When I saw some bright fluoro shoelaces at the store recently I grabbed a packet knowing that we could make something fabulous with them. These shoelace ladder bracelets were the result – made with just 3 common crafty household items they are fun to make with school aged kids or an independent craft for tweens, and they look cool too!
You will need:
- One shoelace for each bracelet
- Coloured, plastic drinking straws
- Coloured pony beads
- Scissors
- Lighter
To make:
1. Gather your supplies. Cut your drinking straws into small pieces – each piece should be very slightly shorter than the shoelace’s aglet (that’s the plastic sleeve at the end of the shoelace – I learn something new everyday!) to make it easy to thread through.
2. Thread a straw onto one end of the shoelace and push it up until it is roughly at the middle of the lace.
3. Grab the other end of the shoelace and push it back through the straw to form a loop (check out the video below for a better look). It can take a little bit of effort to get the end through but this is seriously the hardest part of the project.
Pull both ends tight until the straw sits in the middle of the shoelace with a small loop above it (see below).
4. Add a bead to each end of the shoelace and push them up to the straw (see above).
5. Thread a second straw onto one end of the shoelace. Push it up to the beads. Thread the other end of the shoelace back through the straw to form a loop. Pull both ends tight until the straw sits below the two beads.
Repeat steps 4 and 5 until your bracelet has reached the desired length.
6. Tie off the ends of your shoelace to form the bracelet (again, you might like to check out the video). Trim ends and use the lighter to seal the cut ends of the shoelace.
And there you go – a ladder bracelet from a shoelace. Have fun making them in all different colour combinations!
More Cool Explorations in Colour!
This is STEM, art and literacy like you’ve never seen it before – dressed up in all the colours of the rainbow! Kaleidoscope: Hands-On Explorations in Colour (and Color!) includes 25 awe-inspiring projects that integrate learning across a range of subject areas, including the STEM topics of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, as well as art, literacy and cooking. This is a great resource for teachers, parents, camp organisers, youth and community group leaders, homeschoolers, out of school care educators and more. Pop over to find out more.
Christie Burnett is an early childhood teacher, presenter, writer and the editor of Childhood 101. More importantly, she is a Mum who believes wholeheartedly in the value of children learning through play, the importance of quality early education, and the togetherness of family.
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