How to Make a Friendship Bracelet You'll Cherish Forever in 2024

You might feel a bit rusty and find yourself wondering how to make a friendship bracelet after all these years. These sweet and colorful arm decorations aren’t just for kids, and thanks in part to Taylor Swift, they’re making a resurgence. 

Whether you’re helping your kiddos figure out how to make friendship bracelets or crafting your own, you’ll be delighted at how easily you can pull one together. All your burning questions like how to knot a bracelet? How do you make a friendship bracelet tie? And more will be covered. 

Discover clay bead bracelet ideas or turn brightly colored threads into a wonderful adornment. Lately, department stores are brimming with pre-made bracelets, knowing that they’re back in fashion. But save yourself the $15 or whatever it costs and have some fun learning how to make friendship bracelets with your kids or your friends. 

They’re a great gift or token of friendship, and you’ll never want to take them off. There are multiple ways to make a friendship bracelet from beads to strings to that classic stretchy, plastic-y lanyard material. 

Engaging in crafting as a kid or an adult is good for your brain, according to CNN. Besides being relaxing, it can help with pain, anxiety and even help to protect your brain from aging. Jump into the wonderful world of crafting by learning how to make friendship bracelets so you can share the joy. 

Jump to Section

• How to Make a Friendship Bracelet with Beads
• How to Make a Friendship Bracelet with String
• Art & Craft Ideas for Friends

How to Make a Friendship Bracelet with Beads

If you’re unsure how to make a friendship bracelet or even where to begin with crafting, bead bracelets are a great starting point. They are super simple to make and you can let your personal style shine through. The first step in any crafting project is to secure your supplies, so order online or head over to your local craft store. 

You only need a few supplies to get started:

• Stretch elastic cord

• Painter's tape 

• A variety of beads

 Letter beads have become super popular, mixed in with various colored beads, shell beads and other accent beads. Not to be confused with Perler beads, which are formed into a design and melted together with an iron.

Double-check to make sure the elastic cord isn’t too thick for your beads, ideally, you want pretty much the thinnest elastic possible. You probably have scissors at home, but if not you’ll need to get a pair. 

1. To get started, lay out the painter’s tape so you can measure and mark the size of your wrist. This is important to make sure your bracelet isn’t too loose or too tight, even though it is stretchy. Be sure to allow for some extra elastic at the end so you have room to tie your knot. 

2. Next, it’s helpful to line up your beads in the proposed order along the painter’s tape to ensure your design will fit. Consider doing this inside a shoebox lid or along a ridge so your beads don’t roll around. 

3. Start sliding your beads onto the elastic in whatever order you like. There are tons of nice friendship bracelet patterns to emulate. No knot yet, but it might be helpful to keep one end taped down so you don’t lose your beads. 

4. After all your beads are on, grab the two tails together and tie them like you would a water balloon. Use your scissors to carefully trim the excess and voila! You’ve successfully figured out how to make a friendship bracelet with beads. 

Note that if you are working with fairly large beads, you might be able to slide one over the knot to disguise it, though this doesn’t work so well with tiny little beads. 

While the design is completely up to you, it’s fun to add some accent beads in different shapes, colors or textures. Things like shiny gold beads, puka shells or other shaped beads add flare to your design. You can also think about making stackable designs when figuring out how to make friendship bracelets. Designs, words or colors that make sense layered are always fun.

How to Make a Friendship Bracelet with String

Once you’ve figured out how to make a friendship bracelet with beads, you can move on to learning how to make a friendship bracelet with strings. Depending on how ambitious you want to be and how long you want your project to take, you can decide between 2, 3 and 4-string designs. 

Generally, 2-string designs are the most beginner-friendly while 4-string designs are considered more advanced and time-consuming. 

You’ll need the same supplies for all three types:

• Buttons (for fastening your bracelet shut), 

• Embroidery floss or threads

• Tape 

• Scissors

There is also a method for 4-string bracelets that uses a spare piece of cardboard or craft paper, so that might come in handy. 

2-String 

After selecting your two string colors, it’s time to figure out how to make a friendship bracelet. You can use multiple strings (of the same color) to make a thicker 2-string bracelet if you desire. Your two colored strings will be referred to as A and B to make things easier going forward. 

1. Cut your strings to about 30” long, or a bit longer, then tie them together using an overhand knot. Be sure to leave two to three inches of loose thread above the knot to help fasten your bracelet on when completed. You can tape down the knot to make it easier to work, or a clipboard works wonders.

2. String A will be on your left and string B on your right. Loop string A over and around string B, bringing it back to the original side. This is done using a single loop, also known as a half-forward knot. String A will go across the front of string B, then loop back behind it and come back through the middle of A and B. You are essentially making a 4 with the strings, before pulling it to the top and back down. 

