Leather Tassels for All

Given my day job as a lawyer, I like to try dabbling in crafts and the creative when I can.  Emphasis on the word "try," because as often as not, my exploits end in failure.  Which is okay: every so often, when the result of my sweating, gluing things to my fingers, and getting glitter all over my dog works out (that's happened far more often than I care to admit, thanks), it feels great!  But why isn't there a blog called Real Girls Making Things?  One that shows the cursing, mistakes, and inevitable pile of rejects going in the trash that really goes into making stuff yourself?  (As my friend Kate says, "why are these girls always looking cute and not sweating with their hair falling out of a ponytail??")  I'll be highlighting/confessing some of my very-real-and-not-very-skilled efforts here, but in the meantime, let's take a look at something that you can attempt if you feel brave (good for you!) or just buy if you aren't feeling up to it (kudos to you too!).

Matchbook Mag's Daily Spark highlighted these leather tassel keychains from Russell + Hazel today.  They are $30 and awfully cute (not to mention handy with that toggle clasp if you use it -- I just know I would end up tossing this in my purse as per usual, but perhaps you have more discipline than I do).

Image via here

But the remarkably handy Jenny from Little Green Notebook has a step-by-step tutorial on how to make these.  She says that they only cost $10 and take 15 minutes to make.  (I'm skeptical here: if it took her ten minutes, it's pretty safe to say it'll be more like an hour for me.)  And hers look pretty darn good too -- and could be customized with whatever colors you fancy.

Image via here

So what's your vote?  To me, DIY attempts all come with their own calculus that looks something like this:

time, cost, and effort that you would expend on the project 

(including acquiring all the components or tools that you would need)

+

how much fun you'll have making it

+

how proud you'll be to have accomplished it

is greater than or less than 

cost of the already made thing

+

ease of pushing a button and having it delivered to your house  

This seems like something that involves a fair amount of stuff to track down or buy, which gives me pause, and the ready-made item isn't terribly costly.  But Jenny also suggests having a get-together with friends (they were watching the Bachelor finale!) and putting these together, which sounds like a fun little gathering.  There's something fun about attempting to be crafty with your friends, who, if they are like mine, are excellent sports about these things.  I could be persuaded.  What's your vote?