By Laura Bray

Christmas is over and I know a lot of us are making resolutions and plans for the new year. A continuing trend is to pick a word for the year, a word that embodies how you want to live your life. This year, my word is ‘discipline’ because I want to be better about sticking with projects. From exercise to a daily creative practice, I’m going to stay inspired and be disciplined. My daughter picked “kindness”, she wants to be kind to others, animals, the Earth, and most importantly, herself.

To help us stay on track, I stitched up some cute, felt cuffs with our words on them. We can wear them on those days when we need to remember our goals and how we want our lives to look at the end of the year. You can make one too! Here’s how to make your own Word of the Year Bracelets!

Supplies:

• 9” x 12” Kunin Felt cut into (2) 2” strips in the colors and patterns of your choice. To get the length, measure your write and add about 1/2”
• Embroidery supplies
• Button
• Shrink plastic
• Black pen
• Thin elastic, but to 2” in length

Instructions:

1. Write your word of the year onto an oval of shrink plastic, using a permanent pen. Make sure you account for the piece to shrink. Different brands shrink at different rates, so do a test piece of two before you make your word. Punch a hole on either side of the shrink plastic before you bake it. You will use these holes to stitch your plastic onto the felt cuff. Designer Tip: If you don’t want to use shrink plastic, you can also just embroider your word of the year directly onto your felt cuff!

2. Take one of the felt strips and center your shrink plastic onto it. Stitch it in place, using the holes you created.

3. Now for the fun part! Embroider designs around the shrink plastic badge! Add extra felt pieces like ovals to go under the shrink plastic or leaves. Stitch flowers. Get creative. You want this bracelet to inspire you and bring you joy!

4. Stitch a button onto one end. Place the second strip of felt under the decorate strip. Pin in place. Slide elastic, made into a loop, between the pieces on the short end, opposite of the button. Stitch around to connect the two pieces.

5. Wear your word of the year bracelet proudly.

You can now find an expanded color line of Kunin^® Classicfelt; Kunin^® Premiumfelt and Corduroy non-wovens fabrics in cut by the yard at your local Walmart; please inquire as to what is available in your area.

About Designer Laura Bray

Laura Bray lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, their daughter, and a guinea pig named Oreo. She loves to create beautiful and functional projects with felt. To see more of her felt creations, visit her blog at www.laurabraydesigns.com.