Of all the jewelry I own, bracelets are the least practical for daily wear. For the most part they’re best left for dressing up when all you have to do is pose prettily.

Think about it:

• Bangles clatter and jangle against each other
• Charm bracelets snag on delicate skirts and fluffy sweaters
• and practically all of them become uncomfortable when you spend 9 hours a day typing on a computer keyboard!

Which is why I’ve lately become enamored of cuffs. Cuff bracelets tend to be low-profile, especially on the underside of the wrists, which is good for typing and they stay put perfectly. The trick, it seems, is to find ones that fit correctly but that’s easy enough to do if you make it yourself.

You know there was going to be a project, right?

Beaded Daisy Cuff

What you’ll need:

• Cuff form
• Ribbon
• Straight pins
• Needle and thread (regular and beading)
• Beads
• Fray check (or other seam sealer)

	Draw out a long length of ribbon (a yard or a bit more) and loop it through the center of the frame. Weave one end in and out around the frame a few wraps and then secure it with a pin before continuing.
	At each end wrap the ribbon around the curved bit before weaving in the final stripe. Pin it secure and then stitch along the curve to keep the ends in place. Dot the knots with seal sealer as well as the cut end of the ribbon to keep things from fraying. Repeat on the other end.
	Now, this is a pretty enough cuff on it’s own but I wanted to make something a little more decorative so I added 4 beaded daisies scattered along the length.  Each daisy starts with an e-bead center, 5 petals of 2 seed and 2 bugle beads each and 3 pollen clusters made of 5 very tiny beads.
	Still not enough and not entirely happy about the shifting of the ribbons along the frame, I added a line of beads along the perimeter of the cuff, just inside the frame. Stitching every 4th bead with a backstitch helps the entire thing hold together. (Make sure to leave spaces for the daisy petals that overlap the outer edges, otherwise the petals with scrunch together.) Finally I added a cluster of 3 beads between each flower to finish the cuff. Trim all waste threads as close as possible and dot all  knots with seam sealer to prevent losing any beads as you wear it.

Having the frame made this a quick project. Another option is to use bracelet-sized memory wire (it comes in oval, too, which is great for cuffs–I’ll be experimenting with that later) and make your own frame, either spacing the ends apart by a beaded bar or joining them in points at the end with interlocked loops. Using ribbon for the body of the cuff means this bracelet isn’t going to be scratchy against sensitive skin.