Alexei Volkov
Friendship bracelets are a fun and easy craft that can be made with plastic bags, plastic lace, or embroidery floss. They are a great activity for kids, teens, and adults and can be made with supplies found around the house. To get started, gather your supplies, decide on a pattern, and cut your materials to the desired length. Then, follow a simple braiding or knotting technique to create your unique bracelet. With just a few basic steps, you can make colourful and creative plastic friendship bracelets to share with your friends.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Materials | Plastic lace, plastic bags, embroidery floss, beads, charms |
| Cost | Low |
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Time | Less than an hour |
| Eco-friendly | Yes |
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What You'll Learn
Using plastic bags
Plastic bags can be used to make friendship bracelets. This is a fun and easy craft that is great for teens and tweens to make and give to friends. To get started, you will need to gather a few plastic bags in different colours. You can also add colourful beads or charms to your bracelets to make them unique and leave the ends as fringe tassels if you want.
Once you have your materials, follow these steps:
- Flatten a plastic bag and cut 1.25-inch-wide strips in a zig-zag pattern to make one long continuous streamer of plastic bag. Leave 1.25 inches uncut on each side.
- Take three plastic strips and place them in your hand, ensuring they are the same length. Twist the top a little and wrap it around your finger, forming a loop close to the top while still leaving room to fit all three strands through. Pull the top part through the loop.
- Place the knotted part under something heavy or tape it to a flat surface.
- Braid the three plastic strips together to form a rope. If one of the bag strands breaks, simply work the broken part back in and continue braiding.
- Cut any excess pieces sticking out at the end.
- To finish the bracelet, you can either tie the ends together or use a clasp and jump rings. Using a clasp and jump rings is preferable as it allows the bracelet to be taken on and off. Open the jump ring and slide it through the knotted part. Then, put the clasp on and close the jump ring. Repeat this step for the other end, but without adding another clasp.
Your recycled plastic bag friendship bracelet is now complete!
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Flattening and cutting the plastic
To flatten and cut the plastic, follow these steps:
First, collect a few plastic bags in different colours. Then, flatten each bag and cut 1.25-inch wide strips in a zig-zag pattern. Make sure you do not cut all the way across the bag, leaving about 1.25 inches uncut on each side. This will result in one long continuous streamer of plastic bag. Repeat this process for all the plastic bags. You can also use plastic lids from items such as oatmeal containers and cut them into weaving wheels using scissors. Cut 8 notches around the lid, measuring like a clock face, and then cut a small hole in the centre.
After cutting the plastic bags, knot the strands together at the top. You can decide on the number of strands to use, depending on your preference. Generally, 6 strands are considered ideal as they are dainty but detailed. However, you can also opt for 8 strands or more if you desire a thicker bracelet.
Once the strands are knotted together, you can begin braiding them tightly. If you are using a weaving wheel, tie the strands together at one end and string them into the slits you created. This will allow you to start weaving the plastic bag strands together.
Remember to cut off any excess plastic from the streamers once you are done braiding. You can also add beads or charms to your bracelet for a unique touch.
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Braiding the plastic
To make a friendship bracelet out of plastic, you can use plastic bags or plastic lace.
If you're using plastic bags, start by flattening the bag and cutting 1.25-inch-wide strips in a zig-zag pattern. Do not cut all the way across the bag, leave 1.25 inches uncut on each side. Cut three plastic bags in this way, ensuring they are different colours. Then, knot the three bag strands together at the top. Braid the three plastic bags together to make a rope as long as you would like your bracelet to be. If one of the bag strands breaks while braiding, just work the part that broke back in and keep braiding. Finally, cut any little pieces sticking out at the end.
If you're using plastic lace, you'll need three pieces. Two should be a bit longer than the length you want for the bracelet, and the third piece should be twice as long as the other two pieces. It's important to remember to keep the lace from twisting as you braid.
For both methods, you can add beads or charms to your bracelet to make it unique. You can also leave the ends as fringe tassels. To finish, feed the braided sections through a bead with a wide hole to form a sliding knot, allowing you to adjust the bracelet to fit your wrist.
You can also create a ridged, woven-looking surface on your bracelet by making lots of small knots. First, decide what order you want your strands to be in, which will determine the colour pattern of your rows. Then, take the first two strands and knot the strand on the farthest left over and around the other strands of floss or yarn. Pull the first strand up and towards the large knot, holding the second strand taut.
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Adding beads
Firstly, you will need to decide on the type of beads you want to use. Seed and clay beads are smaller in size and can give your bracelet a refined look, but they can be slower to string. You can also use a wooden device like the Beadalon Spin-N-Bead to help you string these tiny beads. Pony beads, pearl beads, and letter beads are other popular options that can be purchased in assorted boxes. If you want to make your bracelet eco-friendly, you can opt for glass, metal, or wooden beads instead of plastic ones. You can even make your own biodegradable beads from scratch using corn starch, flour, salt, hot water, and paint powder.
Once you have selected your beads, you will need to decide on the pattern or design you want to create. A bead tray with grooves and size markings can be helpful for planning your patterns and measuring your string. You can also find inspiration for bead patterns on websites like Pinterest.
When you are ready to start stringing your beads, you can use a beading needle or a beading spinner like the BeadAct Spinner or the Tilhumt "hands-free" spinner. If you are using a variety of bead sizes and shapes, you may find it easier to string them onto a needle by hand.
Finally, when you have finished stringing your beads, you can secure the ends of your bracelet with a knot. You can add a dot of glue to the knot to ensure it holds, and use a pearl bead or a bead with a wide hole to cover it.
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Using plastic lace
Plastic lace friendship bracelets are a fun and easy craft that can be made with just a few supplies. To start, you'll need to choose two colours of plastic lace, one for the base and one for the accent. Cut a piece of your base colour lace twice as long as the intended bracelet length, plus about 5 inches. Then, cut your accent colour lace to be about twice as long as the base colour lace.
Once you have your lace cut to the correct lengths, fold the base colour lace in half and pair it with the accent colour lace. Take the accent colour lace and wrap it around the right side of the base lace, then bring it down the middle. Repeat this step, pressing firmly up on the lacing from the bottom as you go to prevent gaps. Keep repeating these steps until the bracelet is your desired length.
When you're happy with the length of your bracelet, use the accent colour lace to tie a knot around the base colour laces to secure it in place. Then, thread the leftover lace through the loop created by the knot and tie both ends of the bracelet together. You can also add beads or other decorations to your bracelet if desired.
Plastic lace friendship bracelets are a fun and inexpensive craft that can be made with just a few simple supplies. They are a great activity to do with friends and can be customised with different colours and decorations to make them unique.
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Frequently asked questions
You can use plastic bags, plastic lace, or plastic bag rope. You can also add colourful beads or charms to your bracelets.
Flatten a plastic bag and cut 1.25-inch-wide strips in a zig-zag pattern to make one long continuous streamer of plastic bag. Then, knot three bag strands together at the top and tightly braid them.
Feed the braided sections of the bracelet through a bead with a wide hole (about 8mm or 1/4-inch) in opposite directions to form a sliding knot. This way, you can adjust your bracelet to fit your wrist.
