TBT Spoonie Bracelets

It's throwback Thursday time folks!

Today, we're going to be looking at my spoonie bracelets. I freakin love these bracelets, because they mean so much to me. As you'll know if you're a regular reader, I suffer from various chronic illnesses, and as such, declare myself to be a spoonie. (If you're unfamiliar with the term, check out  Christine Miserandino’s post about ‘spoons’ in her blog about having Lupus.)

One of the things that really helps with chronic illness is knowing that there are people out there who understand you. I have a smile on my face every time I post out one of these bracelets, because I know they're going out to someone just like me. As such, I designed these bracelets to be super comfortable, and easy to wear, even on a high-pain day, or a day when you're struggling with sensation. If you want to find out more about how these are made, check out this blog post I did a while back.

They come in a range of different colours, with different meaning behind each colour. Although of course, you can just choose a colour because it makes you feel special.

• You can get a cute blue bracelet, if you suffer from chronic fatigue (or M.E.) as it's also known - like I do! #spooniebuddies
• Fibromyalgia sufferers can get this funky purple version.
• Have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome? I've even got a zebra stripe to fly your flag with!
• Pink is famously the colour for breast cancer awareness, it's also the colour for breastfeeding awareness - so if nursing is the thing that's sucking all of your spoons, this is the one for you.
• Mental illness can also be really draining (again, I know first hand on this one) - and this bright green bracelet represents that.
• Or perhaps you'd like one to represent anxiety or OCD? Then it's the turquoise bracelet that you need
• Last but not least, there's this gorgeous glitter version available too!

Of course, if you want a colour which is not readily available in stock, please don't hesitate to get in touch via my etsy shop or my facebook page - it may take longer than my usual 2-3 day turn around, because I'll have to order the elastic in, but I'm always more than happy to make customised designs.

You also have the option to purchase matching earrings with these. Although these don't have the 'comfort' value of the bracelet, they're a great way to make a statement on one of your good days.

What helps you remember to always keep a spoon in the bank?

TTT: Spoonie Tips

Hi All and welcome to another Top Tips. As you all know, I'm a chronic illness sufferer - I suffer with M.E./C.F.S. which is a condition which involves chronic pain and chronic fatigue amongst other things. I'm about 10 years into being ill, and I've pretty much got it managed these days, although it's always a learning curve and can definitely throw me some curve balls. Here are my top tips for dealing with chronic illness.

This is my purple spoonie bracelet 

1. Organisation! It's my top top tip as it were... if you know what you need to do and how much energy each task is going to take it's a lot easier to manage those tasks without overdoing it. If you know you need to do the washing up, sort the laundry and send some emails then you can do the washing up, then send the emails, because that's a sat down activity, and then sort the laundry.

My spoon charms are one of my favourites

2. Pacing! Take breaks when you need them, don't feel bad if you need to take 5, or even 10 in order to get back on your feet. It's not always possible, so when it is, make the most of it!

My spoonie keyring can be personalised with any word or name

3. Communication! Tell people how you feel, let the people closest to you know when you're having a bad day - they can help! For too long I tried to deal with everything on my own, but I've learnt that the people who love me want to help.

My spoon jar is the perfect gift for a spoonie

4. Know your limits! Know when to say no to things. If someone asks me to join them on a half marathon, I'm going to say no, if they ask me to help them move house, I'll tell them I can help with packing tips, but not with physically moving them. I let my wonderful husband take Littlest Princess swimming on his own most of the time, because I know it drains me too much for the rest of the day.

My green spoonie bracelet and earrings

5. Do some things that are just for you, even at the expense of doing things that you feel are things you 'must' do. When you have limited energy it's easy to feel you have to spend all of that energy on doing the chores, but over a long period of time, that will destroy you. If all the energy you have left can be spent on doing the washing up, or on having a sandwich.... have that sandwich!

Zebra stripe spoonie bracelet.

SIS Spoonie Bracelets

Hi and welcome to Style It Sunday

This is going to be a super chilled SIS - you know, my favourite kind of sunday!

