Friendship bracelets

I'm a total blogging slacker these days.  Summer is just moving along and we are busy just being.  It's pretty great.

I said I'd be back with something crafty, but I bet you didn't think it'd be friendship bracelets.  Truth is, neither did I.  My girls came home from camp and raided my embroidery supplies.  They started braiding bracelets for their ankles and doing hair wraps on their dolls.  Jane asked me if I knew how to make different kinds of bracelets.  Well, yes I do!  I made the above bracelet for Jane earlier this week and am now working on a pink and orange one for Kate.  I sit at the pool, completely in the shade, chatting with my friends and making bracelets.  Today I gave a 30 second tutorial to a few girls.  I have a feeling that we'll be seeing a lot of these in the coming weeks. 

These are the kind I made when I was a kid and I am totally doing it from memory.  Yay!  Jane started a four string one in yellow and white.  I would like to try my hand at something a bit more complex and while trolling the interwebs, I found this site.  Awesome - patterns, instructions, pdfs to download.  I'm going to try an arrow one next.

All right.  Back to summer.  Catch you next week.

Comments

[Péitseoga]

great colours! i used to make loads of these when i was in school! literally... in school! i'd have one on a safety pin pinned to my jeans and i'd be working on them in the less challenging classes where i knew i'd get away with it... i had loads of different designs, stripes, arrows, fishes and then more complex ones (i had a whole alphabet designed for name bracelets). i even tried to work out a system of figuring out how long the different colour threads had to be for different designs (yes, also done during class in the backs of copy books... applied maths is what i say!)

[The Knitting Archaeologist]

Can I just tell you that I love you? Platonically of course, but I was feeling a bit nostalgic today and lamenting the passing of my youth (turning 30 in December), and lo and behold you're posting about friendship bracelets! I remember making these for and with my girlfriends in junior high. I think it's time to resurrect this accessory...I wonder if that site has removable ones, though, LOL!

[Lisa]

I made these all the time when I was a kid, all sorts of patterns, even the diamond kind. My girlfriends and I were obsessed, we would stay up into the wee hours of the morning at sleepovers making our wears. I have tried several times to show my daughter how to make them, she just wasn't there yet, we might need to try again. don't forget about the one that you knot around all the the threads to make a rope like bracelet that you change the colors as you go just dropping the one you are using and picking up another color. Have fun, you super cool mom!!!

[Margot]

I think my sister and I spent at least one summer making those! It was funny, as I looked at the pattern my mind immediately went back into trying to remember how you make that pattern, I think I remember too!

[Amy]

Those bracelets say 'summer camp' to me also. I haven't made one in ages (it's not important exactly how long) but I just might have to dig out my embroidery supplies and get busy.

[Cindy]

yeah--I remember making them! How fun to revisit the art of friendship bracelets. And I have to say, the perfect poolside craft! Have fun.

[minnesota:madre]

Blast from the past!

[aichaku]

wow these really bring back memories! i used to make them for my friends & create my own designs on the fly! some things are truly timeless crafts. :D

[Julie]

Oh my! How funny that this is such a reminder to SO many people. I can't believe that you remember how to do it - I'd have to look it up.

[Wendy]

Oh middle school memories! I was thinking about these the other day. I bet my 5 year old would love them.

[Myriam]

Oh how fun!! I love making bracelets. I started pretty young and kept doing it until i was out of high school and then stopped for awhile. about 2 years ago i got back into it and its still so fun and a great take-along craft. I have 2 on my arm and one on my ankle. I make them for my mom and son as well. great thing to pass on and do with your girls :)

[Nora]

Now it is time to break out those braided barrettes (you remember, the ones that had the "tassle" like material that hung down)....good times.

[Suzanne]

These must be a summertime rite of passage. So much fun!

[suzanne]

That's so funny ... I never made those friendship bracelets, but I did do macrame & was just thinking today that it would be fun to teach the girls how to do it! (Are the bracelets the same sort of thing?)

miss you ... we gotta catch up. :-)

[darlene]

I made those too as a kid, can you do a tutorial on the kind you are making? I can't remember!

[ali]

Oh man, the memories!! I made a LOT of friendship bracelets in my early teen years!

Glad you're enjoying your summer and busy just being- that is the best kind of busy, isn't it?

[Jenn Eats Nutritiously Now]

How FUN! I remember doing those every year at camp and I LOVED it!!!!!

[Kelly]

I'm so wanting to make some of these and have been for a few months! Is it bad to do it if my kids are way too little? Oh well, it can be for me I suppose.

[The Tan Family - Syrendell]

Neat! I haven't made one of these in a long time. Thanks for the link and the inspiration! Terrific summer project.

[Nicole]

I remember making these in junior high. I loved it!

