Today, we thought we'd do another craft posting. They're too much fun to just leave out in an imaginary crafting cloud! Keep in mind that Mom is not a professional beader, but just does this for fun, so it might not be the perfect process or result!
So, this past summer, Mom and I were signed up to do a "Comfort Dog" class to get me certified with Possibility Dogs. We thought it would be a great experience for me, as my Mom has worked in a nursing home in the past, and currently works with special needs children in a public school. There's a dog in the special needs department that works with one girl, and Mom thinks it's so cool to have her around. Someday, her pipe dream is to bring me to school, too, but I need more obedience training and certifications before I pitch my idea to the school. So, this class was going to get me to listen better and learn how to be as comforting and therapeutic as possible!
For the class, our trainer required we use a clicker. I've never seen one of these clicky devices before, but they're pretty cool. Well, at least I think so, because every time that thing clicks, I get tasty grub. Good deal! Mom always kept losing the clicker, because the one we received is pretty small. It got lost in her purse constantly. She decided she could make a bracelet for it so it would always be on her wrist when we were doing our training!
Things you'll need:
Flexible beading cord OR elastic
Cute beads of your choice (ours are an assortment of glass beads)
Clasp (ours is called a "lobster claw")
Jump rings
Round beads (2)
Crimps (2)
Needlenose pliers or beading pliers
Scissors or a wire cutter if you are using metal wire
A clicker, of course!
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| An example of the wire we used- flexible, but sturdy |
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| Picture of the jump rings, clear seed beads, and lobster claw |
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| In the tutorial, Mom will use pink beads, and no clicker since we only have one! :) |
Once we have everything laid out, the next thing we did was take the lobster claw and attach it to one end of the wire. We did this by attaching a jump ring to the lobster claw. Now, the next few parts get a tad confusing, because it's all about stringing things in the correct order.
For the next part, Mom put three items onto the string: a crimping bead first, a small round bead (or seed bead) on second, the jump ring with lobster claw on third. We made these into a loop by taking the end of the string and putting it through the small round bead and crimping bead one more time. Once the loop was made, Mom used the pliers to squish the crimping bead, sealing the end of the bracelet. Now we can start beading!
The next part is Mom's favorite part: the actual beads. They're way more colorful and exciting than putting the components on. So, this part is ALL up to you! You get to pick the beads/findings/etc that you want to use to make your bracelet pretty. We used blue and green glass beads since we had a bunch here. One thing you shouldn't forget, though, is the clicker. ;-) We put ours in the middle of the bracelet, but you can put it anywhere! We didn't have an extra clicker for the tutorial, but just pretend it's a bead and string it onto the wire.
Once you have all your pretty beads on your string, it's time to seal the other end with a clasp to use with the lobster claw. We used another jump ring, round bead, and crimp. Again, put the crimp on first, then the round bead, then the ring. Make a loop by stringing the string through the round bead and crimp, then press the crimp shut with the pliers. We didn't clip the wires from the end yet in these pictures, but you can clip them with a wire cutters or scissors to make it look neat.
And there you have it! A clicker training bracelet that's pretty and useful!
Don't want to make the bracelet yourself? Maybe you can sweet talk my Mom into making you one ;-)
Chow!
