Mind Games

Today’s get-someone-else’s-house-messy project was to make (dum-duh-da-dum!) MAGIC BRACELETS!

These are delightful, swirly, beads-in-a-tube bracelets which the kids decided to imbue with magic powers.

They are quite easy to make. I picked up 10′ of 1/4-inch outside diameter clear plastic tubing and 2′ of 1/4-inch inside diameter tubing at the hardware store - so that the smaller tubing fit snugly inside the larger tubing. The smaller tubing is for the bracelet itself and the larger tubing is cut short to make a connector holding the bracelet shut.

I also gathered our collection of glitter and beads - the small seed beads or bugle beads work well. I brought some eyedroppers and tweezers, a sturdy pair of scissors, a bottle of glycerin and some small plastic bottle caps. The kids tend to get so excited picking out colors of beads and glitter that they make a pile that is way too big to fit inside the tubing, so I have them create their mixtures inside bottle caps.

I cut the smaller tubing to fit each wrist - usually something like 9 inches long. I wrapped the tubing into a circle before I cut it and had each child slip her hand in to make sure it would fit over her hand without being too big on her wrist. Then I cut a piece from the bigger tubing about an inch long to be the connector.

Now the fun began! The kids chose their own magic materials. Dragon scales? Pikachu power? Gold glitter like midichlorians? It was all up to their imaginations. They mixed the beads and glitter in their tiny bottle cap cups, then used fingers, tweezers or quick funnels made from paper to get the mixture into the tubing.

Once the magic ingredients were inside, I used an eyedropper to fill the tubing with a mixture of water and glycerin. Water is a little thin and the beads drop quickly, but glycerin alone is too thick to easily fill the tube. I just mixed a dash of each in a plastic cup until I found a happy medium. I quickly slipped both ends of the bracelet into the connector, and there you have it - magic!

It was messy work (though not nearly as messy as toi-dough!) but so much fun. The boys each made one, Emily made two and Anna made three bracelets. Leigh and I each made one too… the joy was irresistible!