Ponytail Holder Bracelet Tutorial

Ponytail holder bracelet

I've been thinking about jewelry a lot lately.  Because of a sensitivity to metal, I've not been able to wear jewelry without developing a rash for at least a decade.  I've been thinking that the answer to this lack of accessorizing in my life might be to make my own jewelry out of mostly non-metal materials.  

As I go out in the world, I try to be mindful of what interesting stuff I could utilize to make my own jewelry.  When I was at Dollar Tree last week, I came across a package of ponytail holders and inspiration struck!

Essentially, I used the ponytail holders as "links" to make a chain.  I used metal jump rings to hook them together, but that tiny bit of metal doesn't touch my skin so it's not a problem.  There is enough stretch in the bracelet that a clasp isn't necessary.  Bingo!  The Ponytail Holder Bracelet was born!


Supplies

Supplies needed; the box is the tray from an old sewing box.

• Small ponytail holders
• Jump rings
• Needle nosed jeweler's pliers

Instructions

The ponytail holders are not very strong.  To make sure that they would hold up, I used 5 of them for each link (you could probably use as few as 3).  Also, since they are very thin, I found that the ponytail holders would slip through opening in the jump ring.  This was solved by using two jump rings for each link.

Step 1:   Open a jump ring.  Ready two "links" of bands.

Jump ring and ponytail holders ready to be linked up

 
Step 2:  Place first "link" onto jump ring then hold that link between your thumb and forefinger.  Add the second link to the jump ring and close the jump ring.

Pinching one link while added a second link

Step 3:  Add a second jump ring to reinforce the join.

Adding a second jump ring to reinforce the join

Step 4:  Continue adding links in this manner until your bracelet is as long as you want it to be.

Keep adding those links

Step 5:  Hook the first to the last loop of the bracelet to finish.

This one was made with alternating white and yellow bands and lots of Barbie shoes (and a few other accessories).

You can wear it like this, or embellish it with vending machine charms, colorful beads (see below), Barbie accessories (see above), or your own resin cast charms (really, that tutorial is coming one of these days).  Is it kitsch?  Absolutely.  But kitsch suits me perfectly!

All blue bands with green, blue and purple plastic beads.

Time to Complete:  Under an hour unless you, like me, have an unruly beagle who is constantly trying to crawl onto your lap.
Cost:  If you spend $4 on the ponytail holders and an extra large bag of jump rings, you could make about 20 of these.
Skill Level:  You need to be coordinated enough to manipulate the jump rings, but otherwise, anyone could make this.

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