I recently gave my aunt a bracelet for her birthday. When she unwrapped the strand of colorful polymer clay frogs and gunmetal findings, I said what I always say when I give the gift of handmade jewelry: “If it’s too big or too small – I can fix it.”

Only this was the first time I had to put my money where my mouth is – the bracelet was indeed a tad too big.

Now came the tricky part. With my aunt wearing the bracelet, we began pinching and pulling at the strand, first overlapping the ends one way, then another, trying to figure out how much shorter the bracelet needed to be. We took a guess, but I won’t know for sure if it was a good guess until this weekend when I can return the bracelet to my aunt.

Things would have been much easier if I had only brought along a soft measuring tape! I could have easily looped it around her wrist to find the perfect length, then adjusted the bracelet with confidence. From now on, I’m packing a measuring tape in my purse whenever I give jewelry. After all, if I say I can fix it, I better have the right tools!

Also, my aunt made a request I never anticipated. As I pointed to the frog beads that would have to be removed, she said in a sad voice, “Oh, but I don’t want to lose those.” Translation: “Don’t take those away from me! You were going to give them to me if the bracelet fit!” I promised I would find something else to do with the beads.

One solution would have been to make a dangle for the clasp, but there were too many beads for that. Another solution could be matching earrings, but my aunt prefers a favorite pair of studs to drop earrings. Instead, I strung the beads on head pins and attached them to different lengths of silver and gunmetal chain. Then I attached the chains to a keychain ring. That way my aunt can always have the beads close by, even when she’s not wearing her bracelet.

Do you have any other tips for giving handmade jewelry? Please share them below, as well as the stories that inspired your aha moment.