12 DAYS OF DIY X BABY-G

Maybe it's the cold weather or that the season of giving is officially underway, but the holidays make us want to hit up our local craft store and DIY-up a storm. So that's just what we decided to do--we're thrilled to announce the start of a new holiday tradition: our first-ever 12 Days of DIY. We're taking items that we love and coming up with cool ways to make them unique, one-of-a-kind gifts. If you want to talk classic accessory, few things can top the Baby-G watch. We first fell for the oversize time-keepers in middle school, but while we haven't picked up butterfly clips in years, our love for our Baby-Gs is still going strong. That doesn't mean it's not time (pun intended) for a little update. So for today's DIY, we did a bit of arithmetic: Take one of the brand's new designs, add the beaded friendship bracelets that we're obsessed with, and multiply by two. The result? A watch-bracelet combo that will turn any gift into an oh-my-God-where-did-you-get-that?! gift. Supplies You'll Need: - One Baby-G BGA160 watch, which is both really clean and sleek but also has a great, graphic face - Seed beads--we used five different colors but you can choose as many or as few as you like - White thread - Scissors

How To Make It:

Step 1: Before you start beading, you'll need to pick your colors and figure out your pattern. We went with five different seed bead colors--turquoise, black, red, white, and yellow--and created a chevron pattern. Here's how to follow along (each letter stands for one of the colors listed above): Row 1: T - B - R - W - Y - T - Y - W - R - B - T Row 2: Y - T - B - R - W - Y - W - R - B - T - Y Row 3: W - Y - T - B - R - W - R - B - T - Y - W Row 4: R - W - Y - T - B - R - B - T - Y - W - R Row 5: B - R - W - Y - T - B - T - Y - W - R - B

Step 2: Measure out about three feet of thread, and knot it at the base of the band, near the watch face. String on the beads for the first row, and then wrap the thread under and around the watch band. Do the same with the second row, and so forth, looping the thread under each time you reach the end of a row. The thread should be pulled tightly, so that the beads don't slide around.

Step 3:Continue repeating the rows until the beaded pattern is about an inch long. Be sure to push up each row of beads, so that there's no space between them. Once you're happy with the length of the beaded pattern, loop the thread underneath the watch band and make a tight double knot.

Step 4: Repeat steps 2 through 3 on the other side of the watch band, so that the beaded pattern flanks each side of the face.

Step 5: With a scissor, snip the threads so that there's no string dangling from the watch. And then wrap it up and gift it!