So I thought I'd start with some very simple bead bracelets, the sort of thing you can do with the kids on a rainy weekend...an event which sadly I think will become more frequent until next spring/summer. Hey ho, the autumn has it's beauty too...I just love it when the leaves begin to turn, don't you?
Anyway, I was asked to come up with a couple of designs for bracelets that weren't just a case of stringing beads onto a piece of elastic and tying a knot. That said there's nothing wrong with doing that especially if the age of the children dictates that level of simplicity. The one thing I would highly recommend though is that you thread the elastic through your beads twice (especially if it isn't very thick) and then hide the knot in the centre of a bead by adding a dab of glue to it...
When dry, you can trim the ends with scissors.
However, if you're looking for something a little more involved then why not try one of these....
This bracelet involves creating a sliding opening as the beads are strung onto cord not elastic. It uses the basic square macramé knot (one of the first knots I remember learning as a girl guide) and is still pretty simple to do. For full instructions check out project KP/0014 - Bead Tassel Bracelet.
Alternatively you could try this one, KP/0015 - Ladder Bracelet, which shows another way to string beads for a bracelet and utilizes a bead for the clasp.
Last but not least there's this one...
...which uses the macramé half knot to create a spiral pattern between the beads. Again, it uses a bead, this time like a toggle, to create the clasp. For full instructions check out project KP/0016 - Purple Macramé.
All three bracelet instructions can be found in the children's section of www.Projects4Crafters.com and all the materials are from Efco!
