Make a Colorful Bracelet with Soda Straw Weaving

If you are looking for a fun tween craft for your child to do at home, or maybe some new camp crafts for summer, look no farther.

Straw weaving is the perfect craft for tweens and early teens.  

The finished product can be used to make colorful yarn bracelets, headbands, belts, and necklaces.  If you use a baby fine yarn, you can even turn it into a bookmark.  

Weaving crafts are not only fun, but they can also help improve fine motor skills. 

Kids as young as 7 can be successful weaving with straws as a loom.  We did this as a Scout camp craft, and all the kids loved it! 

If you are looking for camp craft ideas, you may also want to check out this simple soap carving activity.  

Straw Weaving 

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Materials Needed:

• 3-5 drinking straws (We used 3, but you can make a wider bracelet using 5.)
• Yarn
• Tape (to hold straws in place while weaving)
• Small piece of cardboard
• Scissors
• Wooden Skewer (optional)

Decide how wide you want your weaving to be when finished. 

We used 3 straws to make our loom, and it turned out to be almost 1 1/2 inches (3.8 cm) wide.  You can make a wider woven bracelet (or headband) by using 5 straws.  

Cut a piece of yarn for each straw you plan to use.  The yarn needs to be 4-5 inches (10-12.5 cm) longer than your straws are.  

Tie thes pieces of yarn together at one end.  

Then thread each piece of yarn through a drinking straw.   (A wooden skewer is perfect for helping guide the yarn through the straw.)

If you are using bendable straws, it helps to cut the bending tip off first so your yarn doesn’t get stuck in the bend.  Paper straws can also be used.  

Only the ends of this yarn will be seen in your final project.  The soda straws will act as your loom.

Once you have your bracelet loom made, choose what color yarn you wish to weave with.

Wrap 5-8 feet (1.5 – 2.5 m) of your yarn around a small piece of cardboard.  The cardboard will act like your shuttle as you weave.

Tie the loose end of your weaving yarn to your other 3 pieces of yarn that have been threaded through the straws. 

Secure the knotted yarn to the table with a piece of tape.  This will hold your loom in place as you weave.

Now it’s time to begin weaving with drinking straws.  

How to Straw Weave

Use the cardboard shuttle to weave your yarn over the first straw, under the second, and then over the third.  

You will continue weaving back and forth.

Use your fingers to push the yarn against the top of the loom, keeping the rows tight together. 

For the best final product, you want to keep those rows as snug as possible.  

Straw Weaving Bracelet

Once your project is long enough to go around your wrist, carefully slide the soda straws down, and off the yarn, one at a time.  You will need to use one hand to hold your weaving in place so it doesn’t unravel.

Tie your loose ends of yarn together to secure it.

Cut off extra yarn, leaving it long enough to tie the two ends together to form your bracelet. 

Find your duct tape water bottle holder, take a drink, and show off your bracelet!

We used our straw weaving to make yarn bracelets.  

You could also make a woven yarn belt or headband following the same directions.  Just make your weaving a little longer.  

You may also like:

• Build a Mechanical Hand with Straws
• How to Make a Duct Tape Sit-Upon
• Build a Craft Stick Catapult
• Yarn Weaving CD Dream Catcher
• Get the Kids Up and Moving with Math Races

Be sure to check out this straw weaving video over on my Youtube channel! 

Originally published on July 15, 2016.