Embellishing Wood Bangles: A Project with Mark Nelson

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You know that junk drawer in your kitchen that accumulates all the stuff you can't seem to throw away? The one that inspires a vague feeling of anxiety? Well, lately I've been awed by the people for whom the junk drawer – or a forgotten corner of the basement, trunk of the car, etc. — is a source of creative potential and inspiration.

It seems like everywhere I look these days people are resurrecting discarded objects into things of beauty, or reassembling old things in exciting new ways.

After I watched last week's premiere episode of Project Accessory, in which contestants were challenged to transform junk into wearable art, I was reminded of an inspiring project with Mark Nelson, where he uses found objects and unconventional techniques to embellish wood bangles. Another thing I love about Mark's bangles: just like all the terrific pieces our readers have shared in the past few days, any one of these would transform a pair of jeans and a t-shirt!

Take a look:

items used in this project:
3M micro-finishing film bands kit
Foredom® 20D quick-change handpiece
Donegan Optivisor™ with 2.5X lens
Foredom® SR motor with 30 handpiece flex shaft system
Flex shaft Swing-Away™ motor stand
Swanstrom pliers and cutter set
Citation safety glasses
Friedrich Dick key file set
Chasing hammer
Round Greek leather cord, black
.999 fine silver seamless tubing
Adjustable blade saw frame, 75mm adjustable throat
Laser Gold™ blades, 4/0
Screw mandrel (3/32" shank)
Silicone carbide separating disc
High-speed steel twist drill
.999 fine silver round wire, 24 ga., dead soft
Advantage™ Plus kit
Friedrich Dick scriber/burnisher
Steel bench block
Rio high-speed steel cylinder bur
Rio high-speed steel round bur set
Stamp set, alphanumeric (1/8 charecters)
Wax bur assortment
Blazer butane microtorch
Sharpie marker
Sandpaper
Colored pencils, wax based