Happy Crafty Kids: 2013

On the last day of my son's summer program he came home with these pretty cool rubber band bracelets. Apparently I have been living under a rock, because this was the first time I saw these things! I did a little Googling to figure out how to make these little accessories and a million things popped up, but all required me to buy the Rainbow Loom or similar product. So I ran to AC Moore armed with my 50% off coupon and on the hunt for this contraption. I found rubber bands in a million colors, the little plastic clips, but no loom. The sales lady informed me they didn't sell them, but she could show me how to make my own loom. I was all for it! So, this post is going to show you how to build a fancy bracelet. You can find a million YouTube entries on how to build a single or fishtail pattern, this one is a bit more complicated - but my 7 year old can do it!

Age: 5+ (though my 4 year old can make simple ones)

Time: 20+ minutes

Cleanup: rubber bands will probably be stuffed in your couch cushions; otherwise cleanup us a breeze!

What You Need:
-little piece of scrap wood
-5 nails or push pins
-hammer (if you're using nails)
-1 c-clip or paper clip
-lots of little rubber bands
-crochet hook (optional)

Why I Like This Craft:
I enjoyed the challenge of trying to figure out different patterns without having the actual Rainbow loom. And I love that my son loves making these things as much as I do!

Step 1:
Hammer your nails into the wood in the shape of a 'M'. Keep the nails about an inch apart. When you stretch a rubber band on 2 adjacent nails, there should be slight tension.

Step 2:
Grab 3 rubber bands from your pile. Twist each in a figure 8. Stretch each '8' over 2 nails, forming a triangle.

Step 3:
Grab 1 rubber band from your pile. Stretch that band over your existing rubber band triangle. (Triangle #1)

Step 4:
Now, pull the bottom band over the top band and off the nail. Do this for each off your 3 nails.

Step 5:
Grab 3 more rubber bands from your pile. Twist each of these into a figure 8 and stretch each over 2 nails, forming another triangle (similar to Step 2). This time share the bottom-middle nail for the lower left point of your triangle.

Step 6:
Grab one rubber band from your pile. Like Step 4, stretch this band over this new triangle. (Triangle #2)

Step 7:
This is the trickiest part! On the nail where the 2 triangles overlap, pull both bottom rubber bands over the top rubber band and off the nail. Do the same for the other 2 corners.

Step 8:
Grab one rubber band from your pile. Stretch this rubber band over 3 nails connecting both existing triangles. (Triangle #3)

Step 9:
For each the nails making up this triangle, pull the bottom band over the top band and off the nail.

Step 10:
Grab 1 rubber band from your pile. Stretch it over 3 nails the make triangle #1. Pull the bottom band over the top band and off each nail in Triangle #1.

Step 11:
Grab 1 rubber band from your pile. Stretch it over 3 nails the make triangle #2. Pull the bottom band over the top band and off each nail in Triangle #2.

Step 12:
Grab 1 rubber band from your pile. Stretch it over 3 nails the make triangle #3. Pull the bottom band over the top band and off each nail in Triangle #3.

Step 13:
Keep doing Steps 10-12 until your bracelet is long enough.