These paracord bracelets were a hit at girls camp. As you can see, even some of the male camp leaders joined in. I got the idea from Stormdrane at Instructables.com. His tutorial is excellent, but although the site pictures two-color bracelets, he doesn’t explain how to make a two-color bracelet. I wanted to keep it simple for camp anyway, so we made one-color bracelets. However, a few innovative girls at camp figured out one way to make them, so I’m passing the info on to you. I also improved upon the final step to better prevent the bracelet from unraveling. This bracelet takes about 45 minutes to make.

By the way, paracord bracelets are also known as survival bracelets. They’re a convenient way for soldiers and hikers to always have eight feet of 550 parachute cord (which easily supports many times one’s own body weight) literally on hand. Check out Stormdrane’s Blog for more amazing paracord projects. I’m planning to make the adjustable paracord watch band myself.

Paracord bracelets

Supplies and tools

• 550 parachute cord from Supply Captain
• 1/2-inch curved side-release buckles from Creative Designworks
• lighter (I used $1 barbecue lighters from Walmart)
• ruler, yardstick, or tape measure
• sharp scissors
• needle and thread

1. Start with Stormdrane’s step 2: Measure wrist. Skip step 1 because his measurement is off. He says to use about 1 foot of cord for every 1 inch of bracelet length, which I discovered is not enough. Add one more foot to that. So, if your wrist is 7 inches, then you’ll need 8 feet of cord. And because we are making a two-color bracelet, you’ll need half of that in each color.

2. Assuming your wrist is 7 inches, measure and cut two 4-foot pieces of parachute cord.

3. Burn the ends with a lighter to keep the cord from unraveling. Don’t burn it so much that you get a big blob of plastic because it won’t fit through the buckle. Just burn it enough to keep the inner strands in place.

4. Overlap the end of each color about 1/4 inch and hand stitch several times to secure. Tie it off as you normally would by stitching through the loop of thread a couple times. Trim the thread.

5. Continue on to step 3. For two colors, pull the end of each color up through back of the buckle.

6. Pull the loop tight and place the seam at the back against the buckle.

7. Continue with step 4: Finding the bracelet length. Stormdrane recommends that you add an inch to your wrist length, which makes for a snug fit. I prefer to add 1-1/4 to 1-1/2 inches to avoid the buckle pinching my skin when I put it on. Continue with step 5 and step 6. When you reach the end, it will look like this.

8. In step 7, Stormdrane says to either cut the ends and melt them or tuck/pull the ends under the last couple of knots. I prefer to do both. Start by loosening the very first loop you made, then tuck both ends through the top and out the back. Pull tight.

9. This is what it will look like from the front.

10. Flip it over to the back. Loosen the next closest stitch, then tuck both ends under it. Pull tight.

11. Bend the bracelet back, and trim the ends close to the loop they’re tucked under.

12. Burn the ends to keep them from raveling. It’s ok if you melt them to the loop next to them a little. They will be that much more secure.

13. The back will look like this.

14. The finished bracelet, from the front.

A few people have asked me for jewelry organizing solutions. You asked for it, so you got it. (More jewelry storage ideas to come.) I bought this Ikea room divider for $10 in the As-Is section last year. I wasn’t a fan of the black hook-and-loop holding it together, but the individual panels make a handy valet for fashion accessories. One panel holds enough for me, but fashionistas may need the entire room-divider to hold all of their accoutrements. I also think the panels would be classy spray painted black. Right?

Bamboo room-divider = fashion accessories valet

Supplies and tools

• room divider (or any type of panel with caning)
• overdoor j-hooks
• small s-hooks (found at hardware stores)
• 1-1/2-inch loose-leaf rings (found at stationery stores)
• small key rings
• 3/4-inch-wide hook-and-loop tape with adhesive backing
• 3/4-inch-wide double-sided mounting tape
• bulldog clips (found at stationery stores)
• scissors

1. First cut two 2-inch pieces of each side of the hook-and-loop tape and ten 2-inch pieces of mounting tape.

2. Peel off the backing and stack five pieces of mounting tape together. Adhere that stack to the back of one side of the hook-and-loop tape. Repeat. You will have two stacks of tape, which will serve as a spacer and will keep the panel from flopping around when you open and close the door.

3. Peel off the backing. Adhere one side of the stacked tape to the back of the panel near the bottom. Repeat for the other side. Then hang your panel on the over-the door hooks, and adhere the other side of the stacked hook-and-loop tape to the door.

4. Hang necklaces and brooches from s-hooks. Hang rings from small loose-leaf rings dangling from s-hooks. Hang earrings directly from the caning. Wrap watches and bracelets around the top bars. Use a loose-leaf rings to hang belts, sunglasses, hats, and scarves (add key rings for sunglasses, and bulldog clips for hats). Attach hair clamps right to the bamboo poles.