Simple beaded bracelets

Today was the sixth birthday party for one of my cousin's daughters. When I give birthday presents to  kids, I try to include something that I've handmade, such as hair barrettes, headbands or zipper pulls. (This is a much easier task for the girls than the boys.) For today's birthday girl, I decided to make a few simple beaded bracelets, which I haven't done in ages.

I didn't want to put clasps on the bracelets -- they can be a pain for adults, never mind six-year-old girls who don't always have the patience to wait for someone to help them put on a bracelet -- so I opted for elastic instead. I used 0.5 mm diameter Stretch Magic elastic jewelry cord (Pepperell Braiding Company). For each bracelet I played around with different color combinations, bead shapes and patterns until I liked the result. These two are the more subtle and "sophisticated" bracelets of the group.

For a little contrast, the next two bracelets are more bold and bright. I've always been a fan of rainbows (and things arranged in rainbow order), so these bracelets are my favorites.

I think the birthday girl liked the bracelets; she put all four of them on as soon as she opened her present. Of course, the next time I saw them, maybe 15 minutes later, one had already broken. Sigh. I can't say I'm surprised -- it's a lively group of kids in my extended family -- but I also think I didn't close the crimp bead quite right. So I brought home as many of the loose beads as we could find, and I'll try stringing them again. Better luck next time, I hope.

Thanks for stopping by!