• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • DIY Projects
    • Homemade Bath and Body
    • Sewing
    • Flower Crafts/Decor
    • Thrift Store/Vintage
  • Gardening
    • Flower Gardens
    • Container Gardening
    • Houseplants
    • Indoor Gardening
    • Landscaping
    • DIY Garden Art
  • Decorate
    • Room Makeovers
    • Spring Decor
    • Summer Decor
    • Fall Decor
    • Winter Decor
    • Home Decor Projects
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast Recipes
    • Lunch Recipes
    • Dinner Recipes
    • Dessert
    • Salad Recipes
    • Soups and Stews
    • Side Dish Recipes
    • Appetizers and Snacks
    • Healthy Recipes
  • Holidays
    • Valentine's Day
    • Easter
    • Mother's Day
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas
Hearth and Vine
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About Hearth and Vine
  • DIY Projects
    • ...Flower/Gardening Crafts
    • ... Bath and Body
    • ...Sewing/Fabric Crafts
    • ...Thrift Store/Upcycle
  • Gardening
    • ...Flower Gardens
    • ...Container Gardening
    • ...Indoor Gardening
    • ...DIY Garden Art
  • Decorate
    • ...Home Decor Projects
    • ...Spring Decor
    • ...Summer Decor
    • ...Fall Decor
    • ...Winter Decor
    • ...Room Makeovers
  • Recipes
    • ...Appetizers and Snacks
    • ...Dinner Recipes
    • ...Side Dish Recipes
    • ...Salad Recipes
    • ...Dessert
    • ...Drinks
  • Holidays
    • ...Valentine's Day
    • ...Easter
    • ...Mother's Day
    • ...Halloween
    • ...Thanksgiving
    • ...Christmas
  • Subscribe
  • Instagram
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » DIY Projects

    DIY Leather Bracelets

    August 24, 2017 by Patti Estep 12 Comments

    Jump to How-to Card
    Brown leather floral engrave bracelet on arm
    Two images. Top shows three leather bracelets and bottom shows one blue leather bracelet on an arm.

    This tutorial shows how you can make leather bracelets from old belts you can buy at thrift stores using a Dremel tool and leather inks.

    Three stacked leather cuff bracelets.

    Today I'm sharing a fun and inexpensive way to diy leather bracelets. There are a few different ways to make this craft, from the "it couldn't be any easier," to the "takes a little time but worth it," approach.

    The idea for this tutorial came from the DIY blogging conference I attended recently in Atlanta. One of the first things they give you is a huge bag of swag from all the sponsors. Yay!

    Newsletter Signup
    Join Our Newsletter List!

    Be the first to receive new posts and get access to our Subscribers Only Page.

    Leather tag from Dremel at conference.

    How to Make Leather Bracelets

    One of my favorites was this leather luggage tag from Dremel. There was a note to take the tag to their booth. In between classes, you could visit the vendor booths. Dremel had a nice table with their tools that let us engrave whatever we wanted onto our tags. The entire weekend was really hectic, so I didn't have a lot of time to think about it, and I had to work fast, but I love the concept.

    Piece of blue leather, box of snaps, and other leather belts.

    Then one of the girls I met at the same conference had on a cute bracelet that she bought on Esty. She told me that the woman she bought it from uses old belts to make the bracelets. That sealed the deal. When I got home I ordered some blue leather online, and stopped by my local Goodwill to pick up a few belts to make my own leather cuff bracelets.

    End of leather belt with floral engraving.

    This one already had a pretty carving in the belt. I measured my wrist, and added 2 inches for the overlap for the snaps, and cut a piece of the belt.

    Floral engraved belt cut for wrist cuff  with snaps and leather ink embellishment.

    I used some old leather paints to color in the engraved sections and added two snaps at the end. You could probably just use craft paints too.

    Black leather belt with silver metal sections.

    This belt had a couple of pretty silver metal sections, making it perfect for a bracelet.

    Black belt with silver metal section turned to bracelet with metal snap.

    Just cut to fit and add snaps. Here I chose to add only one snap, as the belt was already pretty stiff. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it was not leather at all.

    Strip of blue leather.

    Since I didn't find any good leather belts to engrave at Goodwill, I purchased this piece of blue leather online.

    Paper strip with floral pattern.

    Then I created a pretty pattern, printed it out and used a pen to trace the image.

    Blue leather strip with floral pattern engraved and two metal snaps to form bracelet.

    The Dremel rotary tool allowed me to engrave the traced pattern into the leather. It turned out okay, but I think I could use a little practice. Still, I love the whole idea.

    Brown leather cuff with colored floral engraving on wrist.

    Here's my daughter modeling one of the bracelets.

    Three different leather bracelets made from belts and a piece of leather.

    You never know what you will find at any thrift store. The cost of the two belts was only $1.51, and the snap kit was around $5.00 for 6 snaps and the anvil tool. Of course the leather was more, but still affordable, and you could make several bracelets from the piece. We already own a dremel rotary tool. They can be pricey, but I do find it so handy for many DIY projects. A great one for your wish list.

