Friendship Bracelets

Friendship bracelets are one of the most iconic camp traditions that have been around since the beginning of summer fun! The ultimate accessory to give your BFF, family members, counselor, pet, or even keep for yourself, these bracelets remind individuals of the promise of friendship and can be used to show commitment to a buddy for long lasting love and togetherness.

Friendship bracelets are an affordable and convenient way of doing crafts with loved ones, that can have endless uses and meanings!!
Friendship bracelets can be a relaxing craft to do outside or in a relaxing space! Make a music playlist to relax with and chill to while you make your creations!

FUN FACT: each knot made in a friendship bracelet holds a different meaning!

Supplies:
1. Coloured string
Pro tip: look at the colour wheel on google to match different colours together!
2. Scissors
3. Tape
Pro tip: you can also use a water bottle instead! Perfect for carrying around at camp!
4. Ruler

We have several different bracelet types that we will show you today, each with varying difficulty:

Spiral staircase (beginner)
Pinstripe (intermediate)
Chevron (intermediate)
Pattern (advanced)

To start, pick the type of bracelet you would like to do, and scroll down to the instruction guide for that type of bracelet!

Spiral Staircase

#1: Chose your string

This particular bracelet needs 3 different coloured strings!
Can also be done with 2 colours of string
You must measure each one of your coloured string to be 5ft long

Pro tip: use your arm length X2 for another accurate measurement if you don’t have a ruler!

Cut 1 pieces of each colour of string

*** see photo

#2: Fold the string in half

You now want to fold all of your string in half so that you can create a loop for your begging top know

*** see photo

#3: The top Knot

For any bracelet you need a top knot to keep the bracelet together and to hold it down onto a surface
Start by creating a basic knot but leave room at the top of your knot so that the loop of your bracelet is big enough for you to tape down, or hook onto something

*** see photo
Pro tip: this is where you can loop your bracelet around your water bottle. When you fold your bracelet in half, you can fold it around the cap of your water bottle to make your bracelet more portable!
#4: Tape down your bracelet

By taping down your bracelet, it can allow you to create straighter lines, and tighter knots
You want to place your tape and bracelet on a solid surface so that it sticks and wont come loose

*** see photo
Pro tip: try taping it to a book you are reading or something small and sturdy so you can carry it around with you! You can even use cardboard, the back of a chair, or your leg!

#5: Knotting

There is only one knot in this bracelet that you will repeat over, and over again called the forward knot
You start by taking the string you want to be first (your first colour) and folding it over the other strings to the left

*** see photo
Pro tip: I always think it looks like a sailboat, or the number 4!

It is very important that the string you fold is over top of both the other two strings or your bracelet will be backwards
After you create your forward knot (sailboat, #4), you want to tuck the tail end of forward knot under and through the fold/opening you just created with the left crossover.

*** see photo

#6: Repeat knotting

After you have created your first knot, you want to repeat this knot with the same colour 2-4 times depending on how long you want your colour strand to be!
After you have gotten your first string to the length you want, move on to the next colour and repeat step 5

*** see example

This is where you can get creative with design and do as many knots in a colour section that you want, as long as you keep the same order of colours

Example bracelet: for our bracelet shown in the example we chose orange yellow and pink, and did 4 knots for each colour!

Pinstripe

#1: Chose your string

For this particular bracelet you need at least 3 colours of string.

Pro tip: for more advanced crafters - you can use more than 3 colours, but this will take more time, and your bracelet will be thicker width wise, and you will need a larger length of string

You must measure each one of your coloured string to be 4ft long

Pro tip: use your arm length X2 for another accurate measurement if you don’t have a ruler!

Cut 3 pieces of each colour of string

*** see photo

#2: Fold the string in half

You now want to fold all of your string in half so that you can create a loop for your begging top now

*** see photo

#3: The top Knot

For any bracelet you need a top knot to keep the bracelet together and to hold it down onto a surface
Start by creating a basic knot but leave room at the top of your knot so that the loop of your bracelet is big enough for you to tape down, or hook onto something!

#4: Tape down your bracelet

By taping down your bracelet, it can allow you to create straighter lines, and tighter knots
You want to place your tape and bracelet on a solid surface so that it sticks and wont come loose

*** see photo
Pro tip: try taping it to a book you are reading or something small and sturdy so you can carry it around with you! You can even use cardboard, the back of a chair, or your leg!

