The Ooboowooboo: Fancy Twist-ties You'll Wanna Wear

Got lots of cords laying around? Don't we all? Well it's time to clean em up. Here's one way to make em stay up off the ground, look pretty and remain functional and accessible.

I've found these work particularly well for music cables, but they work well in the kitchen as ties for bags of all sizes, and these things are so pretty you might just wanna carry them on your wrist for unpredictable situations where Superman powers are required (the author of this ibble is not liable for unfavorable outcomes due to possible lack of superhuman strength with use of this product).

They are super easy to make, don't require much tools and are super cheap - as in under one (Canadian) dollar per twist tie and in total I spent about $9 CAD on this project, not including the two tools I already had but which are also pretty cheap.

Here's how to make em.

You'll need:

• Beads
• Wire
• Snippers
• Pliers

BEADS:

Grab some beads from a local Second Hand shop. I got mine in a pack from Value Village for under $7 (CAD). There are some pretty cool finds there in the used necklaces section which you can re-purpose for this project. Value Village in particular seems to do this in particular where they throw a bunch of unsold necklaces in a bag (in my case, over 20 or so) for that low price and so there were lots of beads to choose from.

You can get beads from anywhere really, just make sure the holes are big enough for the wire you choose to fit through the centers.

WIRE:

As for the wire, I got stainless steel wire from the dollar store (Dollarama in particular) in the tools area for around $2 for the roll. You get plenty of wire with it so you can make bunches and bunches of these for next to nothing really. The wire holds its shape real well so you can wrap these things around almost anything and it holds nicely.

SNIPPERS and PLIERS:

As for the tools, you'll just need something to snip the wire with, and something to twist the ends tight. Pliers and wire cutters work great. I got these little tools at Michael's craft store once upon a time and they have served me well for over 4 years now. Well worth a purchase.

I cut mind to a size I liked, basing it on a size I figured I might use often for wrapping things. Mine ended up being around 18 inches or 46 centimeters give or take.

Once you cut it to size, bend one end slightly so the beads won't slip off while you load it. Or you can go ahead and pinch the first end around onto itself, but I'll show you how to do that in one of the next steps.

Grab the beads you like and load em on! I like having different beads at the ends to finish it off nice, but really you can do whatever you fancy with it - so go ahead, express yourself! :)

Line em up in your fingers to make it easier to slip the wire through in a pattern you like.

Snip off any excess wire and bend the ends with your pliers. You'll need to aim your bent wire to fit snugly into the end of the bead, and it takes a little finesse to get it in but with a little practice you'll get it. It should fit tight at both ends so the beads don't slide around much when you're done.

So what do you do with these objects? Here's a few ideas, all of which suggest WRAP em around stuff! :D

These will make great gifts for people, and I'm planning to give a few away myself. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Much love and happy thoughts!