There’s an entire segment of the DIY blog world dedicated to repurposing items. Creative DIYers transform, upcycle and revive thrift store or unwanted items into something new. Wondering what to do with that old book? China plate? Sweater? Necktie? Window frame? Wood pallet? Tin can? There are countless suggestions for all those things. The ingenuity is amazing. Some of the ideas may seem a little farfetched but it’s always fun to see what people come up with.
Recently, I tried my own little transformation project. I found a few bangle bracelets nestled amongst my vintage finds while preparing last week’s post about Treasured Vintage Finds.
One in particular, a chunky, bejeweled costume jewelry bangle, caught my imagination. With the help of a little felt flower-making research, some colorful felt and a few accents, a pretty little keepsake box emerged. It was a fun process with lots of opportunity to get creative. Today’s post includes detailed step-by-step instructions for transforming any bangle bracelet into a keepsake or trinket box.
The keepsake box consists of 3 components: a vintage bangle, an embellished lid and a felt liner. The embellished lid sits on top of the bangle. The lid is lavishly embellished with felt flowers, ribbon, beads and embroidery. There are 3 different felt flowers: a rose form in deep blue, an apple blossom form in pale blue and a dogwood form in pale blue. The lid is strengthened with thin cardboard and covered with 2 circles of felt. A loop of ribbon creates a convenient handle to easily lift and replace the lid. The felt liner fits snuggly inside the bangle. The liner bottom is strengthened with foam board and covered with 2 circles of felt. The liner walls are made of a thin strip of felt. The liner bottom and walls are sewn together. A small, red felt heart is hidden on the liner bottom. Only basic hand sewing skills are needed.
Supplies Needed
. Template – Download Felt Flowers for Bangle Keepsake Box – Complimentary Download to print the patterns for the felt flowers.
. Vintage Bangle Bracelet – Look for a wide bracelet. The one I used is 1” wide.
. Felt – For liner and embellishments. I used about 5” x 12” white felt, 5” x 5” deep blue felt, 5” x 3” light blue felt, 5” x 1½“ green felt and 1” x 1” red felt.
. Freezer Paper
. Paper
. Foam Board – 3” x 3” with ⅛“ thickness.
. Thin Cardboard – 3” x 3” boxboard (such as the cardboard used for cereal boxes).
. Embroidery Floss – To match the liner felt and to contrast with the red felt heart and the green felt leaves.
. Thread – To match the felt flowers and leaves.
. Ribbon – About 6” long x ⅝“ wide to make the loop handle.
. Beads or Buttons – TWO small beads or buttons for the inside of the light blue flowers.
. Beads – To embellish the outside edge of the lid. I used 6/0 glass seed beads in Tortoise Rainbow.
. Glue
Equipment and Tools Needed
. Printer – For printing patterns.
. Iron
. Needles – 1 for hand sewing with thread and 1 for embroidering with floss.
. Pins or Clips
. Ruler
. Pencil
. Scissors – Sharp, short-bladed scissors, such as embroidery or applique scissors, are ideal.
. Scissors – To cut thin cardboard.
. Utility Knife – X-ACTO, or similar sharp craft knife, to cut foam board.
Freezer Paper Technique A great way to cut neat and precise parts from felt is to use freezer paper. Freezer paper is a plastic-coated paper designed to wrap and freeze meat. But it is also widely used for creating patterns to cut fabric for quilting, applique and felt flower making. As explained in the steps that follow there are several reasons why freezer paper is ideal for this purpose.
A. The paper-side of freezer paper looks like regular paper while the plastic-coated side is shiny and smooth. You can easily draw or trace on the paper side. And even better, you can print your design onto freezer paper with your regular laser printer. Just cut a sheet of freezer paper to the size of a sheet of printer paper (ie 8 ½“ x 11“) and put it into the printer tray with the shiny side down. Since not all printers work the same, please adjust this technique to the specifics of your own printer. Once you have your design printed on the freezer paper, cut out the individual patterns leaving a small border outside the cutting lines.
B. Next comes the best part, place your felt on your ironing surface and lay the freezer paper pattern on top of the felt with the shiny side down. Use your iron to press the freezer paper pattern into place—a few seconds is all that’s needed. Take care to use the heat setting appropriate for your felt. The amazing thing is the iron melts the plastic just enough to make the paper stick to the felt while you cut out your piece.
