Friendship Bracelets

So remember those colorful string friendship bracelets you used to spend hours making with your friends when you were younger?  Well those bracelets have gotten a major makeover.  A few weeks ago my sister started wearing these awesome bracelets on her wrists, when I asked her about them she said the kids she babysits for made them for her, & when I took a closer look they were made out of rubber bands & I knew I had to learn how to make them!  In the meantime was my sister's graduation party, it was my first time meeting the kids that she babysits for & there parents, she had told the kids that I wanted to learn how to make the bracelets, & they invited me to come over one day to learn.  So last week when she went to babysit the kids I went with her for my tutorial.  The kids were so sweet & excited, & they were really good teachers!  The bracelets are made from mini colored rubber bands that you put together using a loom & crochet hook.  You can buy a starter kit that comes with the loom, hook, & a bag of assorted colored rubber bands, you can then buy individual colors of the rubber bands in packs of 600 bands, all of these are made by Rainbow Loom.  I loved making them so much we went to the store so I could get a kit for myself.

The kids' intense rubber band box that can be found with all the rubber bands & the starter kit on Amazon!

There are so many bracelets you can make, just by arranging the rubber bands in different orders on the loom & hooking them to one another.  On Rainbow Loom's website they have 24 different videos to make all sorts of bracelets.

The kids taught me how to make 4 different styles of bracelets (pictured on the left), I watched one of the tutorials, & myself how to make another one (pictured on the right).  In addition to the tutorials there are 'pattern maps' for how to arrange the rubber bands on the loom, they are pictured below:

The most basic bracelet is the first one that you will need to learn.  It is called the single pattern bracelet:

Below are some of the other bracelets I know how to make:

The kids taught me how to make a fishtail bracelet that there isn't a video tutorial of.

Here are the directions for how to make it:

This bracelet can be made with 2 or 3 colors.  

1. Twist a rubber band into a 'figure 8' & place on 2 pegs on the outer edge of the loom.

2. Place 2 rubber bands above the first one. (For 2 colors: X Y X / For 3 colors: X Y Z)

3. Using the hook pull one side of the bottom rubber band over the top rubber band.

4. This is how it should look.

5. Then pull the other side of the bottom rubber band over the top rubber band, it will look like this.

6. After steps 3 & 4 add another rubber band over the remaining 2 (there should be 3 on the pegs at all times until the end), pull each side of the bottom rubber band over the top rubber band.

7. Continue pulling each side of the bottom band over the top one, adding rubber bands for each one you pull over until it reaches a desired length.  You want the bracelet to be smaller then your wrist as it will stretch, if it is the same size as your wrist it will be too big.

8. When it gets to the desired length do not add anymore rubber bands, you will have only 2 on the pegs.  Pull one side of the bottom rubber band over the top one.
9. Pull the other side of the bottom rubber band over the top one.
10. You will be left with one rubber band on the 2 pegs, it will look like this.

11. Take the remaining rubber band off of the peg with the hook .
12. Put it on the peg like this.

13. This is a 'C' clip & is what you will use to secure the bracelet.
14. Put both sides of the rubber band into the 'C' clip, then bring the other side of the bracelet & secure each side of the last rubber band on that side onto the 'C' clip too.

The finished bracelet will look like this.  To me this is the tightest & best looking bracelet out of all the ones you can make, it's also super easy!

Colorful friendship bracelets have popped up on different runways from time to time.  They are something that never seems to go out of style & the best part is that you can make them in whatever colors or style you want.  Even celebrities get in on the trend!  With the Rainbow Loom & these patterns you can upgrade a basic homemade bracelet into something really cool.

Bonus: These bracelets make for a fun craft to do with kids -- your own or the ones you babysit/nanny!

What are your thoughts on this new take on friendship bracelets?