Today’s craft is perfect for a summer camp craft. DIY bracelets made from plastic canvas!
There are no small parts to lose- or any type of glue required. You don’t even need to have clean hands for this project! You can keep on eating those S’mores!
Supplies needed to make multiple DIY bracelets:
I want to point out how inexpensive plastic canvas is! This bracelet cost me less than 50 cents. You can’t beat that!
To begin- decide how thick you would like your finished bracelet to be. By “thick” I mean how far you want it to stick out on your arm. I made this sample for my daughter, so I went narrow. I chose to use two rows of 7mm plastic canvas. You can go as thick as you like.
Plastic canvas cuts easily with scissors – make sure you trim down any rough edges.
Continue cutting strips from all of the colors you have chosen for your project. I loved the neon colors! So fun!
When you have your strips cut, decide how wide you want your bracelet to be. I chose to go five squares. Trim your strips into equal sections.
Continue cutting all of your strips into equal sections.
Then you are ready to start stringing your plastic canvas “beads” onto elastic cording.
Cut off a generous section of elastic cording. You can always trim it down later- but you can’t add if you short yourself!
Begin stringing your plastic canvas “beads.” You can really get creative here with patterns.
If the cording gets frayed and difficult to string through the canvas holes, trim the end of the cording.
String the plastic canvas “beads” until you have enough to encircle your wrist.
Then fold the elastic cording in half, and lining up all of your plastic canvas sections in a straight line, send the cording back through your canvas “beads” to come out the other end.
If the cording gets hung up when pushing it though the canvas, just separate the canvas, and help the cording through the hole. Mine went through fairly easily.
Pull the cording until the loop is flush with the back of the bracelet, and tie off the single ends.
Circle your bracelet, and take one single end through the loop in the back, and tie a knot.
Trim off the excess elastic cording.
That’s it!
If you are concerned about the knot in the cord showing, you can apply a small amount of adhesive to the two canvas “beads” closest to the knot and adhere them together to sandwich in, and hide the knot.
Repeat for as many bracelets as you would like.
I used a little more than half of one sheet (10.5″x13.5″ 7m) of plastic canvas to make one DIY bracelet.
This is a great project for kids! Stringing the “beads” is wonderful for hand-eye coordination. The plastic canvas is easy to cut, and would make good scissor practice for young children.
With so many colors of plastic canvas to choose from, you could make these DIY bracelets for any holiday!
Happy Crafting!
Click the image above for more Plastic Canvas Challenge entries!
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Shaunte is a 30-something, chocolate-loving, SAHM from Utah. She has been scrapbooking since 1997, the dreaded era of photos cropped with deco scissors. Since then, her work has evolved into a clean, linear, photo-focused style. Her favorite subjects to scrap are her husband and five kids (never a lack for subject material there).
what length was the bracelet. was it for a child under ten. thanks this is a great tutorial
I am wanting to make these bracelets for an upcoming craft bazaar (selling for charity). You mentioned it was one half sheet. Is that per each color or all together. They look Awesome!!! Thanks for the info!
Jenny- one sheet total- for one bracelet. Good luck! They were fun to make!
Awesome!!! Thanks!!! We are having a bracelet making party tomorrow night, my team will be so relieved lol
I want to try this with my granddaughter it looks like a super cool project and when she starts school she will b famous.
Made this with my granddaughter this past week while on vacation with her. She really enjoyed it. She is 7 and had a great time stringing the beads. Grandma got a A+ for this activity she said.
That is great ,always lookinng for things to make with kids, and I need DIY for camp and it needs to be cheap. I think the kids will love it. Thank’s 🙂
So pretty, easy, colorful, thrifty, you name it you scored it. Love the idea and so easy to change up to whatever a person would want to do with this. Will be so fun to figure out other combos. Good to see plastic canvas getting it’s due once again.
Years ago I made picture frames and stitched designs in them for our daughter’s first baby. Also made some for couple of her wedding pics. I was a stitching maniac, had such fun making up different patterns to use. Believe it or not daughter still has the frames and that baby is 16 now. We have a frame with pic of her/her Dad on a table in our room. Keep up the excellent ideas and posts, happy summer.
JaneEllen-
Thank you so much for your kind words, you made my day! Isn’t it funny how the older you get- what was old is eventually new again, but with a twist? I wish I would have kept all of my high school clothes! My daughter would rock them!
I would love for you to share and link up at my weekly TGIF Link Party if you haven’t already this week. Your favorite posts, most popular, recent or new! The party is open every Thursday night and closes Wednesday’s at midnight. Followed by (Not SO) Wordless Wednesday! http://apeekintomyparadise.blogspot.com/. I would be honored if you join us! Have a wonderful week!
Hugs, Cathy
I saw this project on another sight a while back using different colors. ( It might have been on Cut out and keep it) I like all the colors you used.
I’m soooo jealous of this amazing (and quick!) project right now!
Well, now, isn’t that clever. Very out of the box thinking with that one. Love it!!!!
SMART as ALL get out!
I took the easy road for the plastic canvas challenge! 🙂