Friendship bands have been popular amongst kids since the beginning of time – more precisely since the early 1970s in the US. It was believed back then that the wearer should not take it off till the colors fade or the cords of the bracelet wear out to honor the hard work and love put in by their best friend into making it (you can read more about the interesting history of friendship bands here). With Friendship Day around the corner in the first week of August, I thought it could be a good idea to revive the craft with some simple, fun DIY friendship band ideas that you can get crafting with your kids at home for D-day.
Image courtesy: Pixabay
Button Friendship Bands: Any type of buttons can do for this type of bands, provided they are not very small in size. It would be ideal to have two types of buttons, one slightly larger in size than the other, so that the smaller ones can fit over the larger ones like a disc (if you are more adventurous and/or have more time on your hands, you could make this type of friendship band with three buttons too instead of just two). Take a piece of thick string and tie a knot at one end of it. Placing two (or three) buttons one over the other as mentioned above, thread them together from the bottom towards the upside and then cross towards the bottom again. Keep repeating the same procedure till your bracelet is as long as you want it to be and tie up a knot at the end like you did before to keep the buttons in place. You can go through this button bracelet craft activity to get a better idea of how it’s done. Voila, your simple DIY friendship band is ready!
Toilet Roll Friendship Bands: These can be like the new and trendy, broad friendship bands that double up as a recycled craft as well. Get hold of some discarded toilet rolls, some brightly colored duct tape (optional) and a pair of blunt scissors. There are two ways of going about this: If you’re planning to use duct tape, just roll it around the cardboard roll 2-3 times. If not, your child can put their artistic skills to work where the toilet roll is their canvas; crayons or water colors will work best on a relatively light colored background so it can be a good idea to perhaps cover the (usually) brown colored toilet paper rolls with white paper for them to draw or paint on. Once done, slice long ways up through the tube to open it up so that it can slide in easily on the wrist. For younger kids, it could be a good idea to divide a single toilet paper roll into two by cutting through the middle to make two friendship bands – a colorful way to proclaim to the world the everlasting bond between two best friends!
Braided Woolen Friendship Bands: One of the most traditional type of DIY friendship bands, I remember me and my sister making these braided woolen bracelets by hand back in our childhood. The process is simple – take three different colors of woolen threads cut to suitable lengths (to fit easily on the wrist) and tie a knot at one end before you ask your child to start braiding them – left over the centre, right over the centre and so on till you reach about an inch or so from the end. Tie another knot at the other end and you’re done with a simple yet good-looking friendship day band. If you’re good with fishtail braids, have a look at this interesting fishtail braid friendship band tutorial for a quick and easy way to make them.
Like they say: ‘True friends are never apart; maybe in distance, but never in heart.’ A big shout-out to all my friends out there – Happy Friendship Day!
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