Sparkle Crafts

Sparkle Craft: Friendship Bracelets

In the At Home with Martin & Sylvia story, "Playdate," it’s a beautiful morning, and brother and sister want a playdate. Momma agrees to call their friends, Jonathan and Sasha, but Martin and Sylvia can’t agree on what to play. They insist on their own ideas, until Momma gives them a challenge: find a way to incorporate everyone’s wishes into one inclusive activity. How do you combine bike riding, imaginative play, drawing, and botany?

This week we are talking about social inclusion – and what a better way to talk about social inclusion than to craft it!

The first time I recieved a friendship bracelet, I was 11 and attending summer camp for the first time. One of my bunkmates, whom I'd only known for a day or two, came up to me in the craftroom and handed me a friendship bracelet – much like the one in this tutorial – and I was taken aback. She barely knew me, and yet she'd taken the time to make me something. It gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling of being included. By the end of that summer, I would come to have a mighty collection of friendship bracelets.

There is something about making and giving that makes both the giver and the reciever feel warm and welcome.

These basic bracelets are super easy to make; you'll likely find yourself making them for everyone you know, because you'll want to show them you are all friends.

Basic Friendship Bracelets

Materials:

• Embroidery floss of various colors
• Scissors
• Tape or a safety pin

How To:

Start by choosing your colors. Cut the first string at least 20 inches long. The length will really depend on the size of bracelet you want to make. Then cut the other strings at the same length. In this tutorial I used only three colors, for simplicity. You are welcome to use as many colors as you like.

Next, gather the strings together and tie them in a knot at one end. Tape this end to a table or chair. Alternatively, you can use safety pin, pinned through the knot and into some type of fabric. This option is great for making bracelets on-the-go: like in a car attached to the back of a fabric-covered car seat, or out at the park attached to your pant leg.

After you have the strings secured, separate the strings and choose which color you want to start with. Separate that color and hold the remaining colors together.

Using the color you want to start with, lay the string over the other strings so that it forms a "4" shape.

Next, bring the tail of the "4" underneath the other colors and up through the loop of the "4" and pull the knot tight.

Here is what the knot will look like. Continue to make knots in this manner until you want to switch colors.

The knots will naturally twist and create a spiral shape.

Switching colors is easy. Just pick up another color and begin knotting again. Here is an example of how to hold the strings with one hand so you can work quicker.

When you reach a length you think might work for the friend you are making it for, test it out (if you can) by wrapping it around their wrist. If the length is right, tie a knot with all the strings like you did at the start and cut off the extra.

Happy Making!