Home & Garden
Fun for young and old: braided paper bookmarks and bracelets
Here’s a simple and fun project you can do with your grandkids – braiding paper. The basics we’ll walk you through today are great for making simple bookmarks, or fun bracelets, but you and the grandkids can use your braided paper to do whatever you like. Show them how to do it once and they’ll spend hours coming up with new creations.
NOTE: Imagine you’re plaiting hair, and this will seem even simpler.
What you’ll need:
- Coloured paper
- Scissors
- Ruler
- Glue
- Sticky tape
Method:
- For your first try, you’ll want to start with three completely different colours of paper. Cut your paper into thin strips – around one-and-a-half-cm.
- Lay one piece down in front of you (the ‘starter strip’, and the other two pieces perpendicular to the starter. Apply a little glue just below the top of the starter strip and stick the other two strips down.
- Fold the excess piece of starter strip down over the other two strips and secure with glue.
- Now use a piece of sticky tape to secure the paper to your table and you’re ready to braid.
- With the starter strip pointing towards you, take the upper horizontal strip and fold it down so it lies beside the starter strip. Crease the fold.
- Now take the starter strip and bring it over the strip you just folded so that it lies next to the second horizontal strip (the one that hasn’t yet moved).
- Continue in this pattern until you run out of paper. Secure the last folds with a little glue, and trim off any excess paper.
- If you’re making a bookmark, you can glue the whole braid down onto a separate piece of paper, or leave as is. If you wish to turn the braid into a bracelet, use small Velcro tabs to secure it around the wrist.
Image credit: Tally's Treasury