[image description: two photos picturing four different bracelets/necklaces/knotted loops made from white or black hat elastic threaded with clear, yellow, red, blue, green and purple glitter-studded perler or hama beads. Two loops, one braclet size and one necklace size, are threaded with beads in clear-yellow-red-purple-blue-green order, one necklace-size loop is threaded with green-clear-purple beads to mimic the genderqueer pride flag and one double-bangle loop is threaded with blue-yellow-red beads. First photo shows the four loops sitting on a red watermelon slice pillow; second photo shows the blue-yellow-red loop twisted into a rope, anchored on each end by a orange and black tiger hedge creature or a brown monkey hedge creature.]
I was in my local Lincraft buying clear plastic sheeting to make my own I Spy Bag when I saw a leaflet for making bracelets for adults from elastic and hama beads. They also had hama beads on special, and since they only involve taking a length of elastic and threading it, this seemed a way to make easy jewellery that can double as a looser, stretchier Tangle Jr.
(I could copy out the leaflet, but the instructions are just “cut elastic to desired length, thread beads, knot elastic”. I cut the elastic to a little bit longer than is needed, to give extra room for threading, and I tied the loose end around a bead with a loose knot to work as a stopper while threading - I just untied that bead when I wanted to finish the loop by knotting the two ends of the elastic together. If you want to loop the elastic for a multi-layered bracelet, just cut twice or thrice the length you need for your wrist. You might also want to paint the cut ends of the elastic with fraystop/fraycheck or clear nail polish to keep them from fraying.)
I made ones that can be doubled or tripled over the wrist to form multiple loops, and they can also be worn as a necklace if that’s preferred. Being a DIY, you can make these as subtle as you like - one colour of beads, especially in dark and muted colours, makes these a little more adult.
For stimming, these stretch, twist and coil around a finger. If you pull the loop tight, you can spin the beads around, or slide them up and down the elastic. They weigh nothing and scrunch down to something easily hidden in a pocket if you’d rather not wear it as a bracelet.
The knock-off hama beads cost $3 AUD for 1000 piece packet from Lincraft; hat elastic costs $0.50 AUD a metre bought off the roll. You can by the beads even more cheaply on eBay, many listings with free international shipping, especially if you only want one or two colours. Even purchasing from Lincraft, you can buy the goods for several fidgets/jewellery pieces for the local cost of a Tangle Jr ($6 AUD), making them super inexpensive, especially if you’re putting together your own stim kit and separate items for travelling/satchels/bags.
Over the last few days, I’ve reached for these just as often as I’ve reached for a Tangle. They don’t replace my Tangle Jrs, but I like them as a light-weight addition to my travelling kit.
