Super painless DIY: The friendship bracelet

True confession time: I’ve never made a friendship bracelet in my entire life. The thought never even crossed my mind until I was given this DIY assignment, and I immediately broke out in a cold sweat imagining all the truly embarrassing ways I would fumble through this knotted mess. Spoiler alert, though: it turns out the entire thing is deceptively easy. I mean, what did I really expect from the favorite pastime of seven-year-old girls everywhere?

Here is a simple breakdown for the (debatably) most productive five minutes you will ever spend.

Step 1: Collect four strands of thread and either knot them at the end or tape them together to keep them for separating. For newbs, aim for four separate colors so that it’s easier to differentiate and keep track of each individual strand.

Step 2: Starting from the strand on the rightmost end, follow this simple pattern: loop the thread under the thread immediately to its left, then over the one next to that, then under again until it has become the leftmost thread.

Step 3: Following the same pattern, loop the thread that is now the furthest on the right under then over then under until you’ve moved it to the left.

Step 4: Repeat until you go cross-eyed.

Step 5: If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, weave in a couple of studs or spikes onto random sections of thread. Once you’ve braided a section big enough to cover the circumference of your wrist, knot the ends together and you’re done!

FINAL PRODUCT!