Cath Kidston Notepaper Bangle

I love Cath Kidston's beautiful designs so used some scraps of pretty floral notepaper to makeover an old bracelet.

About a year ago I was a guest over on The Pinning Mama with this tutorial, but when I wore this bracelet the other day and shared it on Instagram as part of Me Made May I thought it was high time I added it here too.
It all started when I fell over a wooden bangle in a charity shop for 50p.

Some of the cream coloured bits were chipped and the wood was a bit discoloured so it was perfect for a makeover.

My first thought was to cover it with comics, a bit like my pen pot. 

Then I saw something similar done with pages from a book, which was lovely, except I thought it would have to be a book I love and I just can't bring myself to ruin a book on purpose! It would only be ok if the book was already falling apart. What does it say in A Series of Unfortunate Events? - "there are few sights sadder than a ruined book". I'm not sure that is strictly true but still...
I found some old sheet music which might have worked but then I remembered I had some beautiful Cath Kidston writing paper.

I had already used a lot of this for other crafts, you can see the little scrappy bits on the left in the box. Perfect.

Do you want to make one? This is what you will need:

• An old bangle
• Scraps of paper
• Mod Podge or PVA glue
• Fine sandpaper
• Spray Sealer (optional but highly recommended)

First I gave the bangle a quick going over with sandpaper, just to rough it up a bit.

Then I tore a load of the pretty papers into long strips.

I started sticking the strips onto the bangle with Mod Podge. I spread glue all over the bangle, stuck the paper on then spread another layer of glue over the top.

If any of the bits were more than 1 cm wide I gave them a few little tears sideways to make them curve round the bangle better. 

When it was almost all covered, leaving a gap of an inch or two I left it to dry hung up on a chop stick.

Once it was dry (about an hour) I covered the gap with more paper strips and left it to dry again.

Whilst I was waiting I cut some flowers from more paper scraps using my craft knife. 

Then I glued them on any parts of the bangle that I thought were a bit plain or where there were any little creases to cover.

Once this was all dry I gave the whole thing a few layers of clear sealer spray.

This stuff kind of stinks so I did this out in the garden.

You don't have to use the sealer but I've found I can wash my hands without having to worry about getting my bangle splashed. I've had this bangle a year now and have worn it often. This photo from instagram was taken just last week and as you can see, no peeling or damage at all.

So on reflection I would recommend at least 2 layers of sealer of some sort if you want your bangle to last.

Do you have an old bangle that could do with a pretty paper makeover? What kind of paper would you use?

All the top quality photos in this post were taken by our daughter, you can find her website here

You might also be interested in:

3 Pink Bracelets

Cluster Drop Necklace

Easy Bead necklace

Fabric Twine Bracelet

I'll be linking up at these great link parties,