Cerise Magazine

April 2008 Issue

Features

• From the Editors
• Craft Check: Friendship Bracelets for Gamers
• Gaming in the Media: Worried About Miss Bimbo? Don't Be.

Interviews

• Interview: Tracy Whitelaw of Lesbian Gamers

Articles

• Romancing the LARP
  Author: Stephanie Pegg

Stephanie discusses how romance plots played out in the Sanctuary LARP.

• Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition: A Paradigm Shift or a Step Back?
  Author: Ben Larsen

Ben analyzes the upcoming 4th Edition of Dungeons & Dragons and discusses how the changes made to the D&D formula will impact gamers.

Gamer Stories

• Paying Rent
  by Maria Velazquez
• Those Nice Young Roleplayers Next Door…
  by Stephanie Pegg

Reviews

• Diner Dash: Hometown Heroes
  by K. Tempest Bradford
• Dynasty Warrior 6
  by Stephanie Bader
• Retro Review: Mario is Missing
  by Abby Wilson

Odds 'n Ends

• The Back Page

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I was browsing through a craft store the other day and saw these awesome beads. Brightly colored, translucent dice! They’re way too clunky and plastic-y for classy earrings or anything like that, but the bright, 80’s-style colors reminded me of a different kind of jewelry, one that was really popular when I was a kid: friendship bracelets.

There are lots of ways to make these embroidery-thread bracelets, but the one I’m going to show in this tutorial is particularly well-suited for big, chunk beads with large threading holes, like the dice beads I found. If you can’t find the sort of beads I used, or candy-colored d6s don’t do it for you, keep your eye out for other possibilities. Novelty buttons with shanks on them can make great beads, and if you can’t find anything that expresses your particular kind of gaming geek just so, you could always try spelling out a message with letter beads.

So get some beads, and get creative!

Cost: inexpensive. A few beads and some embroidery floss aren’t going to set you back very much.

Time: I completed the bracelet in this tutorial in about fifteen minutes.

Skill level: if you can tie a knot, you can do this craft!

Equipment:

• Embroidery floss
• Beads
• Tape
• Scissors
• A table or something to tape the end of the bracelet to while you work

Step 1: Prep your thread

Cut equal lengths of thread in the colors you’d like to use. I decided to use three colors mostly because three pieces of thread made a thickness that was just right for my beads. If your beads have larger threading holes but you don’t want to use many colors, you can double up on some shades.

Tie a knot near the end of your bundle of thread, and another about two inches from the first. Tape the thread down to the edge of the table between these two knots.

Step 2: More knots

Pick a color to start with, and pass the thread behind the bundle, leaving some thread behind in a loose loop.

Now pass the end of the thread around the front of the bundle, and then down through the loop.

Pull tight, moving the knot up to press against the top of the bracelet as you go.

Step 3: Repeat, repeat, repeat – and then repeat with variations

Keep tying those knots until you’re ready to switch colors or add a bead. To switch colors, simply pull the thread you want free of the bundle, add the thread you were using before to the bundle, and continue the way you have been.

To add a bead, get the ends of all of the threads together (which may mean that you need to hold some of them with loops hanging out behind), poke them through the threading hole on the bead, then push it up against the knots above it and keep going.

Continue with the knotting and beading until your bracelet is as long as you want it to be. Then tie off the ends, remove the tape from the top, and trim the ends so they’re tidy.

Step 4: Wear!

Now you can tie the ends of your bracelet together around your wrist – and then make some for your friends.