Quilling and Paper Crafts
Feature Friday- Popsicle Bracelets!
by Suzy on April 15, 2011
So I was looking through my vintage craft book collection and ran across a 1970 Pack O’ Fun magazine. This magazine specializes in children’s crafts and while I have no children at home, I’m always happy to try and take a good idea and run with it. They had instructions on how to take a simple popsicle stick and turn it into a bracelet. Well, I’m certainly on board for that. The thought of being able to make wood pliable put all kinds of ideas in my head. But we’ll start with the project at hand which happened to be bracelets. So just in time for Easter Baskets, lets put together some cute bracelets. With bling.
For this project I used:
- Popsicle sticks (bought the industrial strength size bag from Wal-Mart because this project might go in future directions)
- Drinking glass (for forming- use a glass with a top opening that is slightly smaller than you want your bracelet to end up)
- Emory board or sand paper
- Acrylic paint
- Stick on jewels (for bling)
- Mod Podge
The instructions in the magazine called for allowing the popsicle sticks to sit in water overnight. Once they have become completely saturated, it was simple enough to curve them to fit into the top of a drinking glass.
I found that I still had to work the wood, warming it with my fingers, to make it pliable enough to fit into the top of the glass without splitting. My success rate was about 60%.
So, I tried it again, but this time I used a pan of water and boiled the popsicle sticks for about 30 minutes and then allowed them to sit in the hot water for another 30 minutes. This time my success rate for unsplit popsicle sticks was about 80%. Either way works well and if you aren’t as picky as I am, your success rate might be better. The sticks are cheap, so I’m okay with a bit of error.
Once the sticks are formed in the glasses, I allowed them to thoroughly dry overnight and then easily removed them from the glasses.
I then used an emory board to sand them so that all edges and paint surfaces were smooth.
Now for the fun part!! I used my acrylic paints to paint in designs. I wanted them fun and colorful. Re-wetting the sticks with paint will cause them to open up a bit (hence the reason that I used a glass with such a small opening).
Another option for the bracelets at this point would be to decoupage using scrapbooking paper. Or you could quill it, or apply fabric, or sequins, or pompoms, whatever your crazy mind or your ingenious children come up with.
My final touch was to add stick on jewels that I found in the discount bin at the craft store, and then add a final protectant coat of Mod Podge.
A simple craft with cute results! Now what else can we do with bent popsicle sticks? Hmmm……
If you enjoyed this tutorial, you might enjoy my Ice Cream Cart Bank tutorial. Creating a miniature ice cream cart out of a wooden bank.
Or if you are wanting to make something cute for the kids rooms, check out my Flip Flop Pillow tutorial!
Tagged as: bracelet, crafts, kids crafts, popsicle stick, summer activity, wood
{ 168 comments… read them below or add one }
That is so stinkin’ cool! I’m definitely trying!
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awesome . really crreative
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so great , i got many ideas from it
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This is very similar to the process guitar makers use to bend the sides of a guitar. That being said, if you have a large barrel curling iron, after the soak, you could use that to bend the sticks to get exactly the shape you want, then tie a piece of string or a ribbon around it to hold the shape as it cools and dries. I think I might try this to see how it works!
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I tried these, and they came out fantastic! I boiled the popsicle sticks like you said for 30 minutes, then let them cool slightly while still in the water. I formed them into 5 oz. plastic dixie cups to dry and those were the perfect size for the kids. I made 75 of them and only a handful splintered. They were much easier to bend while still warm and wet.
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Nicole, I’m so glad they worked out for you! Sounds like you were incredibly busy!
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that craft is working really good for me i love it
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Great idea I love these bracelets!
Jewelry Rage
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If you have trouble bending the sticks try this – boil for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat and let sit in hot water for another 30 minutes. Drain off hot water and rinse the sticks in cold water. Drain and refill the cold water 2 or 3 times. Let the sticks you are not working with sit in the pan of cold water while you begin bending the first stick.
I just finished bending 300 sticks for a crafting party and using this method seemed to decrease the splitting rate dramatically.
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This is well intentioned, however I did them and they are WAY too big for a wrist, and I have a fat wrist! If you have a rotary tool drill that is delicate, you can easily poke two small holes on each end, and I actually strung through an elastic bracelet band so it snuggly fits your wrist! Thank you for the initial idea though!
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Hi Nicole!
Yes, several others had mentioned in the comments that they went this route. A great idea! Mine were actually too small for my wrists as I had used very small glasses to make them. The process of adding wet paint to the wood will usually make them open up a bit, that is why I suggested small mouthed glasses. I used juice glasses. They were perfect for my daughter’s skinny wrists. Thanks so much for stopping by the Sitcom! Send me a photo of your finished project and I will be sure to post it!
suzy
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What if you put small holes in the ends of the sticks before soaking, either with a drill or crop aedile, then used ribbon to tie the bracelet together?
popsicle sitcom bracelet project nicole
for its contents. This is a safe-cache copy of the original web site.