It's inevitable that you've probably got some old leather belts lying around the house for a variety of reasons, as the creator of this tutorial outlines. Whatever the reason, they probably aren't doing you much good stuffed in the back of your closest, long forgotten and potentially headed to a landfill the next time you clean out your belongings. Give new life to your (or your significant other, brother, father, mother's - you get the idea) old belts by creating funky leather bracelets. These are a great, unique accessory to dress up jeans or a cute denim skirt. Best of all, this is easy enough to do. If you don't have a laser cutter or leather tools to cut the belt as mentioned, find a local shoe repair store and get them to cut for you. Many of these stores can shorten belts, so cutting them into pieces should be simple enough.

Intro: Leather Bracelets from Recycled Belts
There are plenty of old leather belts that have been discarded because of changing tastes, or a part broke, or maybe the original owner just got too fat. This technique is a way to make bracelets from these belts. Cut them carefully and you should be able to get three from each belt.

I'm using a laser cutter here, but the original technique was taught to me by my friend Becca who used leather tools to create cool effects as well. The method of decoration is your own, but making the bracelet itself is very easy as you'll see.

Step 1: Decorate the belt
I used a laser cutter to etch this Japanese design into the surface of the belt. You can also use a leather stamping technique.

Looks simple enough so far, right? Find the remainder of the instructions after the jump.

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