Tuesday, April 24, 2012

gold bead bracelet || diy tutorial

source
This bracelet tutorial has been popping up on my pinterest boards lately. The bracelets simple and really cute. I have a tiny wrist so I can never buy bracelets. Nothing ever fits me! So this looked really easy and fun to do. Also I hate that I have so many DIY tutorials and ideas pinned but never actually do them, so I decided to take up this project and attempt to make it. 

This picture tutorial makes it look SO easy but it isn't! Or maybe it is for some people, but I'm going to assume that there are people like me out there that need more clear details. There weren't any readable instructions so there was a lot of guessing on my end. I decided to write out a basic tutorial with the aid of the pictures above and my own pictures that will be shown below! 

I couldn't find glass/metal buttons so I bought these plastic ones. They work just as well. I wasn't sure if I should have gotten the big or small glass beads but I decided to go for the bigger ones. The original tutorial probably used the smaller ones. It was still really difficult to put the string in with these big ones, so with the smaller ones it'd take forever!

The original tutorial wasn't very clear how you're supposed to tie the knot so that you end up with three strands instead of four. I took a picture of how to lay out your string so that you can tie the knot. First tie the knot, THEN cut at the bottom.

In the pinterest tutorial the braid is somehow magically done without the bracelet being attached to anything. Not that you can't braid without attaching it somewhere, it'll just be annoying. Trust me. A safety pin is a MUST. You have more control. Once you've attached it to something start braiding. DON'T attach it to your leg unless you want a back ache after. Attach it something higher if possible, maybe your couch, or curtain or something... but my leg was closest to me :)

THIS PART IS THE HARDEST. It looked so easy but once I started to put the beads on and braiding it started twisting around and getting messy. 
not my picture, just my instructions
It isn't as straight and neat as the original, but I think with a few more tries I can get it down. 

Through doing this I actually discovered how deceiving pinterest can be. You feel so accomplished because you discover a lot of really neat DIY projects but I wonder how many of us actually go out, buy the supplies and make what we've pinned. I'm guilty of collecting a lot of resources but never making use of them, so I decided to stop this foolishness and do something. It was fun and tiring but overall a good learning experience. I'll be making a few more since I have different colours. 

If you've tried it show me! Am I the only one that finds these DIY projects a bit difficult at times? 

6 comments:

  1. Hannah! Your explanations are very helpful. I know what you mean, unless it's explained, it's hard to tell what's happening in pictures sometimes. That's why youtube tutorials are so wonderful! You can just follow along.

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  2. these are so pretty!
    you are wonderful at explaining directions.
    i wanna try this sometime!
    xoxo

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  3. hannah... you are so funnyyyy i couldn't help but smile the whole time i was reading
    this post. Your bracelet turned out wonderful and I dislike these picture tutorials!
    I need to read or hear what is going on (me being a communications major, I need everything
    to be explained to every little detail hahaa).

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  4. This looks so much fun! I wanna try to make one soon!
    Thank you for sharing!

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  5. Oh pinterest. It's the devil! I realize how lazy I am when it comes to "let me pin some recipes for dinner this week!" and then we eat out every night. I've seen these bracelets and love them but I have to have clear, precise directions or it comes out a hot mess. And now I want to make this bracelt! My friend made cute ones similar to this but with a hemp bracelet weave so the beads were on the outside. I bet there are so many different styles you could come up with!

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  6. You are not the only one! I have a board on Pinterest called "If only I had time..." --true story. I can't even try to start a craft project, because my 2 year old is all up in my business all the time. This looks like a neat project, though: I may be up for trying it!

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