Instructions

First: Gather your materials. You’ll need some beads, some stretchy beading cord, 40 to 50 safety pins (for this project I used 3/4 inch safety pins but you can choose larger or smaller pins depending upon how wide you want your bracelet to be) and some scotch tape. The beads are the most important element–if the beads aren’t pretty, your bracelet won’t be pretty. Also–you’ll want a variety of shapes and sizes of beads, everything from small seed beads to larger spacer beads.

Second: Cut two pieces of the cording. The pieces should be long enough to wrap around your wrist and allow for tying a knot. Don’t worry about them being too long–you can always cut them later.

Third: Put a piece of scotch tape around one end of one of the pieces of cording. The only purpose this piece of tape serves is to keep your safety pins from sliding off the end of the cording once we start stringing them–so, it doesn’t have to look nice–it will come off later.

Fourth: Start adding your beads to the safety pins. If you ever made friendship pins back in the 80′s you’ll know how to do this but if not–it’s very easy. Simply unfasten a safety pin and start placing beads on the pin. Once you’ve got the beads on the pin, refasten the pin.

Fifth: You’ll want to complete forty to fifty pins depending upon how big your wrist is. Remember though, the cording is stretchy so it’s better to be a little on the small side than to be too big. Also–you’ll be adding a spacer bead between every pin when you string them.

Sixth: Once you have your pins made, you’ll start stringing them onto the cording that has the tape on it. THIS IS IMPORTANT: be sure to string your pins with a spacer bead in between each pin AND string your pins in an alternating head to toe fashion (meaning string the first pin with the clasp end of the pin on the cord and the next pin with the little circle at the bottom of the pin on the cord). These two elements (adding a spacer bead between each pin and alternating the pins in a head to toe fashion) are what will keep your bracelet looking nice by preventing it from bunching up on itself.

Seventh: Once you have all of your pins strung onto the first cord, cut another piece of scotch tape and wrap it around the loose end of that cord (to prevent your pins and beads from sliding off). Next, you’ll want to string the other piece of cord through the bottom of your bracelet. Again, you’ll want to make sure that you include a spacer bead between each pin.

Eighth: Once both pieces of cording are strung through the bracelet, just tie the cording ends together (top to top and bottom to bottom). Snip off any extra cording and try on your new bracelet!