Every kid will love learning how to make beaded bike streamers. After learning the spiral square stitch, the square stitch is a breeze, and kids will be ready to make streamers for their bike and their friend's, keeping them busy for hours.
Lanyard crafts may seem confusing, but with the following detailed instructions and pictures these bike streamers will be a cinch.
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What You'll Need:
4 lanyard laces (for each bike grip): 3-1/3 yards blue; 3-1/3 yards green; 3-1/3 yards yellow; 3-1/3 yards red, plus additional 18-inch piece
Ruler
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Scissors
16 pony beads, 6x9mm (for each bike grip): 4 blue, 4 green, 4 yellow, 4 red
Craft knife (adult use only)
Low-temperature glue gun and glue (adult help needed)
2 blue handlebar bike grips
1. Cut the blue, green, yellow, and red lanyard laces into two 1-2/3-yard pieces each. Cut the remaining 18-inch red lace into one 6-inch piece and one 12-inch piece. Keeping color groups together, hold all eight 1-2/3-yard laces together with the ends even, and bind them in the center with the 6-inch red lace. Reserve the 12-inch piece. Attach an anchor lace or safety pin through binding lace to anchor.
2. Keeping the color groups together, separate the strands with the blue extending up, the green down, the red to the left, and the yellow to the right.
3. Fold the top blue laces down over the red laces. Fold the left red laces to the right over the blue and green laces.
4. Fold the bottom green laces up over the red and yellow laces. Fold the right yellow laces over the green laces and under the blue laces. Pull all laces tight.
5. Diagonally fold top green laces down over left yellow laces. Diagonally fold the bottom blue laces up over the right red laces.
6. Diagonally fold the left yellow laces over the top green laces and under the bottom blue laces. Diagonally fold the right red laces over the bottom blue laces and under the top green laces. Pull all laces tight.
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 to make 2-1/2 inches of braid.
8. Make sure all laces are pulled tight. Wrap reserved 12-inch piece of red lace around all laces just below the last stitch. Tie wrapped red lace in a tight knot, and trim ends to 1/2 inch. Remove the anchor.
9. Trim lace ends to 12 inches. Tie a knot on each lace streamer, varying the placements. On each lace streamer, thread a pony bead below the knot. Tie a second knot below the bead. Trim the ends to a 1/4 inch.
10. Ask an adult to use a craft knife to carve a 1/2-inch hole in the end of the bike grip. Glue and insert the braid into the grip. (Braid should fit snugly into the grip.)
Repeat steps 1 through 10 to make a second bike streamer. After making these beaded bike streamers, your kids you be ready for more!