Thrifting Thursday 9/3/15 Belt Link Magic!

Up-cycled western belt with mermaid

Hello Thrifty Friends~ 

It's been awhile since I shared a 'Thrifty Thursday" post with you, so here goes~

Last week I headed to my local charity shop to pick up a new crop of leather belts to up cycle. 

What began as tinkering around with left over belts [I had been using the buckles to make pendants] has become a popular look in my TTE Designs collection and I needed to replenish my supply.

While I was scouring the racks for good quality leather belts, I came across this metal link concho style belt. It was a couple of bucks-- and it was also 25% off day! How could I go wrong?

It sat on my bench for a week or so while I worked on other things. 

Finally I had an idea...

I carefully removed one link and cleaned it, but the finish was scraped off quite a lot so I decided to 'help it along' and used fine grit sandpaper to finish the job.

Once clean, I used various metal colorants to tint the crevices in the buckle and since one of my venues is a beach themed shop I decided to add an altered charm to the center focal.   I finished it with a rope look chain and lobster clasp.

Turquoise star fish

I liked it so much that I immediately took off 3 more links and proceeded to turn them into bracelet bars too. This time adding sari silk ribbon for softness, color and texture.  

Here are the finished pieces.

Cranberry Conch

Periwinkle sand dollar

Thanks for stopping in, I hope you like my results. 

Remember, "Thrifting Thursday" is all about thinking outside the box. 

I'd love to hear your comments!  

Warm Regards,

Tammie