What a great fashion accessory that can be made in no time at all! We love this tutorial from Happy Hour Projects. Check out their blog for more great DIY!!
I didn't invent this design or anything - I'm sure you've seen variations floating around on Craftgawker and Pinterest. But I finally made some - there's hardly even a tutorial involved, they're such a quick thing - and I will give you some hints for keeping it as simple as possible.
First of all, my focal pieces are links from a chain I picked up somewhere along the line. I just used a pair of wire cutters to remove a few links.
Think creatively here: you can use anything round, or anything that has two holes. Anything that you can tie two sets of twine to. Washers, connecting charms - just raid your box of things-you've-been-hanging-onto - you may surprise yourself at what you can find that will work!
Cut six lengths of 18" (give or take an inch or two) twine. I have LOTS of hemp leftover from the wish bracelets and word bracelets I made, so that is what I used. If you're low on twine you can make this with four strands, but braiding with four strands takes more time than a traditional braid for me, so to keep this *simple* I'm going to tell you to use six. You could also use embroidery floss here, cotton twine - really, anything you like the looks of!
Take three of your strands, and double them in half, so that you have six loose ends, and three loops in the center. Take the loops and thread them through your focal ring.
(You'll notice there are only two in the photo - when I took my photo, I hadn't yet discovered how much slower I would be at a four-strand braid. So yours will have three loops here.)
Thread the tails of your string through the loops of the string - making a knot. Knot people, help me out here - isn't this a square knot? **Update** - many thanks to Salla for solving this mystery, it's a lark's head knot. A square knot would tie two loops together. I learned something today, thank you!!
Anyway, knot it with your lark's head knot, and do the same on the other side of your focal ring. Like so.
Now, separate your strands for your braid. Remember, you will have six (I fixed that below). Just divide them up two, two, and two. I find that clamping it into my clipboard really works the best to secure it while I braid. And yes, my clipboard does have a giant pink flower on it. :P
Now, just braid it like normal! If you have decided to use more or less twine, there are methods to braiding any number of strands out there. But to keep this fast, I used a traditional braid. It took me maybe a minute to do each side this way. Once you get to the end, tie an overhand knot to finish it off. That's it. Super easy!
You could also fancy it up and attach end caps and a clasp, or even a button and loop end. But with the twine, just tying it like a friendship bracelet really seemed the most appropriate to me.
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