Remember when you were young and made stretchy elastic bracelets with a store-bought DIY kit of colorful beads and letters? Fast forward 10-20 years and let’s take that idea up a notch with a grown-up mentality of elastic bracelets. We love the concept of elastic bracelets because they are easy to make, inexpensive, and if you aren’t crimping the elastic, there are no tools needed.
Elastic Bracelets are simple to create, comfortable to wear and convenient: just slip them on and off! Elastic bracelets are the perfect jewelry piece for people with arthritis or those who have difficulty hooking on clasps with one hand. Layering different elastic bracelets is very on trend and bohemian looking.
We have two easy tutorials on how to finish your very own elastic bracelet.
Our first tutorial is how to tie the elastic cord of your bracelet using a surgeon’s knot.
Our second tutorial is how to crimp your elastic ends to clasps, connectors, jump rings, toggle clasp, etc. Follow the same bead sequence as above or try your own sequence without tying the ends. For this tutorial, you will need a pair of Crimping Pliers, crimp beads/tubes, and your choice of clasp.
A tip when using elastic cord: loosen the elasticity by giving it a tug/stretch before starting your project. This will help in two ways. First, if you start with a piece of elastic cord, sometimes you will find it stiff. Stretching it will help make the cord more manageable to use. And secondly, because over time you will constantly stretch the elastic when slipping them on and off, it will eventually loosen the elastic. Loosening it before starting your project can avoid a looser and larger fit in the future.
Another tip when knotting or crimping your elastic, is to have a large hole bead next to it. You can conceal the knot or crimp inside the bead for a clean and professional looking finish. Or you can use crimp covers to cover the crimp or knot as if it was another bead in your elastic bracelet design.
Here are some inspirational, simple elastic bracelets that we have made using our tutorial above.
Onyx Stone Bracelet
Elastic bracelets can be as simple as this Onyx Stone Bracelet. What makes this bracelet more grown up is the quality beads used for your projects. These Dakota Stone Sardonyx Gemstone Beads have a smooth, round shape with natural white lines. They are also cool to the touch so you know they are high-quality gemstones.
Wrap-Around Golden Ruby Bracelet
You will find that elastic cords are thin yet sturdy enough for seed beads. Here, we used some size 8 seed Japanese Miyuki seed beads that have a hole size large enough for a .7mm elastic cord. Making a fun sequential design with faceted Chinese crystals, brass-plated Bali beads, Miyuki seed beads, and Czech O beads, we strung on a 28” long strand to wrap around four times a 7” wrist. You can always add more or less beads to accommodate your own wrist size.
Elastic Watch
For this piece, we used crimp tubes/beads to connect the elastic ends to the watch face and toggle clasp. This is a fun combination of using a watch face and making it into an elastic bracelet.
Wood Tassel Bracelet
From our Tassel blog post, comes this pair of Wood Tassel Bracelet that were made with elastic cord. Wood beads were strung in a random sequence and an added tassel for extra embellishment. We adore these two bracelets because they are lightweight and trendy with tassel addition.
Birdy Bracelet
Blue Sky Tiger Eye Stretch Bracelet
Onyx Stone Bracelet
- (1) A021634 – Clear 0.8mm Elasticity
- (1) SDZ10RD-8 – Dakota Stones 10mm Round Sardonyx Gemstone Beads
Wrap-Around Golden Ruby Bracelet
- (1) A002290 – .7mm Stretch Magic Elastic Cord
- (49) A016781 – Light Siam Chinese Crystal Glass
- (7) A004246 – Silver Brass Plated Bali Style
- (84) SB02042 – Czech O Beads
- (140+) SB00066 – Size 8/0 Black Miyuki Seed Bead
Elastic Watch
- (1) Watch Face
- (1) A021634 – Clear 0.8mm Elasticity
- (1) A003579 – 17mm Bali Style Round Toggle
- (6) PYR10RLLH-8 – 10mm Pyrite Gemstone Rondelle Large Hole Beads from Dakota Stones
- (8) A014364 – 7mm Butter Pecan Czech Glass Bead
- (6) Z002570 – 6mm Silver Disc Beads
- (6) A021125 – 11mm Silver Plated Bali Swirl Bead
- (4) A004830 – 2mm Crimp Tubes
- Tool: FTTL0003 – Crimping Pliers
Wood Tassel Bracelet
- (1) Z002653 – Red Tassel
- (1) Z003429 – Brown Tassel
- (3) NBWB0003 – 16mm Wood Bead
- (8) Rondelle Nut Bead
- (26) Z004978 – Red, Black, and Brown Round Wood Bead
- (14) Z004009 – 6mm Wood Bead
- (4) 10mm Dot Design Wood Bead
- A021637 – Elastic Cord
- A007224 – GS Hypo Cement
Blue Sky Tiger Eye Stretch Bracelet
- (1) A021635 – 1mm Elasticity Cord
- (7) TGE8RDLH-F-8 – 8mm Tiger Eye Gemstone Faceted Round Large Hole Beads
- (14) BCL8RD-8 – 8mm Round Blue Crazy Lace Agate Gemstone Beads
- (2) TC00340 – 8mm Antique Silver Legend Spacer
- (6) TC00032 – 5mm Silver Kenyan Heishi Spacers
- A007224 – GS Hypo Cement
Do you have a catalog that I can order from?
Hello Darlene,
We do not have a catalog. GoodyBeads.com is an online shopping experience only.
Let us know if you have any questions, or we can help you with anything!
Thanks!
Where do you get the glue?
We suggest some Super New Glue, for a fast-drying glue.
I’m having a hard time finding elastic that will keep a knot-I have some magic elastic but need to learn a surgeons knot? Help-I have beads that are screaming to be made into beautiful bracelets!!!
Hello Gail. One of my favorite elastic is the Magic Elastic. When making a knot, I prefer a thickness less than 1mm. One tip is to stretch the elastic first before stringing on your beads. This will help loose the elasticity but I find that it helps to make a snug knot. Another way to keep your knot from coming undone is to add a dab of glue. We suggest some Super New Glue, for a fast-drying glue.
Make a surgeon’s knot like how we show in our tutorial. OR you can also make multiple knots. First make a knot and pull your ends tight (but not too tight). Make a second knot and pull your ends tight enough. And repeat one more time. Every time you make a knot and pull your ends, it will help to lock your knot. Make sure you add glue before you cut your ends.
I do not see any of the rectangular beads with the double holes for sale or even shown as one of the example magic elastic projects. There are several examples showing this bead on the face page used as your pin picture. Where can I find these? I appreciate your assistance and your tutorials.
Hello Dolores. If you can please send a screenshot of what you are looking at to our customer service team, it can help us specify the beads for you. Please email to CustomerService@GoodyBeads.com
Thank you.
hi
do you have any tutorial all to hide the knot?
I now you can hide under a big bead, but sometimes i can’t do it,
Hello Tina. What you can do is hide the knot by using a crimp cover OVER the knot to hide it. You can find a tutorial on how to use crimp covers HERE. Thanks Tina.
I don’t know how to get started on an elastic bracelet because I can’t get the the end of the elastic cord to go through the beads. The cord is just too limp.
Beadalon’s Elasticity stretch cord has a stiffer end to their elastic cord, so something using the right cord will help. You can also use a needle to help string on your beads:
Elastic Cord Needle, this blog will give you a video tutorial on how to use the needle. This may help you.
AND this blog post with Ricky’s Knot is a different alternative to stringing on your beads. Plus, you can see a different alternative to tying your elastic knot if you prefer something different than the Surgeon’s Knot.