C. Cut out the pattern piece (freezer paper and felt) using sharp, short-bladed scissors for precision. Then simply pull the freezer paper off the felt. Surprisingly, it comes off very easily and no residue is left behind. Pattern pieces can be reused so take care when removing them from the felt.
Instructions to Make Bangle Keepsake Box
Step 1 Print Patterns Download Felt Flowers for Bangle Keepsake Box – Complimentary Download to print the patterns for the felt flowers, leaves and hidden heart. Follow Step A of the Freezer Paper Technique as described above to print the patterns on freezer paper. Set aside.
Step 2 Cut Liner Parts Begin by determining the size of the liner parts. Use a strip of scrap paper to measure the inside circumference of the bangle. Cut the paper strip a little longer than needed. Tuck the paper strip inside the bangle ensuring it is snug up against the inside edge all the way around. Mark the point where the paper overlaps. Add ¼“ for the seam allowance. This will be the length of the liner wall.
Measure the height of the inside of the bangle using a ruler. Add ¼“ for the seam allowance. This will be the height of the liner wall. Cut a rectangle of white felt with the length and width calculated.
Lay the bangle on a piece of freezer paper with the shiny side down. Use a pencil to trace around the inside edge of the bangle.
Cut out the circle leaving a small border outside the cutting line. Follow Steps B-C of the Freezer Paper Technique as described above to adhere and cut out a white felt circle. Reuse the freezer paper pattern to cut 3 more white felt circles.
Lay the bangle on a piece of foam board. Use a pencil to trace around the inside edge of the bangle. Use a sharp utility knife such as an X-ACTO knife to cut out the foam board circle.
Lay the bangle on a piece of thin cardboard. Use a pencil to trace around the inside edge of the bangle. The cardboard circle needs to be slightly smaller than the inside of the bangle so draw a second circle ⅛“ inside the traced circle. Use scissors to cut out the smaller circle. Set aside for the lid.
A small heart is stitched to the bottom of the liner as a fun surprise. Cut ONE #5 Heart part from red felt following the Freezer Paper Technique as described above.
Step 3 Make Felt Liner The felt liner is made with 2 circles of felt, a rectangle of felt, a foam board circle and a hidden felt heart.
Start by sewing one long edge of the felt rectangle, which will become the liner wall, to one of the felt circles. Use 2-strands of matching embroidery floss with a blanket stitch. Start and finish ½“ from the ends of the rectangle.
TIP: Instead of cutting the thread at the stopping point, just remove the needle and hold the remaining thread out of the way. This will allow you to the finish stitching later without interrupting the flow of the seam.
Hold the short ends of the rectangle together ensuring the remaining unsewn bottom edges are aligned and fit snuggly against the bottom circle. Trim the short ends if necessary. Pin and stitch the short ends with a blanket stitch. Finish stitching the long edge of the felt rectangle to the bottom circle.
Insert the foam board circle into the felt liner. Then slip it inside the bangle. The liner and foam board bottom should fit snuggly. Finetune the foam board circle to adjust fit, if necessary. I found it easiest to shave off small amounts with scissors. Trim one of the felt circles to match the size of the trimmed foam board circle. Sew red felt heart to this felt circle. For contrast, I used 2-strands of white embroidery floss in a running stitch.
Glue this felt circle to the top of the foam board circle. Insert embellished bottom into the liner. If desired, glue felt liner walls to the inside edge of bangle.
Step 4 Make Felt Lid
Prepare to make the ribbon loop for lifting and replacing the lid. Cut a piece of ribbon about 6” long. Find and mark the center of one of the felt circles. Use sharp-tipped scissors to make a small snip at the mark. Find and mark center of thin cardboard. Use scissors to make a small hole at the mark. Fold the ribbon in half.
Hold ribbon by loop and gently pull the ends of the ribbon through the hole in the felt circle and then the hole in the cardboard. Push cardboard and felt circle together. Securely fasten the ends of the ribbon together. You can twist the ends if the ribbon is wired. Knot or stitch if the ribbon is unwired. Keep ends as flat as possible under the cardboard. You may wish to glue or tape the ends in place.
