A Thrifter in Disguise: beads

Anthro-Style Rope Bracelets

made using Made in a Day tutorial

When I first saw Kim from Made in a Day's Anthro-inspired rope bracelets, I was immediately in LOVE! I believe I called her a genius. And I could not get those beautiful bracelets out of my head! So off we (me and B3) went to the craft store(s).

First stop was Joanns. I got the rope there (in the by-the-yard trim section near the curtain materials). I got three yards because it was pretty cheap ($2.99/yd) and I used my 40% discount (I still have about a yard left after making these). I looked at the beads and stickers there, but I couldn't find anything that had a wide enough opening for the rope. So I plopped the baby back in the car, drove across the road to Michaels, and resumed my search there.

Michaels' selection was much better for this particular project (although I generally prefer Joanns--you can use more coupons, and I like their app better... but, I digress). I found the same beads Kim used, and I even used the same cardboard tube (from the neon bracelets in the $1 section). I couldn't find the same stickers she used, but I found these, and I was happy with them. I also decided to try washi tape on one, too (the blue ikat pattern). I used the floss/thread in the pic because I liked the colors and they were pretty inexpensive, but you could do it with whatever kind you wanted.

And so, the process:

Cardboard Beads: I had some issues cutting the cardboard neatly. Partly because I'm a bit of a klutz, and partly because our kitchen knives are really dull... should probably fix that, but thinking about sharpening them kinda freaks me out. Anyway, I got it done, but you can see in the pics the edges are pretty rough. Oh well. I used a glue gun to tape the stickers around (no glue gun for the washi bead, though). That part was pretty fun!

Stringing the Beads: Pretty self-explanatory--just don't forget to do this before you glue the ends!

Gluing Ends: I'm not very good at fine motor stuff, so the gluing of the ends was a bit messy for me, but the floral tape definitely helped cover up those messes (I'm not exaggerating--mess!). I'd never used floral tape before, but it was cool: very malleable and forgiving. I found in it an off-white color, so that was a bonus.

Wrapping: Yep, Kim mentioned this: it's a little tricky at first. You can see from my pics. At first I was working with a complete knotted mess, and I had to stop to untangle every few rounds. Not too fun. But then I got into the groove and approached it a little more neatly (and slowly-see green thread example). It was tricky covering the tape with no gaps, so I just went back over it in the other direction to cover everything I missed.

All in all, this project was great! It was really quick, so pretty, and just in time for summer! I definitely like Kim's better, but I'm still happy with how mine turned out. I highly recommend giving these a shot if you're considering it. Here's the link to Kim's tutorial: Made in a Day DIY Rope Bracelets. And check out her whole blog while you're there--she's got so many beautiful projects!