Braiding, according to some random and unverifiable website I saw once, is a task with “Ancient World Origins,” practiced around the world and probably dating back ages and ages and signifying different things in different cultures and maybe even linked to way old-school deities. I’d look this stuff up properly, but I had a super busy week at work and I’m already two glasses of wine into my weekend, and if I went anywhere near Wikipedia right now I’d no doubt vanish into a black hole of links to everything, only to emerge again on Monday morning knowing all there is to know about Prigogine’s Double-collared Sunbird and how you get from its Wikipedia page to the one on seaslugs.
So. Here’s what I do know about braiding.
It’s pretty.
It’s relaxing, unless you’re on the 5th attempt at french braiding your own hair at 7:30 am and it’s coming out all bumpy again.
There was a guy in my junior high youth group who got some girls to teach him how to braid so that he could help his mom out by braiding his little sister’s hair for her in the mornings before school. Every girl who ever met that boy had plans to marry him.
So, it’s also sexy.
But you may have noticed from past photos that I don’t have that much hair. See the line about getting it to cooperate at 7:30am; I decided I’d be better off with as little of the stuff as possible. What I do have in abundance is crafting supplies, such as paper. And that’s why today’s project is braiding (though it’s really just folding in this case) paper.
Which, like hair, looks very pretty braided, and unlike hair does not need to look perfect at 7:30am. My two thoughts so far have been to make bookmarks with braided paper, and to make bracelets. I imagine it could also lend itself to some lovely ornament-making, and to some nice scrapbooking borders. Or the world’s most time-consuming paper chain.
———————————————————–
What you’ll need:
- pretty paper – at least 11″ long for bracelets
- paper cutter OR a ruler, a pencil, and scissors
- white glue
- tape
- [optional]
- other paper (to make a bookmark backing)
- velcro (to make a bracelet)
———————————————————–
1) Start by cutting several strips of paper, all the same length and width. Though of course,you could play with making them different widths to get different looks.
For bookmarks you’ll of course want thin paper. But for bracelets, thicker is better. In the picture below, I’m using wallpaper samples, which is a heavier paper (and also very pretty). To make the paper even thicker, and to have the image on both sides, since one side of the paper is patterned and one is plain, I folded part of the paper over and glued down (very very thoroughly), so that on both sides the pattern is visible. Once dry, I cut the paper into strips, so I had thin pieces of paper with the pattern showing on both sides, and the edges perfectly matched.
2) Place one paper strip down vertically in front of you, and the other two strips exactly perpendicular to that first strip. Apply glue just below the top of the vertical strip.
3) Glue the ends of the two horizontal strips to it.
4) Apply glue to the very top of the vertical strip, and fold it down over the other strips.
5) Tape the top edge of the paper, where all the strips are now glued together, to your work surface. If you have a bulletin board available, you can also set the paper on the bulletin board and pin it in place. It’s mainly important to have a flat, hard surface to work on.
6) Fold the upper horizontal strip (in this case, the green one) down, so it sits parallel to the first vertical strip (the blue one), their sides touching. Press the fold down with a finger.
7) Now fold the left-hand vertical strip (the blue one) over the strip beside it (the green one) so it is parallel to the horizontal (yellow) strip, with their sides touching. Press the fold flat.
8) Fold the yellow strip down over the blue strip so it sits beside the green strip.
9) Lather, rinse, repeat.
10) When you get to the end of the paper (or when the braid is as long as you want it), dab some glue on the the last folds as you make them, to secure the end of the braid. Then trim any excess ends of paper.
11) To finish, you can glue your braided paper to another piece of paper as a backing, and use the whole thing as a rather elegant bookmark.
OR
Varnish the braid (this is an optional step, but it will give it some shine and make it more durable), then glue a small piece of velcro to one side of one end, and the opposite side of the other end.
Wrap the braid around your wrist, match up the velcro pieces, and you have a bracelet. This works best with thicker paper, or paper you’ve multi-layered by gluing two or three or four pieces together, as I mentioned in step 1.
Featured on:
Cecilia
/ August 23, 2011I love both ideas! I am definetely going to try this out! :)
Thank you
Cecilia
Amanda
/ September 5, 2011Just stopping by to let you know that I have featured your project on Fun Family Crafts today! You can see it here
http://funfamilycrafts.com/braided-paper-bracelets/
If you have other kid friendly crafts, I’d love it if you would submit them :) If you would like to display a featured button on your site, you can grab one from the right side bar of your post above.
N.E
/ September 26, 2011Wow .. I love the ideas !! I’ll try them.
Thank you so much :)
wanping
/ November 12, 2011lovely!! now i know what to get my friends for christmas!!!
Rachel
/ December 21, 2011So silly me, thinking about how much I love 5 and 7 strand braids of bread, saw this and thought that if this looked cool with 3 strands, it would look awesome with 5.
After a lot of fiddling and weaving ends, I think it’s safe to say that in this case simplicity is best – I like the 3 strand MUCH better. Thanks for posting!
admin
/ January 7, 2012:D Yay for experimenting a bit, though – always worth trying. Glad something worked out for you in the end.
Anna
/ July 24, 2012Rarely hear guys who know how to braiding, i want to try such a boy to see what he can do :)). I broke something material, i messed up the steps, but eventually I made a very beautiful paper wristband that will surely attract attention b-).
Thx
Vimala
/ August 5, 2012thanks so much for this tute! Love this idea and will making these in the near future:)
Amelia
/ February 9, 2014DEFINITELY double side!