#5: Sort your strings

Sort the string so that the colours are in the order that you want them to appear, and so that the strings of the same colour are next to one another

*** see photo

During the knotting process, it is important to keep all of your strings in order to see where you are in your bracelet

 #6: Knotting

There is only one knot in this bracelet that you will repeat over, and over again called the forward knot
You start by taking the string you want to be first (your first colour) and folding it over the other string of the same colour that is directly beside it

*** see photo
Pro tip: I always think it looks like a sailboat, or the number 4!

It is very important that the string you fold is over top of the string beside it and not over all of them together or your bracelet will be backwards and wonky
One string creating the forward knot over one string at a time
After you create your first forward knot (sailboat, #4), you want to tuck the tail end of forward knot under and through the fold/opening you just created with the left crossover.

*** see video

#7: Repeat knotting

After you have created your first knot, you want to repeat this knot with the same colour over the same string 1-3 times depending on how long you want your colour strand to be!
After you have gotten your first string to the length you want, move on to the sting down the line and repeat step 5

*** see video

You want to move across the strings knotting the same forward knot the same amount of times over every string so that your lines look even!

#8: Starting a new row

After you have gone through the entire row with your first string, pick up the string that is now in front and repeat step 7

Chevron

#1: Chose your string

For this particular bracelet you need at least 3 colours of string.

Pro tip: for more advanced crafters - you can use more than 3 colours, but this will take more time, and your bracelet will be thicker width wise, and you will need a larger length of string

You must measure each one of your coloured string to be 5ft long

Pro tip: use your arm length X2 for another accurate measurement if you don’t have a ruler!

Cut 2 pieces of each colour of string

*** see photo

#2: Fold the string in half

You now want to fold all of your string in half so that you can create a loop for your begging top now

#3: The top Knot

For any bracelet you need a top knot to keep the bracelet together and to hold it down onto a surface
Start by creating a basic knot but leave room at the top of your knot so that the loop of your bracelet is big enough for you to tape down, or hook onto something!

Pro tip: this is where you can loop your bracelet around your water bottle. When you fold your bracelet in half, you can fold it around the cap of your water bottle to make your bracelet more portable!

#4: Tape down your bracelet

By taping down your bracelet, it can allow you to create straighter lines, and tighter knots
You want to place your tape and bracelet on a solid surface so that it sticks and wont come loose

Pro tip: try taping it to a book you are reading or something small and sturdy so you can carry it around with you! You can even use cardboard, the back of a chair, or your leg!

#5: Sort your strings

Sort your strings so that the colour order of your stands will be the colour order of the patters
Separate the strands so that the colour order mirrors itself
During the knotting process, it is important to keep all of your strings in order to see where you are in your bracelet

#6: Knotting

There are 2 types of knots in this bracelet that you will repeat over, and over again called the forward knot and the backwards knot

FORWARDS KNOT

You start by taking the string you want to be first (your first colour) and folding it over the other string of the next colour that is directly beside it

Pro tip: I always think it looks like a sailboat, or the number 4!

It is very important that the string you fold is over top of the string beside it and not over all of them together or your bracelet will be backwards and wonky
One string creating the forward knot over one string at a time
After you create your first forward knot (sailboat, #4), you want to tuck the tail end of forward knot under and through the fold/opening you just created with the left crossover.

#7: Repeat knotting from the LEFT

After you have created your first knot, you want to repeat this knot with the same colour over the same string 1-3 times depending on how long you want your colour strand to be!
After you have gotten your first string to the length you want, move on to the string down the line and repeat step 5

You want to move across the strings knotting the same forward knot the same amount of times over every string so that your lines look even!
You must stop your knotting when you get to the same colour of string or when you reach the center
You want this to look like a V pattern

#8: Repeat knotting from the RIGHT

Once you have created half of your V from the left, move to the far right string and start your backwards knot

BACKWARDS KNOT

This knot is very similar to the forwards knot
Start by taking the far right string and folding it to the left so it makes a backwards 4
You repeat this backwards knot the entire time down the right side of the bracelet
Repeat this backwards knot the same amount of times as the forward knot on the other side until you reach the middle

#9: Creating the "V"

Once you have reached the middle of the string with the same colours facing each other you tie either a forwards or a backwards knot
Use the same amount of knots

#10: Starting a new row

After you have gone through the entire row with your first string, pick up the string that is now in front on the left and repeat step 7-9