Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Simple Stretch Beaded Bracelet



Required materials:

You will need 7mm stretch cord (about 12 inches per bracelet)
beads
large crimp beads (must be large enough for stretch cord to double through twice)
2 pairs of flat nosed pliers
scissors

This is a great project for beginners and a great way to use up any extra beads that you have left over from other projects.

Take the stretch cord and measure it so that it goes around your wrist twice. This way you have excess cord and it is much easier for finishing the bracelet off. Set something on one end of the cord so that the beads do not fall off of the cord as you are making your bracelet.

Start stringing your beads onto the cord by feeding the cord through the beads. You can either make a pattern or put the beads on randomly, it depends on the look that you want. Keep beading until the bracelet is about 8 inches long. The size will vary depending on the size of your wrist so test it out before putting the crimp bead on to make sure that the bracelet will fit.

Now take the end of the cord and put it through the crimp bead, then take the other end of the cord and put it through the crimp bead as well so both of the ends of the cord are in the same crimp bead.

Pull the cords so that the crimp bead is touching the beads. Do not make it too tight or else the bracelet will snap, but make it tight enough so that there isn't much cord showing.

Take your pliers, go underneath the crimp bead and crimp the bead as hard and tight as you can. Cut off the leftover cord as close to the crimp bead as possible.

These bracelets look best worn in groups of three or more, so make a few in matching colours to really make a statement.

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