[Lisa Clarke]

I made those, too. In fact, somewhere in this house, I still have a small cigar box full to the brim with friendship bracelets I made. Not sure I could do it from memory now - I'm impressed you remembered how!

[muralimanohar]

Lol..I recently taught my dd how to make them, too...talk about a blast from the past!

[Sarah]

We went through a friendship bracelet craze last summer. It's an easy craft to take along wherever you go. I still have some safety pins and embroidery floss in my glove compartment!

[caroline]

I'm thinking Lily is going to want one as soon as she sees Jane's and Kate's. Maybe I should just start on it now...

[shannon]

thanks so much for that link - our craft of the summer!

[Knitterella]

Friendship bracelets - what memories!

[Sara]

fabulous way to keep the kids busy!

happy summer!

[pve]

sounds like a great project to start a "friendship circle" with all.
my girl loves to do these over the summer...

[Kathy]

My son is obsessed with friendship bracelets -- he has been churning them out at a furious pace. Will check out that link -- thanks!

[Paphos_SK]

Ah yes, friendship bracelets. A craft that always has a renaissance! Perfect as others have said, for taking on road trips.

In Canada, if not elsewhere the absolute bible of this and other 'string' related crafts have been published by
Camilla Gryski.

Don't know if the URL will click properly but I'll try to make it a proper link.
Camilla's writing is so very kid-friendly.

[Stacy]

And just like that: my seven-year old daughter and I are sitting around making friendship bracelets together! :)

Thanks for the nostalgic reminder of fun camp activities!

(And I remembered how to do it, too!)

[Andrea]

memories, memories! I had forgotten all about friendship bracelets. I used to sell them in the 4th grade for 10 cents a piece!

[Audrie]

I used to make these when I was a kid! And I made ones with my name and my friends names in the band too hehe :D

[leslie]

yep... i will be packing the floss in the pool bag.
thanks... so fun!

[Gretchen Ree]

I used to make these all the time too! I will have to teach my girls how to do it. I actually just bought a huge pack of embroidery floss too so that I could start teaching them, and you reminded me :) So thanks!!

[Carrie]

Oooh I used to love making those when I was a kid. I think I had about 23 billion of them. I might have to give it a try again.

[Sam]

How many of these did I make during my summers years ago? Total nostalgia! Thank you! I still have two that my neice made for me when she was in elementary school (she is getting married this summer!) I think I will be trying these again. Soon!

[Sara]

Oh, thanks! I was thinking about friendship bracelets not long ago, and that I should teach my daughter how to do it. Fun! And the color possibilities are endless.

[Ali]

Oh, I used to love making them too. In Reggae colours if I remember rightly....

[Caroline]

Ahh what a blast from the past ;) I could make them from memory too! Thank goodness we pass these things on to the next generation!

[Wendy]

Ha! I like it when fads come back into fashion, even if it is ever so briefly! Well, now that you're all feeling old, pop over to the 100th post giveaway at my blog - I may have something to make you feel better! Wendy xx

[Allison]

Oh that takes me back! I had a whole little case for making them full of many colors of thread. A friend and I even started a little business, like a lemonade stand, where kids could come and order bracelets. We would give a price depending on the complexity of the design and a time estimate for completion. We did the hair wraps too!

I so have to make some of these again now!

[this little light of mine]

Oh, the memories! I loved doing these at summer camp. I had tons of them. Glad to know they are back in style!

[Tiffany]

That is COMPLETELY retro! I made those exact same bracelets when I was a girl scout camp counselor and I sported the hair wraps with pride.
It's amazing how in Japan they are so innovative with their crafts. I have a great Japanese book on friendship braclets that are made in ways I could have never imagined! And it's easy to follow... very pictorial which helps!

[beki]

My goodness, do these ever bring back memories!!

[Cristina Machado]

Wow!!! This bracelets made me return to my childhood. I use to do lots of different ones, some with hearts too. I still have little pieces of almost all my models in a box (25 years old).

[sulu-design]

It's so cool seeing this kind of bracelet again! I spent my summers making tons of them and then selling them at the block party my neighborhood had every fourth of July... I guess they were my first venture into jewelry design and sales. I'm going to have to check out the links. I do remember making one with a V-shape, approaching the center as you tied the knots from both sides. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

[Tarcy]

OMG! I use to make those bracelets all through high school for my friends and myself. The morning of graduation I had about 10 of then going up my arms. Thanks for bringing back the memories.

[patricia]

This brings back a lot of memories! I can totally related to the whole summer is just slowly chugging along. It's nice though...

[Gina]

As a kids we loved making friendship bracelets. We even made them in our hair. I think it was more of a 60's hair thing but we thought of them as friendship strands. I can't remember how it's done, it's been so long since I even thought of that memory. But we would sit on the bed, chatting away, while doing a strand in each others hair.