It’s official. I have the beading bug! My current obsession? DIY beaded bracelets! They’re super cute and super duper easy to make yourself. All you need are a few supplies and a few minutes. Seriously. You can make a bracelet in less than five minutes.
Are you ready? Let’s craft!
Supplies:
- Beads! (Plastic, glass, pearl, wood, alphabet, or whatever floats your boat will work)
- Spacer beads (optional)
- Elastic beading cord
- Clear nail polish or super glue
- Scissors
- Binder clip or chip clip (something to clamp the elastic)
- Fabric tape measure (or a length of string and a ruler)
DIY Beaded Bracelets
Start by measuring your wrist with your tape measure (or wrap a piece of string around your wrist, mark where the ends meet, remove, and measure with a ruler.)
Cut a piece of elastic 3-4 inches longer than your wrist length. The longer your elastic, the easier it will be to work with.
Attach a chip clip or binder clip an inch or two from the end of your elastic. The chip clip will act as a clamp and prevent your beads from falling off the other end while you’re stringing them.
Begin stringing your beads.
For this bracelet, I decided on a design of two black beads with one gold spacer in between.
Have fun with your designs! I’ve made 10 or so bracelets over the past few weeks and have enjoyed trying different bead combos with and without spacers.
When making a bracelet, I also like to think about what other types of beads and colors it would pair well with! For example, this black one is going to pair beautifully with a jade green and gold bracelet along with a black pearl bracelet.
Once you’ve strung 5-7 inches of beads, go ahead and unclamp the end of your elastic, hold the ends together, and try your bracelet on. At this point, it’ll be really easy to tell if you need to add or subtract a few beads for a perfect fit.
I’m planning to wear my bracelets with my Apple Watch, so I’ve been making my bracelets a little larger to fit comfortably on the left side of my watch, which is slightly wider than the right side.
When your bracelet is the perfect size, line up both ends of the elastic so everything is even.
Now, you’re going to tie a surgeon’s knot. Check out this YouTube video for easy instructions on tying the knot (skip to 50 seconds). Once you tie one surgeon’s knot, you’ll be a master.
After you tie your knot, grab your clear nail polish (or super glue) and add a dab to the knot. I like to pull the knot away from my beads while I’m doing this part to make sure none of the polish transfers to the glass.
Once the nail polish is dry, snip the tails of your elastic.
Ta-da! Your new bracelet is all ready to wear!
If you’re looking for another easy beading project like these DIY beaded bracelets, check out this post: Easy DIY: Face Mask Lanyard.
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