than the other and will vary based on the size of your hitch post. For mine I used a 2.5 mm punch

I added my hitch fastener, putting the screw portion up through the smaller hole leather side up, then screwed on my hitch post.

I put it back on my wrist again, to check for fit and then also figure out what part of the band I wanted to start my cut to create the double band look. (Did you forget that part was coming? It really makes such a difference in the look of the bracelet in my opinion!). I chose to start about 2 inches up from each side. I used a combination of my rotary cutter and my razor cutter to separate into two bands. My rotary cutter made a better cut, but I used the box cutter to get more precise at the ends of my cuts so they were the right distance from the ends.

I had removed my fastener in order to do my final cuts since I could use my quilting ruler to hold it flat and tight. I added my hitch post back on and then my bracelet was done!

I’m going to make a black and silver leather 0-ring bracelet for a co-worker and then I also want to make one with a square ring. For some reason I have a thing for squares in jewelry, maybe because circles are so common?

Are you a fan of Fixer Upper? On top of Joanna’s fashion sense, I love their decorating style and lighthearted approach to life. They seem like such a nice family! I really wish they could come do a house for us. I’d take them or the Property Brothers!