Today's Style It is all about what you could wear with one of my spoonie bracelets. Now, the whole idea behind spoonie bracelets is that they're designed to be super comfortable, so you can wear them even on your worst days.

My purple (fibro awarness) spoonie bracelet

If you want more details on my spoonie bracelets check out this post.

So to start with I'd style it with pajamas! I love flannel pajamas, and I'd adore a cute floral pair like these ones. 

Floral Flannel Pajamas

You can't be comfy in PJs without a dressing gown. My must-haves for a dressing gown is huge and fluffy. White is also a bonus, because it's such a classic. I love this super fluffy one from The White Company.

Fluffy White Dressing Gown

Don't forget to add one of my adorable spoonie keyrings into the look. If you're going to go spoonie, go big or go home. Each of the spoon charms has the option of ordering with matching spoon earrings too. How cute would that look?

And to top of the style, I'd finish it off with a pair of slippers. I love these crochet slippers and I'm tempted to make a pair in super chunky yarn - how comfortable would that be?

Crochet Ballet Slippers

Top it all off with a mug of steaming hot chocolate and marshmallows.... could there be a better way to spend a Sunday?

MIM Spoonie Bracelets

SPOONIE BRACELETS! So this is going to be a long post, and probably quite a heartfelt one too. One thing you may not know about me, is I’m a chronic illness sufferer. The invention of the internet has been AMAZING for sufferers of chronic illnesses, as socialisation over the internet is much less energy intensive than in real life, but is so great for keeping your spirits up against adversity. One of the most famous posts on the internet about chronic illness is Christine Miserandino’s post about ‘spoons’ in her blog about having Lupus. It’s been so useful in explaining chronic illness and chronic pain to non-sufferers that Chronic Illness sufferers online often refer to themselves as “spoonies.”

To this end, when I spotted these adorable little spoon charms* I knew I had to make something with them. However I also knew straight away that it wasn’t going to be one of my charm bangles. “Why?” you ask – because we all know how much I love charm bangles. One reason and one reason alone: comfort. Chronic illness often comes hand in hand with chronic pain, and I struggle to wear jewellery on many days because I can’t cope with the increased sensation, so I designed these bracelets to be made out of soft backed elastic. This means they can be worn even on the worst days.

Initially I just made these bracelets in colours I thought would look cute, but then I realised that I could tie these in with the awareness colours for various chronic illnesses - and so I've made quite a wide selection. 

• You can get a cute blue bracelet, if you suffer from chronic fatigue (or M.E.) as it's also known - like I do! #spooniebuddies
• Fibromyalgia sufferers can get this funky purple version.
• Have Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome? I've even got a zebra stripe to fly your flag with!
• Pink is famously the colour for breast cancer awareness, it's also the colour for breastfeeding awareness - so if nursing is the thing that's sucking all of your spoons, this is the one for you.
• Mental illness can also be really draining (again, I know first hand on this one) - and this bright green bracelet represents that.
• Or perhaps you'd like one to represent anxiety or OCD? Then it's the turquoise bracelet that you need
• Last but not least, there's this gorgeous glitter version available too!

Of course, if you want a colour which is not readily available in stock, please don't hesitate to get in touch via my etsy shop or my facebook page - it may take longer than my usual 2-3 day turn around, because I'll have to order the elastic in, but I'm always more than happy to make customised designs.

So on to the 'made it' portion of the blog

As I mentioned earlier, these are made of 'fold over' elastic. It's something you should be able to get in a well stocked haberdashers, I get mine off ebay. I stitch it into a bracelet sized loop, with about a half inch overlap. Then I get a jump ring, and thread it through the elastic. Before I close up the jump ring I add a super cute spoon charm* (also from ebay). 

It's not a tricky make, hence the price tag ;-) however I do love making these, as I know each and every one of these bracelets is going to go to someone like me. They can also be purchased with matching earrings, which will make a fantastic statement on a good day! 

(*as usual, Links which have an asterisk after them are affiliate links, and may provide me with income)