Going Here
/ June 15, 2014I’m not sure why but this site is loading very slow for
me. Is anyone else having this problem or is it a problem on my end?
I’ll check back later on and see if the problem still exists.
gabinet psychiatryczny
/ July 4, 2014This form of advertising that people use when they get direct mailing
done. Always send any nixies back to your store or check outt thairapy
365 flat iron reviews youhr new offering. The mailing list
is an important consideration as it could affect the success of your
direct mailing reaped the fruits of success. Launching your
product to them emphasizing the importance or necessity of the product itself.
This article wil go over the details of a direct marketing campaign. You can add the logo of your company.
fantage free membership codes 2014
/ August 8, 2014Hey very interestinbg blog!
my web blog :: fantage free membership codes 2014
ipad repair barrington
/ August 20, 2014Do you mind if I quote a few of your articles as long as I
provide credit and sources back to your website? My blog site is
in the very same niche as yours and my users would definitely benefit from a lot of the information you
provide here. Please let me know if this ok with you. Thanks!
lam bang dai hoc
/ September 23, 2014Very nice post. I just stumbled upon your weblog and wanted to say
that I’ve truly enjoyed surfing around your blog posts.
In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again very soon!
Feel free to visit my site :: lam bang dai hoc
misdemeanor arrest
/ October 1, 2014That miute rates arre set from the Department
of Insurance and it’s also the industry standard. Posting bail is commonly required prior to suspect might be released from jail to await her or
his trial. The police arrived to find Faraj beingg held down bby several people.
domain
/ October 24, 2014Good day! Would you mind if I share your blog
with my myspace group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really enjoy your content.
Please let me know. Many thanks
bike race cheat
/ November 8, 2014Here is your chance to drive a Porsche or Ferrari, and
to feel the thrill of a car race!
video games lyrics youtube
/ November 23, 2014However sadly 2014′s poor high quality video games aren’t
even the half of it. If abnormal folks, those who play the
odd game of FIFA or Call Of Obligation – or Candy Crush or Clash
Of Clans – ever felt uncomfortable with being known as a gamer earlier than, then the time
period must now have been poisoned past all redemption.
Free Social MMO Games (Virtual Worlds)
/ April 11, 2015And on the identicazl time, this mannequin encourages income — Analsys International predicts a secenty fice
percent improve in income from cellular social
video games in China over thhe following
yr. China’s cellular gaming income spike may be
attributed to an effective social layer, coupled with excessive-high quality gameplay.
DragonsCheats.net
/ April 26, 2015Head into SoD to see what all of the fuss has been about and
unlock these amazing Dragon exclusives now!
www.unitedtorestorefreedom.com
/ May 22, 2015If the glove gets messy, you can wash the glove in cold water with a mild laundry detergent.
This article is not about saving tons of money on electrical energy or about
transforming normal everyday boring food into gourmet gastronomical delights,
it is more about dehydrating food with the inexhaustible energy source of the sun while using a solar sun oven.
Keeps food moist – The sealed bowl ensures that those healthy and flavour enhancing aromas stay
within your food.
Doretha
/ May 28, 2015To place this in context, because the participant has no management
oger the matchmaking process, the opponents chosen by Supercell
and positioned on the world map are the one supply of loot, so regenerating those bases is a necessity, but at the similar time returning to a world map which
was cleared of all enemies a few hours in the past and is now swarming
with enemies again is by far the worst user expertise a Supercell sport hass to
offer. That looks as iff an outline for a hardcore game.
best online games 2014 ph
/ June 4, 2015But it surely hhas since, like so mny games off
this sort, adopted the free-to-play mannequin. You might need already encountered
this little gem inn your cellphone – it is obtainable for iOS and Android – but it surely’s
completely free on PC and Mac.
Ronnie
/ August 5, 2015Utilizing the Game of Struggle Fire Age Hack
Device for iOS, iPhone, iPad and iTouch with out jailbreak or
cydia, will definitely make your lfe easier, now you can merely assault and conquer
your enemkes and rule to be the one true king.
rencontre en ligne
/ October 3, 2015certainly like your web site however you have to check
the spelling on several of your posts. Many of them are rife with spelling problems and
I find it very troublesome to tell the reality hoiwever I’ll certainly
come again again.
prac aanglia 49
/ November 21, 2015Many people hate change yet business today has to constantly change.
A Home Depot job application can open doors to a better life for those lucky enough to be hired.
The main job of a financial planner is to help individuals manage their assets in the best way possible.
w
/ March 15, 2016Awesome! I <3 it
thin gold bracelet
/ April 19, 2016Very descriptive blog, I enjoyed that bit. Will there be a part 2?
Lynn
/ April 22, 2016Lovely! Using this as a craft for a Girl Scout Troop. Thanks so much!
anthony
/ November 28, 2016love it
JosephX
/ August 10, 2017Hi admin i see you don’t earn on your blog. You can earn additional bucks easily, search on youtube for: how to earn selling articles
Dentist in London
/ October 29, 2017I relish, cause I discovered just what I used tto be
looking for. You’veended my four day lengthy hunt!
God Bless you man. Have a nice day. Bye
atiger
/ May 21, 2019made friendship braid amazing
Farah
/ May 25, 2021Love it…thanks for tutorials
Hanne
/ August 5, 2021Here’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.
bracletttttttttt
/ November 1, 2021i don’t know what to say look pretty
Robbie
/ December 6, 2021good
Irza, The Supermelon
/ October 3, 2023I loved reading this article – it gave me great ideas on how to create beautiful braided paper bracelets and bookmarks that my friends and I can enjoy, and the instructions were so easy to follow!