Step 5 Make Flowers I chose to include 3 different flower forms including a Rose Form, an Apple Blossom Form and a Dogwood Form. The Rose Form, made in deep blue felt, is constructed by rolling a scalloped spiral cut. The Apple Blossom Form, made in light blue felt with a pearl bead center, is created by gathering a flat cut of 5 rounded petals. The Dogwood Form, made in light blue felt with a sparkling button center, is assembled by sewing together and gathering 4 cathedral window-shaped petals. There are 5 green felt leaves with veins embroidered in floss. Feel free to follow this same design or customize the embellishments as you wish.
Make Rose Form Rolled Spiral Flower
Cut ONE #1 Rose Form Rolled Spiral Flower from deep blue felt following the Freezer Paper Technique as described above. Thread needle with matching thread. Anchor thread on outside tip of felt spiral. Roll spiral for one round. Stitch edge in place. Continue to wind and stitch layers keeping roll tight and surface flat.
Make Apple Blossom Form Round Petal Flower
Cut ONE #2 Apple Blossom Form Round Petal flower part from light blue felt following the Freezer Paper Technique as described above. Thread needle with matching thread. Work on the front side of the felt flower. Do not pull thread end snug instead leave a 3-4“ tail. Take small stitch across the bottom of the valley where petals meet at about ¼“ from tip of V. Continue around the flower form taking small stitches at each valley. Pull ends of thread together gathering the flower form. Tie thread ends into firm knot. Trim and hide thread ends inside flower “throat”. Sew a pearl bead (or your choice of accent) inside the flower throat.
Make Dogwood Form Pointed Petals Flower
Cut FOUR #3 Dogwood Form Pointed Petals from light blue felt following the Freezer Paper Technique as described above.
Thread needle with matching thread. Work on the back side of the felt flower petals. Do not pull thread end snug instead leave a 3-4“ tail. Take a few small stitches across the flat end of the petal. Stitch the other 3 petals in the same way attaching all 4 petals onto the single thread. Pull ends of thread together gathering the petals. Tie thread ends into firm knot. Trim and hide thread ends at back of flower. Sew a sparkling button (or accent of your choice) at the center of the flower.
Make the Leaves
Cut FIVE #4 Leaves from green felt following the Freezer Paper Technique as described above.
Use 2-strands of contrasting embroidery floss to stitch a decorative vein down the center of each leaf. Fold leaf in half. Take 2-3 small whipstitches along the base of the leaf near the folded center. This creates a slight tuck at the base of the leaf.
Step 6 Embellish Lid Now comes the fun part—embellishing the felt lid! Position the flowers and leaves in a pleasing arrangement.
Use needle with matching thread to attach each element. Work from the back of the felt lid. Make small stitches taking care to keep them hidden. Alternatively, you may choose to glue the elements in place.
After all the elements have been attached, cover the bottom of the embellished lid with the fourth felt circle. Align the two felt circles with the thin cardboard in between the layers. There should be a scant ⅛“ margin of felt around the cardboard. Clip, or pin, layers in place. Use 2-strands of matching embroidery floss to sew the felt circles together. Use a small, even blanket stitch (or stitch of your choice). I chose to dress up my blanket stitch with glass beads. This is done by sliding a bead onto the needle for every horizontal wrap. Check More Info below if you need a refresher or more details for this technique.
Voilà! Your new keepsake box is done!
Now it’s time to put your new creation to work—mine holds a pretty little vintage button collection.
More Info
You can download the project template here: Felt Flowers for Bangle Keepsake Box – Complimentary Download.
Please pin this image to share or save for future reference.
Gathered.How, publishers of Mollie Makes and other fine craft magazines, provides helpful instructions in their Library of Embroidery Stitches for Beginners. A general Google search will find instructions for a beaded blanket stitch.
You may also like the posts Treasured Vintage Finds or Thrifted Frame to Small Tray.
Today’s Takeaways
1. Consider ways to repurpose a vintage or thrift store find.
2. Felt flowers, which can be made in a multitude of colors, shapes and sizes, are a versatile way to embellish home accessories.
3. A small keepsake, or trinket, box can add a pretty touch while storing a few special items.
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