Tuesday, December 11, 2007

On the 6th Day of Christmas: Mitten Holders

It's not only kittens that lose thier mittens. Even the most responsible of us kids and grown ups has probably lost one or two over the years. This mitten holder project will help you keep track of yours. The clips attach to the base of your mittens, and then to your coat sleeves. A few simple twists of wire, some seed beads, and a pair of art beads will insure your mittens and gloves are always close at hand.
Materials needed:

2 large holed art beads

4 suspender clips

2 feet of 18 gauge nickel silver wire

24 black matte E beads

16 pewter 4mm beaded spacers

4 pewter 6mm beaded spacers

Round nose pliers

Chain nose pliers

Wire cutters

Step by Step Directions:

1. Cut the wire into six 4 inch pieces.

2. Using round nose pliers, make a large round loop at the end of a piece of wire. Repeat on remaining 5 wires.

3. String 1 large spacer, 1 art bead, and 1 large spacer onto a wire. Form a loop at the end of the beads and trim wire. Repeat this step with other art bead.

4. String onto a wire: 1 Ebead, 1 spacer, 1 Ebead, 1 spacer, 1 Ebead, 1 loop of the art bead link, 1 Ebead, 1 spacer, 1 Ebead, 1 spacer, and 1 Ebead. Form a loop at the end of the beads and trim wire. Repeat on other side with other half of art bead link. Repeat this step with remaining wire and beads.

5. Open loops of wire, attach suspender clips, and close...one clip on each end. Attach to a favorite set of gloves or mittens (shown here with co-ordinating buttons added as embellihment) and your mitten gift is ready to give!

Resources:

Art beads and buttons shown by Earthenwood Studio, available in the Earthenwood Etsy Shop

All other supplies by Rings & Things.

Melanie Brooks Lukacs is the ceramic beadmaker of Earthenwood Studio, who blogs from her Metro Detroit, Michigan home.

5 comments:

Glitterd1 said...

It's official...there is NO limit to the ways we can embellish our lives with BEADS! :)

But I have to admit, I had no idea such a creature as this existed. We may be in the midst of a bad ice storm here, but obviously we are south-enough and warm enough (over all) that mitten accessories are not really an issue. Or...perhaps I've just been living under a rock. LOL!

melanie brooks said...

Christie, where are you from? I am in Michigan, and we have many months of cold and snowy stuff.

I have seen these mitten clips made more simply for kids, but they are a great idea, so I wanted to do a more grown up version...

Thanks for stopping by!

Jean Katherine Baldridge said...

how cute is THIS!

Glitterd1 said...

Melanie, I'm born and raised in Oklahoma. (insert disgruntled look here) We *might* get to build a snowman once a year. Winters are mostly ice and sleet here.

But! This project makes me want a pair of mittens. :)

Anonymous said...

i've been trying to find mitten clips in store and online, no where to be found. but this is just wonderful! saves me a headache, now the only problem is i need to find those suspender clips!