As part of my ongoing effort to redefine Halloween Giveaways, this year we are giving away friendship bracelet kits. I had a large amount of leftover orange embroidery floss from past projects– the kind of random craft supply that may never get used. 
Making up the kits was pretty easy– unlike the dark, pre-Internet age when I was young, and you had to rely on preternaturally crafty friends or camp counselor to teach you the mysteries of friendship bracelet fabrication, we now have hundreds of online tutorials and videos. I was looking for something I could print out and include with the kit as a tutorial. I liked these ones from www.artistshelpingchildren.org/
I opted to make half of the bracelets extremely easy 3-strand bracelets, imagining that young kids (5 year olds) could simply braid them, while older kids might be advanced enough to do a simple 3-strand knot work bracelet. The other half are more complex 6-strand v-pattern bracelets. Again, a younger kid could braid and an older kid could attempt the knotwork. After counting and cutting the strands, I knotted and pinned the ends and then wrapped each bracelet kit around a tutorial sheet.
No telling if kids will like this– I know the child-me would have been super excited–but then, I’m me! I hope they enjoy.
October 31, 2016 at 9:13 pm
Yesss, great idea! I say it’s worth it even if just one kid totally loves it. Planting a good seed, there. By the way, that friendship bracelet in the first image is way more sophisticated than the ones I made, which were basically braids with more than 3 strings.
I liked your Halloween wreath post too. I think I took a timeout for card-making that same weekend and it felt amazing.