Nautical Rope Bracelets and Crafting with the Big Girls

Have you seen the nautical rope bracelets? They are a cute summer accessory. My husband bought one for me earlier this year on Etsy. It was made by a seller in Isreal. You can now find them by many sellers on Etsy. The bracelets have also been popular on Pinterest.

They looked fairly simple to make so I decided to have a big girls crafting day. We were going to make bracelets for ourselves and all the ladies in the family to wear to our family reunion at the beach.

I was joined by my daughter and two of Mentor's fabulous teachers: Miss Lillash and Miss Roach. After all, teachers have a life outside of school, right? These two wonderful teachers happen to be my nieces!

We gathered our supplies which, by the time we dove in, looked like a tangled mess. The rope is decorative cording. We found some by the spool at Hobby Lobby. (We visited the store in Stow a while back. I hope we get one in Lake County!) We also purchased some by the yard at Joann. The anchors were purchased on Amazon and we found some end clamps at Joann. 

We followed the instructions found here and also tried another variation on the knot. That was the easy part! Attaching the clamp was not so easy! We taped the end of the rope so it did not unravel. Then we placed it in the end clamp and closed it with a needle-nosed plier. That part was tricky and we went through a package of clamps until we started to get the hang of it! We placed a dab of hot glue to keep the knots in place.

Our dreams of making a bracelet for the members of our entire group were quickly dashed. We were happy to complete a bracelet or two for each of us. We finally got the hang of it. Well, let's just say the youngest among us got the hang of it! She was later able to make one for all of her aunts.

Lessons learned? You bet!

If something looks easy, it is probably not.

Even if you can't get the hang of something, keep trying. (Even if you waste a package of end clamps.)

Teachers are real people too!

You're never too old to enjoy crafting.

It's always more fun to craft with a group!