All Tied Up in Knots

Today’s one thing is to prep for Art Club. I am thanking my past self today. She already ordered all of the materials I’ll need for today’s Art Club. And it’s a good thing since in my neck of the woods it is hard to come by paracord and bracelet clips at a local store. I had no idea how lucky I was in Utah. Thanks to Amazon and Creative Design Works, I had the items shipped to me a week or so ago.

Today we are making paracord bracelets. My husband first introduced them to our family several years ago. I’m starting with paracord bracelets because they happen to use the same knot that I want to have the kids use to make hanging plant holders next week. And because they are cool.

The hardest part of teaching kids knots like this is not being able to teach all 12 kids at one time. Even without social distancing, I wanted to make a step by step guide for the kids to follow. Some kids learn by having you show them. Some learn by listening to you explain it. And others learn by looking at pictures.

I drew step by step pictures on how to make a paracord bracelet. The plan is to hand it out to the kids and let them get started as I explain it to anyone who needs to see it done in real time. As I drew these I decided that while I can learn a lot by drawing knots, it isn’t making my heart sing. I think I’ll stick with painting giraffes and aliens for now. I’m pretty sure I heard my heart sing yesterday as I painted.

It should be a pretty chill art club. And if they tie knots fast, I have enough paracord that each kid can do at least 2 bracelets.

If you would like to do your own paracord bracelet, you’ll need 10 feet of paracord, and a clip. Here are the instructions I drew up.

Use 10 feet of paracord. Check on Creative Design Works to find the plastic clip.