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DIY eco-friendly friendship bracelet ideas

DIY eco-friendly friendship bracelet ideas

Did you know that friendship bands have been used for centuries by South American and Central American Indians? They tied the colorful bands on their friend’s wrist as a sign of friendship and the friend could wish for something he wanted at that time. The friendship bands were supposed to be worn till they wore out and fell off the wrist! Exchanging friendship bands shows our love and affection for our friends and what could be better than bands we make ourselves. These eco-friendly friendship bracelet ideas and tips will be friendly for the planet too.

DIY eco-friendly friendship bracelet

Instead of purchasing store bought friendship bands, make these lovely bands from plastic and paper. This will keep the plastic and other materials away from the landfills, and after they have outlived their use, they should be recycled too. Do tell your friends to recycle their homemade bands after they have outlived their time.

DIY friendship band from plastic bags

DIY friendship band from plastic bags

Step 1

To make eco-friendly friendship bracelet, you can use surplus plastic bags which would have otherwise landed up in your trash bin. You would also need a clipboard, scissors and paper which you have used already. You don’t need fresh paper for this diy project.

Step 2

Rinse out the plastic bags and let them dry. Then cut each of the bags into strips which are one inch wide and 12 inches long. You can measure your wrist or your child’s wrists to check if the strips would be the right size for the wrist.

Step 3

Now, tie three of the plastic bag strips together, at one of the ends. Your child and you can easily make at home this bracelet. Clip the tied end under a clipboard, so that it stays in place when you are braiding the strips. After you have braided the strips till the end, then tie a knot to secure it completely.

Step 4

Add a message on environment conservation or a message for friendship, with the help of a card. The paper can add a dash of color and cut into small rectangles or squares which you can attach to each card. You might make a hole in the piece of paper and include in the bracelet while braiding also.

This is one of the easiest homemade bracelet which you can make in just one afternoon, and your child can give to his/her classmates and friends with joy and happiness!

Recycled paper beads bracelet

Recycled paper beads braceletThese paper beads will look as though they have been made from wood. No one is ever able to guess that the beads have been made using recycled material. It is an inexpensive and fun project which you would love to show off. All you need is paper from junk mail, old calendars, wrapping paper or papers from magazines. One magazine would be sufficient to make enough beads for about 3 bracelets! And it takes only about an hour to complete this beautiful eco-friendly friendship bracelet.

Step 1

To make one recycled paper bead, you will need one page of paper from a magazine or junk mail or brochure or calendar. Glossy paper is better than matte paper. Choose the colors you love, the words on paper do not matter.

You will also need a paper cutter which has measurements marked on it, or an exacto/utility knife, and a ruler, glue stick, toothpicks (wooden), nail polish (clear) and Styrofoam (optional), elastic beading cord 9-10 inches long, glass and silver beads, cuticle scissors.

Step 2

For this eco-friendly friendship bracelet, which is homemade, you have to first cut your chosen page into strips which are approx 7.8 inches by ½ inch. You can cut up the whole page, but you will need only four strips for one bracelet.

Step 3

Cut each of the strips in half diagonally, so that you get a triangle shaped paper. For one of these bracelets which you would make at home, you will need 8 diagonally cut paper strips. To make a bead, you will have to roll the paper widthwise around a toothpick in one rotation. Then take your glue stick and cover the rest of the paper’s surface with some glue.

Step 4

After cleaning your hands, you can roll the strip of paper tightly around your toothpick. Then slip it off from the toothpick and your bead is ready. The bead will slip off easily as you did not apply to the paper which was in contact with the toothpick. The opening left by the toothpick will be the hole through which you string it on to the bracelet’s cord.

Step 5

Now, make as many of these beads as you would require for a single bracelet, or maybe even 2 or 3 bracelets. You can add gloss coating so that it would harden/cure the beads, and make your eco-friendly friendship bracelet waterproof. Select each of the beads and coat them with the clear nail polish. This will dry in about 5 minutes or less. Keep the beads on some Styrofoam to dry so that they do not touch each other or the table top.

After your beads have dried, check each one carefully and using the cuticle scissors, trim any small paper tags which are not glued in place.

Organize the beads into a string, and use some silver or gold bead which you may have from earlier projects. These beads will give variety and color.

Step 6

Now, cut the elastic beading cord into the size you want, after first measuring the child’s wrist if you are making for a child. String your beads, then knot the cord and trim the excess portion.

This idea is very simple and you can make tons of pretty bracelets for yourself, your child, child’s friends, your friends – the list is endless. Give a manly twist to it using colors like brown, black or red, if you are making for man friend.

These super simple eco-friendly friendship bracelet ideas made  using recycled material are perfect recycled material projects. They are a good, artistic use for plastic bags and paper which is no longer useful for you.

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