Popsicle Stick Bracelets: an easy and affordable, DIY jewelry craft

popsicle-stick-bracelets-summer-craft-three-sistersWarm weather is right around the corner and we have the perfect DIY craft for Spring or Summer. So, if you're bored of your jewelry, why not make some DIY bracelets to spice up your outfits?

And we are not talking about just any bracelets, we're making popsicle stick bracelets! All your friends will be wondering where you got these amazing bracelets. If you're looking to make a whole set of DIY jewelry, check out our post on DIY washer necklaces.

This craft is super easy and affordable plus, best of all, they look good enough to eat. Now, you could decorate them any way you'd like, but in this tutorial, we used watermelon, pineapples and oranges to inspire our post. You could easily do a popsicle stick bracelet design using strawberries, lemons and even limes. These are perfect for a tween party, girl scout troupe, brownie troupe or handmade gift.

ITEMS NEEDED TO MAKE OUR POPSICLE STICK BRACELETS:
• Jumbo craft sticks
• Acrylic paint
• Glitter
• Mod Podge or elmer's glue
• Paint Brushes
• Stick on jewels (Optional)


STEPS TO CREATE POPSICLE STICK BRACELETS:

STEP 1:  The first step is to put your jumbo popsicle sticks or craft sticks into a pot of boiling water for 45 minutes. We then let them sit in the water for another 30 minutes.

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STEP 2:  Once the water has cooled down, take out one popsicle stick at at time and  slowly start to bend the popsicle stick in the top of a jar. Now, you'll want to boil more popsicle sticks that you'll need because they will break or snap. Once you get them in a glass or jar lid, let them sit overnight until they are dry.

IMPORTANT NOTE: We used a see-saw motion to slowly bend them in the top of the jar or lid. You can use whatever circular item you have around your house that is about the size of your wrist. For example you can also use a glass jar.

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STEP 3: When your popsicle sticks are completely dry they can be removed very easily from the top of the jar lid. If you bent them inside a glass jar they will most likely fall to the bottom when dry.

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NOW THE FUN PART...DECORATING!

STEP 4:  To make our watermelon popsicle stick bracelet, put tape around the bottom third of the bracelet. This taped portion will become our watermelon rind, while the other side will be painted pink to become the fruit flesh.

tape-craft-stick-bracelet

 

STEP 5:  While you have the tape on your popsicle stick paint the larger portion pink.

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STEP 6:  Let the paint dry then slowly take off the tape so you'll see the hard edge. This opposite side will be painted green and become our watermelon rind.

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STEP 7:  To add seeds, either apply black stick on jewels, as seen in our top photo, or dip the back of your paint brush in black paint and tap the bracelet to resemble seeds.

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STEP 8:  The final step is optional, especially if you'd like to add a little bling to your popsicle stick bracelet. Begin by brushing a layer of glue over the green paint, then sprinkling it with glitter. Tap the remaining glitter off and let dry for about 30 minutes.

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how-make-popsicle-stick-bracelets-three-sistersWalla! You have fruit inspired popsicle stick bracelets that will have friends talking. Give it a try and let us know how your's turns out! If you'd like to watch how we made ours, we did a popsicle stick bracelet video for YouTube a few years ago. The quality is not as great as our current videos, but you'll get the idea.