I’m sure you have all been on camps and have spent either when you arrived or in the evening making friendship bracelets. I know I have. Friendship bracelets aren’t only for camps though! Sometimes, they’re a great thing to make when you’re sat outside in the sun, or when you’re watching a show. Here are my top tips to making friendship bracelets 😊
1. Choose a design
The most important thing to decide is what design you are going to do. Different designs take different number of materials and time, as well as all having to be done at once or easy to leave for a few days. I would recommend that if you are a beginner, to choose something easy and only takes a bit of time, so that it isn’t too stressful, and you can immediately get something done. One of my favourite bracelets to make is by finger knitting – it’s very easy and only takes about 5 minutes to make! If you want a challenge or are experiences, I recommend a chevron, but they do take a lot of time to make so make sure that you are patient. Tutorials for any bracelet are easy to find, with both instructions and videos.
2. Choose colours
Colours are very important when it comes to bracelets. Depending on the bracelet you decide to make depends on how many colours you need. For example, a chevron can have an endless number of colours depending how thick you want to go, but a finger knitted one only requires a single strand of wool. You may be making the bracelet for a certain person or event, so make sure that you choose colours that you like or match the purpose of the bracelet.
3. Buy supplies
Now to buying the supplies. The tutorials will probably have a list of recommended supplies and what thread to use to make it, so remember to check that before you go and buy the things. They also might have recommended stores to go to, so have a look at that beforehand. The supplies should be that expensive and you might have most of them at home.
4. Make them!
Now you can make your bracelet. Whilst you are getting used to it or learning how to make the bracelet, I would recommend that you sit there focusing on it by itself, then when you get more confident, do it whilst you are doing something else. Mistakes should be easy to solve, depending on the bracelet, but don’t worry if it isn’t perfect!
5. Give out to friends/ invite them to make with you
In the name, I think it’s quite clear with what you are supposed to do with friendship bracelets – give them to friends! This could be out of the blue, or this could for an occasion. When we start going to camps again, I would recommend that you prepare some to swap with badges or other people, especially international ones! Alternatively, you could have a day with your friends where you make friendships bracelets with each other, where restrictions allow.
So, there are my top tips for starting to make friendship bracelets! I hope you like them, and use them yourself. Here is a link to a video on how to make a chevron bracelet: https://youtu.be/clI5fBPamOs ; and here's one for finger knitting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQ8FYZuMlAM .
Don’t forget, if you have a hobby you would like to share with use you can send them in – I would love to hear them! Here is a link to find more details: https://www.girlguidinglaser.org.uk/challenges/report-for-the-hive.
Happy friendship bracelet making and I’ll see you next month 😊.