Colorful Accessories: How to Make Bungee Neon Bracelets

When the warmer weather hits, I LOVE adding vibrant colors to my wardrobe. Are you the same way? These fun and colorful bungee neon bracelets scream “summertime!” to me. This was my first experience working with bungee cord – I tried a few different styles of clasps, beads, and stringing. I made 3 different kinds of neon bracelets, and I’m happy to share the pros and cons to each style, along with my best success working with stretchy and bulky bungee cord. Now – don’t get me wrong, bulk is NOT a bad thing! You get a thick and chunky look with very little effort. The little bit of stretch is also really nice. But it’s unlike any other jewelry cord I’ve worked with (and trust me – that’s a lot). Ready for a new trend? Let’s take a look at these DIY neon bracelets!

After trying out a few different styles, my favorite of the 3 neon bracelets was the blue. I’m going to show that to you first. This post will operate like 3 separate tutorial for neon bracelets, but I’m keeping them all together in one post since they are all very similar. I’ll point out what I liked best about each of these styles.

Supplies needed to make your own neon bracelets – Style #1 (the blue bracelet):

• Bungee Cord in the Bright Cool Mix
• Bronze Mix & Mingle Beads in the Bright Blue Mix
• Textured Bronze Clasp
• Aleene’s Jewelry Glue
• Scissors
• Bead Reamer or a large pin (for grabbing cord and squeezing it through holes – my bead reamer was a perfect tool)
• Optional, and just for grown-ups: open flame like a candle, or a lighter, for melting working ends to prevent fraying

I really liked this clasp the best.  You can either tie your cord around it, or you can glue it into place.  I opted to glue it, so there would not be a visible knot.  I also liked how well it accommodates 2 cords.

Cut 2 lengths of bungee cord about 6-3/4 inches.  The clasp will add a little bit of length, and in most cases, I aim for a 7-inch finished length.  Because the cord stretches, you’ll have a little leeway, too.  I used a lighter to melt the ends slightly – not set them on fire, of course – but enough so that they won’t fray while you’re working.  This is an optional step, but I did find it helpful enough to recommend it to responsible crafters.  Add a large drop of glue to the inside of one end cap, and glue both cords into place next to each other.  There is a divider bar inside, which makes it especially easy to fit both cords in.

Now – stringing the beads onto 2 cords was not as easy as I thought, because the cord is flexible rather than firm.  So I found a way to use the “squish” of it to my advantage, and used my bead reamer as a pick to pull the cords through.  Once I figured out THAT trick, I got a lot more excited about working with bungee cord.  (Enough to move on and to make 2 more neon bracelets!)

When you get to the end, you may discover that your cords have stretched unevenly.  If that happens – it’s not a problem!  Just trim them evenly, melt them again (if you’re comfortable doing so), and glue on the other end cap.

The blue bracelet, the first try of my neon bracelets, was finished up in about 10 minutes.

After the tight squeeze, I wanted to try a single-strand design.  So next, I made up a green bracelet.  While it was certainly easier to make up (I finished this design in about 5 minutes), I found that the beads being able to slide around more loosely was distracting to me (just a personal preference).  I preferred the two-strand design, but if you’re having difficulty, try starting with this single-strand design and see what you think!

Supplies needed to make your own neon bracelets – Style #2 (the green bracelet):

• Lime Green Bungee Cord
• Peridot 1 Mix & Mingle Beads
• Large Silver Hook & Eye Clasp
• Aleene’s Jewelry Glue
• Scissors
• Bead Reamer or a large pin (for grabbing cord and squeezing it through holes – my bead reamer was a perfect tool)
• Optional, and just for grown-ups: open flame like a candle, or a lighter, for melting working ends to prevent fraying

This time, I just cut one strand of bungee cord, gave the ends a gentle melt, and got to work.  The end cap was a snug fit, and I used my bead reamer to squish it in there after adding a dab of jewelry glue.

The beads strung on really nicely, and in no time, I was ready for the opposite end cap.  I glued it into place, and this was about as close as it gets to an instant bracelet.  And what a fun color mix, too, don’t you think?

I moved onto a different type of bead next, and made up the pink bracelet with a rhinestone tube bead.

Supplies needed to make your own neon bracelets – Style #3 (the pink bracelet):

• Bungee Cord in the Bright Cool Mix
• Curved Silver Rhinestone Tube Bead
• Silver Rhinestone Magnetic Clasp
• Aleene’s Jewelry Glue
• Scissors
• Bead Reamer or a large pin (for grabbing cord and squeezing it through holes – my bead reamer was a perfect tool)
• Optional, and just for grown-ups: open flame like a candle, or a lighter, for melting working ends to prevent fraying

I went back to the two-strand style for the final bracelet, cutting two pink cords 6-3/4 inches long, and gluing the end cap onto both strands like I did with the blue bracelet.

I still needed the aid of my bead reamer to get both cords through the holes in the bead, but it moved really quickly – I think this style bead is a little easier than the mix and mingle beads, and it lends a different look (so if you’re making up a few neon bracelets for arm candy, they are going to stack with nice variety).

This style took me about 5 minutes to assemble.

All together, I was finished in about a half hour, and had a bright, fun stack of neon bracelets to show for my craft time!

There are so many fun combinations of bungee neon bracelets to make, and by using double strands you can also mix colors, too!

What colors do you like wearing when the weather warms up?

Adrianne

Adrianne is a writer, artist, designer, wife, and mom of 2 kids. She blogs at happyhourprojects.com where the theme is tutorials and recipes that can be made in an hour or less. Her favorite projects are jewelry-making, paper crafts, and recycled crafts. She participates annually in ArtPrize, an international art competition, and she’s the author of the book DIY T-Shirt Crafts: 50 Ways to Recycle a T-Shirt (August 2015).