The 2016 summer Olympics in Rio are almost upon us and it gives me great pride to mention that a team of 120+ athletes will be participating from India. To paraphrase the Olympic Creed, life is all about participating and utilizing opportunities and fighting well to the best of our abilities and not just winning. This message, or the Olympics spirit is conveyed by the five Olympic rings which represent wholeness, solidarity, and continuity. Designed by Pierre de Coubertin as a true international symbol, the Flag with five rings, in my opinion, symbolises fair play, sportsmanship and vibrancy of the rich world of sports.
Inspired by this upcoming event, I have designed a bangle with bands of blue, black, red, yellow, and green as a symbol of strength and support to the games. Join me in making one for yourself.
Olympics Colors bangle DIY
Materials Required
– Metal bangles in preferred size – 2
– 28g brass wire
– Liquid fusion Glue or Araldite
– Iced enamels medium
– Iced enamels relique powder in Carnelian, Pewter, turquoise, Chartreuse, Glitz gold
– Alcohol or patina inks in dark green, dark blue and yellow
– 2 part epoxy resin, mixing stick, cup, and wet wipes
Tools: Heat gun, paint brush, nose pliers, wire cutter, tile or any heat resistant surface
Method
1. Glue 2 metal bangles together and let it rest for a while. Alternatively, choose a broad bangle, as your base
2. Wrap 28g wire around the bangle, the wire must be in the same finish as the metal bangle. This is to provide texture and additional hold for the relique powders
3. Mark 5 equal (similar, I just eyeballed it) sections in the bangle. Each will be in one of the Olympic ring colors.
4. Apply medium to one section and sprinkle the relique powder on it. Wait for 5 minutes until it begins to dry and then move to the next section. Check my previous post on Iced enamelling for a quick how – to video.
5. Repeat until you complete all 5 sections. I did blue, black, red, yellow, and green as my sections.*
6. Place you bangle on a tile and using a heat gun slowly set the powder section by section. Be sure to turn the gun off a few times in between otherwise, it will get very hot.
7. If your powder bubbles and starts to flow, it means that you have applied too much binder and if no reaction happens then it means that you have used very less binder. The former cannot be corrected, but if you have applied less medium, to begin with, then you can give a thin coating on top as you are heating it ( when using the heat it tool only)
8. The relique powders are light colors so to get dark green, blue and yellow apply a thin coat of alcohol or patina ink on the set enamel and let it dry. I used gold as the base for yellow as it gives a beautiful soft shimmer to the bangle ( unfortunately it is not visible in the pictures)
9. Mix your two part epoxy resin as per your manufacturer’s instructions. After the initial five minute rest time, apply a thin coat on the bangle and let it cure for 48-72 hours. Clean up any spills before it cures hard.
Your chunky textured Olympics inspired bangle is ready to be worn when you cheer for your country. *In this bangle, I have only used the colors as seen in the Olympics rings and not in their exact order as I wanted it to be only my inspiration and I did not want to make an exact copy. I hope that I have brought out the symbolism of connectivity and strength of interconnected rings using the circular shape of the bangle and the wire wraps. This little something will not only help you to get into the Olympics spirit but its fashionable enough to be worn with multiple outfits long after the games are over.
I am not a “sports” person but I am excited about the Olympics and will be wearing this bangle that week. What about you? Do you have any plans to celebrate the games?
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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