Braided Bead Bracelet

i have a few new internet loves.....i should really say obsessions. one of them is now stumbleupon.com. if you've never been on this site...WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR!!! GO!!! GO NOW!!!...ok wait!! maybe after reading this post you can go ;) whilst "stumbling" the other day i was directed to this site Honestly WTF. they have a great selection of tutorials and i came across a great tutorial on making a braided bead bracelet. if you follow to their site, you too can make one!

i am pretty impatient so i headed out to my local craft store thinking all the waxed linen cord would be there and everything else.....well.....sadly no. it wasn't. but what i did get worked. tho i'm kinda wishing i had the waxed linen cord, the beads would have gone on much easier.

the picture on the side is the materials i used. it's a hemp beading twine that's 9.1mm, 6/0 glass beads, and a 12mm two hole button. i had to keep re-twisting the ends of the twine to get the beads on, but over all they went on fairly well. once you get a few beads on you can really start to see the pattern and pulling it tight as you go helps. i'm sure with the waxed cord it's WAY easier but like i said i'm pretty impatient and didn't feel like driving all over town or waiting for internets ordering. here is a picture of mine finished.




it feels really super soft on my wrist and really light weight. will i be making more of these? possibly. the only draw back for me is that after awhile of pinching the tiny beads, my fingers and hands cramp up. i bought some other color beads as well, so i'd love to see how those turn out. a good friend of mine came over today and she made one using purple hemp cord and clear beads and it turned out so pretty as well! the beads she used were a bit bigger and the cord also a bit thicker. it created a whole different look.

if you get a chance to make one, please let me know and send me some pictures!

xo-amanda