How to design and make a beaded bracelet

Posted By Laura in Crafty Stuff, Gift Inspo | 1 comment

Customising glass beads and making bracelets is such a fun activity. The finished product can be tailored to create whatever fashion style you like. Maybe you could choose red, white and blue colours to create a bracelet fit for the wrist of a Diamond Jubilee Queen. Or what about adding little CND symbols so that you can recreate that San Francisco 1960s hippy-chick look – if you do be sure to wear flowers in your hair!

Craft Supplies

Below is a list of all the craft supplies you, or your children, will need for the task of making a beaded bracelet.
•    Clear-coloured glass-painting disc beads (a pack of 120 costs £3.99)
•    A pack of metallic beads (a value pack of 500 beads will cost £3.99)
•    Fine-tip glass pens (a pack of six will cost £8.99)
•    Stretch cord (£3.99 per reel)
•    Silicone glue (£3.98 for a pack of two)
(The prices were taken from the website of arts and crafts company Baker Ross on 16th February 2012. According to my rather shaky maths, you can purchase all these items for a grand total of £24.94. There should be enough materials to make dozens of bracelets with.)
Oh, and don’t forget to have a pair of scissors to hand too.

First start colouring the clear disc beads by using the fine-tip glass pens.
In the picture above you can see that Kate from Baker Ross has opted for a pink and blue colour scheme – you can always colour the different halves with different colours if you feel like it.
Spots and stripes are a natty option too – remember: because the beads are clear you only need to colour them on one side.
Six coloured beads are normally sufficient to make a beautiful bangle with – once you have these ready cut a piece of elastic so that its length is bigger than the circumference of your wrist (you can probably guess why).

Grip both ends of the elastic and feed it through the groove which runs through the centre of a disc which you have coloured in.
Hold up the piece of elastic so that the bead slides halfway along.
Next, thread a coloured metallic bead either end of the coloured disc. Then add another disc bead to either end. Repeat this process until all the coloured discs are lined up along the length of the piece of cord.

Now it is time to tie the cord into a double knot while resisting the urge to trim off the ends. Instead, add a dot of silicone glue to the knot and let it dry; it is now safe to cut off the extra elastic on one side.

Finally it is time to admire your unique bracelet and of course wear it with pride! Hopefully it looks like the one pictured – if it doesn’t you can always take a look at Kate’s YouTube video tutorial.