3. You will then do the mirror of this with string B, reaching it over and around string A, then back down through the middle of the two strings. You will complete this, switching sides each loop, until your bracelet is the desired length. Note that your strings should always return back to the side they started on, meaning string A will always be on your left and string B on your right. 

4. When you’re done with your bracelet, make another water balloon knot at the end, leaving about four inches of loose threads below it. 

5. Now that you have secured the twisted or braided center part, you can tie the loose ends together 

3-String

The candy stripe is a classic 3-string design and a great place to start when learning how to make a friendship bracelet. You’re going to need quite a bit of floss, so a good starting point is to hold the ends of the floss in your fingertips and pull it to the length of your shoulder with your arm outstretched. Approximately 30” is a good starting point. Do this for all three colors of floss. Again, if you want your bracelet to be thicker, you can double or triple up on each color of floss. 

1. Create an overhand knot with some strings loose, then tape down your knot on a table or countertop for easy access. 

2. Take the strand all the way to your left and make a number 4 over the strand right next to it. The first strand always goes OVER the second one, then back behind to loop through. Note this is just like the 2-strand bracelet. 

3. Make sure each individual little knot gets pulled to the top and pulled tight just enough to meet resistance but not too tight.

4. Make two knots with the strand all the way to your left, strand A, then pull strand A down into the middle, replacing B with A so strand B is now on the far left. 

5. You will now repeat the two-knot process, crossing strand A over strand C into a 4 to create two knots. 

6. After you’ve made two knots with A over C, lay strand A down where strand C was (on the far right). You will repeat this process, starting with strand B crossing over strand C two times, then over A two times before strand B eventually ends up on the far left. Eventually, you will find yourself back with ABC in order of how you started.

7. Continue to repeat the process until the bracelet reaches the desired length. 

8. Tie another overhand knot, with some loose threads, and tie the loose threads from the top and bottom of your new bracelet together to fasten it.

Note that if you choose to use multiple of the same color thread for a thicker bracelet, it is still considered a 3-string friendship bracelet. You simply repeat the above process, moving from right to left. It does get a bit trickier to make a friendship bracelet with six threads (or more) so you have to be extra sure not to let your threads get crossed. 

4-String

The final step in learning how to make a friendship bracelet is the 4-strand design. It’s not much more complicated than making a 2 or 3-strand bracelet, but having the extra threads is just one more thing to manage. 

The process is exactly the same as the 3-strand. Tie your knot and tape it down. Start on the left and make a 4, crossing it over the string directly next to it. After making two knots, move to the next strand, until your original strand A is all the way on the right. 

How to Add a Button Closure

After you’ve worked out how to make a friendship bracelet and which style and materials you’re going to use, you will need to plan for a button closure before starting your actual bracelet. With a button closure, you’ll need to have a loop at the top of your bracelet, rather than just a knot with some extra threads dangling. Do this by folding your threads in half and creating a loop, then adding a knot at the bottom where you will begin your design. Consider the size of your button when creating your loop! 

Depending on how many threads you are working with, you’ll need to crisscross them across your button. After running the threads through the button holes, slide it down so it’s flush with the end of your design and tie off a small knot underneath. In a pinch, a little bit of hot glue can help as well. 

Art & Craft Ideas for Friends

Now that you know how to make a friendship bracelet, you might be interested in getting into other crafts. A day or afternoon of making art with friends is a fun way to bond and relax, but it’s also a great party activity. You can always look seasonally at Thanksgiving crafts for further inspiration. 

Painting is another beginner-friendly crafting idea, whether you like watercolors, oil or acrylics. Acrylic painting ideas for beginners are an introduction to the creative sphere for many because it’s easy and forgiving. There are tons of cute painting ideas you can emulate if you’re not sure where to start. 

And speaking of painting on a canvas, that’s not the only surface you can use! Glassware, canvas tote bags or even your fingernails are great canvases too. 

If you’re looking to explore the arts, check out online art classes or art classes near you for the best intro to the arts. From the beach to the mountains, there are always art classes in Boston, art classes in San Diego or art classes in New Jersey that will welcome you.

Making a friendship bracelet is a beloved childhood craft and great way to channel fidgeting into something cool. But learning a new craft, like how to make a friendship bracelet or make a painting, is fun for adults, too. Any sort of crafting or creative practice is good for your brain, and it’s a nice change from phone scrolling or watching TV. Plus, it’s a fun and easy way to level up any party. 

For even more fun craft ideas, check out other experiences on Classpop!