I come from creative stock.  I’ve mentioned my mom before, but I also have two talented sisters.  My family tree is loaded down with craftiness.  My dad is no exception.

When I was a kid, we knew Dad was about to do leather work when he pulled out a tall, narrow wood table he always used.  It was fun to watch a plain piece of leather turn into something special.

He’s made some really amazing things over the years, some of which are mine.  My husband and son each have a custom wallet.  Our most recent leather gift was coasters with our monogram on them, each in a different style.

This purse has always been one of my favorites.

I still use this coin purse.

I haven’t worked with leather myself before, but I saw the instructions for this bracelet a while back and was a little fascinated by it.  Braiding three strips together that are still attached at both ends seems like it should be impossible.

I set out thinking I would just buy a piece of leather and make the bracelet from scratch.  There’s a small leather section in the craft stores near me, so it seemed easy.  I didn’t find what I was looking for, but I did find this kit.

I was a little torn about this.  It did come with everything I needed, but it left me almost nothing to do once I got it open.  The leather was already cut, the eyelets in place and the snap attached.  The total contents of the package was the bracelet, an instruction page and a packet of silica gel.  All there was for me to do was braid it.  I guess that’s all I was really looking for, but it was still a bit of a letdown.  When they call it a “Quick Kit” they mean it.

If they don’t carry these near you, they’re available to order directly from this website.   It’s the very same company whose leather store we used to visit when I was a kid.

These are very easy to do.  Start by laying the bracelet flat.  If you’re cutting your own, it’s 1 1/4″ wide, cut into 3 equal strips, stopping 1″ from each end.  You’ll want to cut it a little longer than you’ll ultimately want the bracelet to be because the braiding will shrink the length.

Pull the end up and feed it through the far right slit.

Push the twisted part to the bottom.

Starting with the left side, braid the three strips each once.

Pick up the bottom and push it through between the left and middle strips.

Straighten up all the strips and you have a braid.

If you want a denser braid, tighten what you’ve already done to the top and repeat the process.

Since I wanted a tight braid, I repeated it three times.

This kinda makes me wish I was going camping.  It would be a great outdoor craft and what card-carrying-girly-girl doesn’t need camp jewelry?