    Overall these DIY leather bracelets were a blast to make. They are a great candidate for selling and gift-giving. They would also be great for a girls' craft night project, where everyone could bring an old belt to the party to share.

    More Accessory Crafts:

    • Create a Statement Necklace
    • Healing Stone Bracelets
    • Floral Wooden Bracelet DIY
    • Easy Sunglass Case
    Stack of leather wrist cuffs easily made from thrift store belts and a piece of leather with snaps.

    DIY leather bracelets is a fun tutorial that shows you how to make stylish leather cuffs from old belts and pieces of leather, paints and a dremel tool.
    Print

    How to Make a Leather Bracelet from a Belt

    This tutorial shows how you can make leather bracelets from old belts you can buy at thrift stores using a Dremel tool and leather inks.
    Active Time1 hr
    Total Time1 hr
    Course: Crafts
    Yield: 1
    Author: Patti Estep
    Cost: $10

    Equipment

    • Dremel tool

    Materials

    • Old leather belts or strip of leather
    • Metal snaps
    • Leather inks optional

    Instructions

    • Cut leather or belt to size for your wrist.
    • Add snaps for closures
    • Print out a pattern on the computer to etch into the leather.
    • Use the Dremel tool to etch the pattern into the leather.
    • Follow leather inks to further decorate the bracelet if desired.

    More DIY Projects

    • Pressed Flower Glass Coasters Simple Tutorial
    • Make Your Own Corn Heating Bags
    • How to Make Your Own Birdseed Cakes
    • Make an Emergency Candle Kit for Power Outages

    About Patti Estep

    Patti is the creator of Hearth and Vine, a home and garden blog filled with projects to inspire your creative side. She loves crafting, gardening, decorating and entertaining at her home in Pennsylvania. When she is not working on a project at home or searching for treasures at nurseries and thrift stores with her girlfriends, you’ll probably find her with family and friends, at a restaurant, or home party enjoying new and different food adventures.

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Peggy

      November 04, 2017 at 7:56 pm

      I love that you used existing old leather belts, especially some that might have been out of style - what a great way to repurpose!

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        November 05, 2017 at 6:18 am

        Yes. I was so fun finding old belts at Goodwill and creating them into cuffs. You should definitely try it.

        Reply
    2. Mary

      August 31, 2017 at 6:01 pm

      Patti this is a great way to repurpose old belts. They look fresh and so pretty. In fact you could sell these and make a ton of money, I know my girls would buy them.

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        August 31, 2017 at 6:28 pm

        Hi Mary,

        Thanks for the kind words. I'm thinking about starting an Etsy shop. Maybe I could include the bracelets.

        Reply
    3. Pamela

      August 31, 2017 at 12:26 pm

      These are so cool! Now I am really kicking myself for not taking the time at the Dremel table. My luggage tag is still bare. "sniff". But I did buy a Dremel recently. 🙂

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        August 31, 2017 at 1:03 pm

        Thanks Pamela. I can't wait to see what you create with the Dremel. I know it will be awesome.

        Reply
    4. Barbara Chapman ~ French Ethereal

      August 30, 2017 at 3:34 pm

      Ooooh, I really like these cuffs! Was able to post to Pinterest through Tailwind, yeah! <3 Will share over on my FB as a fun craft, too. Thanks for a fun project!!!

      Reply
    5. Steven

      August 27, 2017 at 6:38 am

      WOW! It's an amazing idea. I'm a DIY'er but never make it before, it's a unique idea. I wanna make it. Thanks for share

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        August 28, 2017 at 7:56 am

        Hi Steven,

        Glad you like it.

        Reply
    6. Carole West

      August 24, 2017 at 8:40 am

      So fun and love the idea of using belts for this, western belts would be neat too.. You've grabbed my attention because for whatever reason leather art has been on my brain recently. If you sew.... leather engraved pouch wristlets would be neat too..

      Reply
    7. Kathy Hardess

      August 24, 2017 at 8:01 am

      Oh, the pattern is so nice! That's really creative!

      Reply
      • Patti Estep

        August 24, 2017 at 8:23 am

        Hi Kathy,

        Glad you like. You never know what you might find at a thrift store but even if you don't have that option, you can creative something pretty fun too.

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Follow Me

    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Patti profile pic

    Hi! I'm Patti

    Join me to create lots of fun DIY projects including crafts, gardening, home decor and tasty recipes.

    more about me

    Popular Posts

    Blue jean crossover bag

    DIY Crossbody Bag from Jeans

    tabletop water gardens

    How to Make an Indoor Water Garden

    Echievera planter

    What to do With a Stretched Succulent

    Fabric bowl covers in 3 prints

    How to Make Fabric Bowl Covers

    Collage of flowers including russian sage, pink hydrangeas, coneflower and yarrow.

    10+ Long Blooming Plants

    Chicken black bean tortilla casserole

    Chicken Black Bean Casserole Recipe

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About
    Privacy Policy
    Disclosure Policy

    Sign Up Here!
    for our
    newsletter &
    special offers

    • Shop
    • Web Stories

    As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. i.e. as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2021 Hearth and Vine