Making a folded paper bracelet is a fun way to keep the kids busy and to use up old paintings. Plus, they look so pretty!
We love our watercolour paint sets. I mean, we really love them.
I don’t think a week ever goes by when someone doesn’t get out the watercolours for a little painting. One of the big kids got them out on the weekend, and before long all four kids were busy filling the paper with colour.
With so much painting, there is always a pile of finished artwork in my study and recently I remembered a fun way to use it. Cleaning out some paperwork I came across an ancient photocopied sheet of instructions for making folded paper bracelets. I remember making these as a teenager, and I knew my kids would love to transform their paintings into wearable art so we got out the pile of paintings got to work!
How to Make a Folded Paper Bracelet
To make a folded paper bracelet you need 16-22 strips of paper. The strips of paper need to be 12cms x 3cms, bigger or smaller is fine, as long as the size ratio is 1:4.
We worked on our maths skills, counting by threes to rule up the paper and then I cut the strips with a paper cutter to making lots of strips quickly and easily.
For each bracelet you’ll need between 16 and 22 strips, depending on how big a bracelet you want to make. We used 18 strips to make one big enough to fit over my ten year old’s hand.
Now that you have your paper strips, follow the instructions below to fold them and construct the bracelet.
Begin by folding your strips into the basic shape, my six year old was good at this process.
Now you need to learn the basic construction technique. This is a little tricky but with help and supervision my girls (aged ten) were able to master the process after some learning time.
Once you’ve got the hang of it, keep adding strips. I suggest making the loop part of each strip a little on the large size when working with kids, it will look a little less neat and symmetrical when finished but it makes it much easier for kids to insert the next strip.
Keep adding strips…
Eventually you will have a long enough chain to make a bracelet. Remember it needs to fit over your hand when it is done, so don’t make it too small!
Our folded paper bracelets turned out even better than I remembered! The colours of the kid’s paintings looked fabulous all folded together.
They would make an unusual and one of a kind gift don’t you think!? Perfect for Mother’s Day or an activity at a tween party?
We are working on folding a really big one to make a crown!
What do you do with your kid’s artwork?
We used our favourite watercolour paints and water soluble crayons to make these paintings. My kids love watercolour paints because there are lots of colour options, and I love them because they are quick and easy to set up and not super messy. One of our all time favourite sets is the fluro tempera blocks, the colours are so awesome!
super cool and easy !!
Thank you for this bracelet instructions. I am thinking of doing it with my 6 year old Great Granddaughter but using old road maps. They go out of date so quickly that this is a great way of recycling them.
I have started to make one but im stuck. Ive done the first few instructions but after tucking in the pape after folding it the second time, i cant figure out how to turn it and carry on. can you help?
thanks :)
A blogging friend of mine made a video of the process… this might help – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVAb3yF7Dzo
These are absolutely brilliant. I’m off to try them with my Girls Brigade girls. Great photos and instructions which makes a potentially tricky craft that little bit easier.
I love !! Its beautiful !!
thank you
Lili
Do you think two strips could be sewn together to make bracelets sided?
I’m not sure what you are asking?
But I think if you sewed paper together it would make it very think and super hard to fold.
I remember making this with the wrappers from wrigley’s gum sticks as a kid! Brings back great memories…. one I think I’ll share with my granddaughters, but I’m thinking it will be with cut up artwork. How cool!
I like it it is so helpful
Oh my goodness what an AWESOME idea!!!! I absolutely love this, so creative and so fun! I work at a preschool and I know our kids would love this too!!! Thanks for the inspiration!!!
Very simple DIY, Thanks love it. Please share more..
Agreed!
This took me a long time to understand, and I had to tape a lot of the joints in the end, but in all, it looks great!
What size paper do you think I should use if I want to make a bigger version for a crown?
You could make a crown sized one just by adding more pieces. Or you could start by doubling the size of the paper and see how large a piece you get when you fold it.
Not tried yet but I think this is a great idea (so many areas can be covered – just by making ‘a simple paper bracelet’.) It can be tried by all the girls in the Guide Unit I am an Asst Leader in, whatever their achievement level/capabilities. I see art work further customised – in bracelet form – with embellishments. Thank you for this idea.