This post is brought to you by LeatherCordUSA.com.

Leather Cord USA sent a box of goodies recently with all kinds of color palette ideas for the next few months.  Sign up for their newsletter to get inspiration like this delivered right to your inbox (the sign-up box is at the bottom of their home page).

January’s pallet is all about butter and mushroom colors.  I love both.

Hungry yet?  Me too.

Mixing and matching the leathers, I started seeing this color combination everywhere.  On bananas, when the sun hits the porch walls just right, and in this jar of crystals I’ve had on my shelf for years.This is my swirl of favorites.  Yum.  Swirl.  This is the moment I saw buttercream frosting.  Paging Cinnabon.  Come in Cinnabon.  Did I mention I’m trying to get off the bread and carbs?  That’s another story for another day.

I’m only using the round leather cords from LeatherCord USA in 1 and 1.5mm diameters for these projects.  This is the simplicity that I love when it comes to using leather in jewelry making.  Pick your favorite colors and go!
The first idea I had was to make some earrings using those funky fold over end findings (get them at Hobby Lobby) and delicate shell bead dangles.Simply cut your leather so one piece is 3 and one is 3.5 inches long, string some beads and set the ends inside the finding.  Use chain nose pliers to roll the ends over.  Connect to ear wires and add beaded dangles.  I’ve ironed out the kinks so I think you can knock these out in 30 minutes.The second idea I want to share uses the super skinny macaroni-sh shaped beads strung onto the leather to make a bracelet (also from Hobby Lobby).  I really loved how this instantly gave it a chic feel.  Cut the leather at an angle so it nestles nicely in the LeatherCord USA Glue and Go end finding (see foreground).Use Loctite gel to glue it in one end.  Check the fit and make adjustments.  Glue the second side.

Tip:  Leave one or two strands out and use a toothpick to pry open a spot or two so you can put them right where you want them.That’s really all there is to it.  Shout out to my vintage picnic basket for making the perfect surface to shoot this on.
This set is going to get me through winter.  Sunny days ahead people!

Check out LeatherCordUSA.com for more beautiful leathers and ideas.