Leather Burned Cuff Bracelet – Make it tonight!

Did you ever create a leather burned cuff bracelet when you were younger? They were a fun camp craft to do – under supervision of course – and I also remember seeing them at craft fairs. Today these bracelets and cuffs are very trendy, and seem to go hand-in-hand with Summertime. Let’s make one together!

You can find many examples of leather burned bracelets on Pinterest and Etsy. Some people call it wood burning on leather, others call it leather burning.

Whichever term you want to use, it all starts with a blank leather cuff bracelet, which you can find at most craft stores:

Supplies needed:

• Blank leather cuff bracelet
• Creative Versa-Tool®
• Hot Stamps Numbers and Symbols Set
• Cork Trivet
• DecoArt Glamour Dust Glitter Paint (I used Turquoise Sparkle)
• Cotton Swabs

The Hot Stamps come in a package as shown below, and you can get an idea as to the sizes of the stamps in my hand.

Check your bracelet width to see which hot stamps will work best for your project. As my multi-strand bracelet had a thin width, I decided to use the small dot stamp to make a circle design.

Screw in your chosen hot stamp and place your Creative Versa-Tool® in its stand, plug in, and turn on to the appropriate setting for leather.

Tip: A good tip I learned on the Walnut Hollow YouTube Channel is to use masking or painter’s tape to secure the Versa-Tool stand to your work surface.

(Subscribe to Walnut Hollow’s YouTube Channel for tutorials and great explanations of tools and techniques.)

Unravel the leather bracelet so you can lay it flat for leather burning with the hot stamps.

Place a cork trivet underneath the bracelet, or something similar, to protect your work surface. The cork also provides a mix of both stability and a little “give” as you press down with the hot stamps, giving you more control for consistent results.

Remember, practice makes perfect. It might take a few tries to get the hang of it. If possible, practice first on a piece of similar scrap leather, to get the feel for how hard you may (or may not) need to press.

Below is how I position the Versa-Tool® when stamping the circle dots onto the bracelet. I had already stamped the bracelet as you can see, but I’m sharing this picture for you to have an idea of the position for a clear result.

I didn’t measure how far apart the circles would be. Instead, I just eye-balled it, especially as this bracelet wraps around the wrist a few times.

Let the bracelet cool after leather burning, and make sure to turn off and unplug your Versa-Tool, leaving it in its stand while it completely cools. Do not touch or remove the hot stamp until it has completely cooled off.

Dip a cotton swab tip into the cap of Glamour Dust glitter paint. The paint on the cotton swab is enough to paint over a few of the leather burned circles at a time.

Paint each dot carefully, and swirl around the cotton swab slowly to make sure to cover the entire burned area of each circle.

The Glamour Dust glitter paint dries quickly and I didn’t need to use any sealer on it.

I love how the glitter paint doesn’t completely cover the burned leather circles, but rather highlights them instead.

This leather burned cuff bracelet is a perfect Summer craft! And the perfect Summer accessory too!

You can use these same steps above to create quite a variety of designs, just by choosing…

1. different cuff bracelet widths and lengths
2. different colors of leather
3. different shapes of the hot stamps for leather burning
4. different colors of the Glamour Dust glitter paint

I have a feeling there will be some leather burned cuff bracelets given as Christmas gifts this year!

I love how the turquoise color goes so well with the reddish-brown leather and the black leather burned circles.

What color of glitter paint would you choose?

Let me know in the comments, as I’m always interested in trying different color combinations!

I’m Laura, the creative mind behind Pet Scribbles, my blog where I share craft tutorials, home and garden projects, and occasional cat stories. I can never have enough pretty craft paints to work with, and I love to make things look time-worn with distressing and aging – especially wood projects both large and small. Stop by!