This Preppy Ribbon Bracelet Tutorial Brought to you by a Rainy Day

It was kind of a dreary weekend in New England this past Saturday and Sunday. Sticky and hot, but cloudy. Usually I’d be bummed about the grey skies, but it ended up being a good detterent from outdoor fun and gave me an excuse to stay inside, watch terrible E! movies (Like He’s Just Not that Into You and The Lake House), and just craft craft craft. 

 

Wise words from He's Just Not that Into You (I saw this 3 times in the theater, no joke)

Mr. Rucksack locked himself in the air conditioned guest room to do some work and I got down to business taking over the entire downstairs with wedding projects I’ve been putting off. And when I say the entire downstairs, I mean it. The office/craft room exploded into a cloud of paper scraps as I used my Silhouette to cut out gold letters for our table signs. The dining room became hot glue gun central. And the living room was jewelry making station. 

I moved from station to station like a kid at arts & crafts summer camp, not bothering to clean anything up because I knew I’d have to come back to each eventually. Poor Mr. Rucksack. We now just have a 2x2 space for eating on our dining room table because wedding has taken over all other viable space. 

My favorite station was jewelry station. Not only did it allow me to better keep up with the terrible TV I was watching, but it was almost therapeutic. Hot glue guns and my Silhouette almost always induce a bout of Tourette’s like curse words out of my mouth, but for some reason I can be patient with beading.

Most of what I do falls into the 2 left side categories of pain and possibility of successful outcome. I just never know which it's going to be until the very last second. Via Conquering Crafts

This time the outcome was actually fantastic and it really does look just like the Pinterest version! Hooray - maybe crafting hope isn't lost!

Personal Photo

I’m going to give one of these to each of the bridesmaids to wear at the wedding – half will get pink & white and the other half will get the navy & white. Flower Girl Rucksack will get one in all pink obvi. 

I used a combination of Pinterest and Etsy as my inspiration and while I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a tutorial floating around on the internet, I didn’t use it. Partly because I couldn’t find it and partly because I’m not really good at following instructions. I usually just see a craft, decide to make it and then figure it out. This may be one of the reasons that my craft time usually involves cursing and crying. 

In case you’re better at following directions than I am, I did take pictures along the way and will do my best to describe the process:

Personal Photo

1. Gather materials. I used small ¼ inch glass beads and ¼ inch grosgrain ribbon. You can definitely go larger for the beads, but I liked how dainty and preppy the smaller size looked. You’ll also need a small sewing needle (check that it fits through your bead holes first!) and thread. I had purchased beading string, but it ended up being too thick for the needle. The sewing thread actually worked much better anyway.
2. Leaving a 4 inch tail, start by sewing a small X into your ribbon. This is important because the grosgrain can separate a little and if you just make a knot, it will come through the other side. I learned this the hard way after completing a bracelet that completely broke apart.
3. After sewing your X, thread one of your beads onto the side where your knot is. This isn’t essential, but it helps to cover up the ugly knot and tail. Move your needle and thread through the other side about ¼ inch away from your first X (more if your beads are larger) then come back through another ¼ inch away from there. Add another bead and repeat.
4. When you pull your thread tight, you’ll be left with the cute ruffles. I pulled every two to three beads and adusted.
5. Once you’ve reached your desired length, sew another X on the backside of the ribbon and knot the thread on the underside (where the bead is). Leave another 4 inch tail and cut on the diagonal.
6. Tie into a bow!
7. And steal one because they’re so darn cute!

I used my own arm as a size guide and since there’s a long tail for the bow, they’re adjustable and really are one size fits all. 

Mr. Rucksack loves them too, even announcing “You should sell those on Etsy!” He’s so cute. I also think he’s just really happy I found something crafty that I’m good at and doesn’t cause a temper tantrum! 

Are you making any jewelry for your crew? And are you as bad at following directions as I am?