Last year, we wanted to have a Mom's night out event that would honor the Blessed Virgin Mary. We decided to make rosary bracelets. This would be a perfect Mom's night out for October (the Month of the Holy Rosary) or even May (Mary's month). Each mom was able to make a rosary bracelet to take home. We also had our moms make extra so that we can give them to our members who are going through a hard time. It is a tangible reminder of the community who is supporting them with their prayers and love during life's most difficult moments.
In order to make these rosary bracelets, you will need the following supplies. I ordered most of my supplies from www.firemountaingems.com, and I am including links to the exact items.
You will need:
1) A wire cutter and crimper.
This can be found in the jewelry making section of your local craft store. It will generally cost you somewhere around $10-15.
2) Flexible beading wire:
You can get this at your local craft store like Hobby Lobby. The one I purchased was .019 in in diameter and 30 ft long. It is nylon coated stainless steel. You can find it here
3) Beads: 8 mm.
These will be your Our Father and Hail Mary beads. You'll want 13 of one color and 2 of another for 15 beads total for each bracelet. The type of beads you choose will greatly impact your overall cost. For this project, you could choose these beads for the Hail Mary, and these for the Our Father
4) Crimp beads:
Crimp beads are what you use to keep your beads from falling off of your strand. They secure the beginning and end of your bracelet. You will need 2 for each rosary bracelet, although personally, I like to add 4 total just to help make it extra secure. You can find them here.
5) Jump rings:
A jump ring is just a little ring that you will use to attach your crucifix and miraculous medal to your bracelet. It is also used to add the toggles on. You will need 4 total. The ones I used can be found here.
6) Spacer (seed) beads:
These are the beads you will use in between your 8 mm beads. I used these. You can also add bead rondelles to each side of your beads if you want to make them extra fancy.
7) Clasp and Toggles:
I purchased the 11 mm round clasp and toggles. I will say that if I did this again, I would have purchased something that looked more silver vs pewter. The ones I purchased are found here.
8) Crucifix and Miraculous Medals
Surprisingly, I found these at firemountaingems.com If you can't find them there, you may be able to find small ones at St. Paul Center of Street Evangelization. For this project, I used these 14x10 mm Miraculous Medals, and these 26 x 17 mm Crucifixes.
Here is a picture of my supplies. Each of the squares is 1 in x 1 in to give you and idea of sizing:
How to Make the Bracelets:
I highly recommend prepping the wire before your Mom's night out. Precutting and adding the first crimp bead will save your group a lot of time!
Step 1:
Measure your wrist and cut your wire. Keep in mind, the toggle and clasp will add some length to your bracelet. For my bracelet, I cut the wire to 8 inches. The beads, when strung together, will measure about 6 to 6.5 inches. The toggle and clasp will add about an inch of length. Your finished bracelet will be about 7 to 7.5 inches in length (or slightly longer or shorter due to personal preference.)
Step 2:
Add your crimp bead. To do this, thread a crimp bead on to the end portion of your wire. Then, take the end of the wire and feed it into the crimp bead to create a small circle. (You want to keep the circle small. If you make the circle too large, it may make your bracelet larger than you want!) Then, use the crimp tool to squeeze and flatten the crimp bead, thus securing the wire. Once finished, it will look like this:
**NOTE: I HIGHLY RECOMMEND HAVING STEP 1 & 2 COMPLETED AHEAD OF TIME.
Step 3:
Decide on your bead pattern and lay it out. You will want to have the following design: A is for the Our Father, B is for the Hail Marys and you will add seed beads (and if you want, rondelles) in between to add length and to make it beautiful. Your pattern will be A BBB A BBBBBBBBBB or in other words, 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary's 1, Our Father, and finally 10 Hail Mary's. For most people, when strung together, the beads should measure about 6 to 6.5 inches. The toggle and clamp will add about an inch of length to the final product. Thus, when finished, the bracelet should be roughly around 7.5 inches long. You can adjust accordingly to your personal preference.
Step 4:
String your beads onto the wire.
Step 5:
Once all the beads have been added, add a crimp bead to the wire and fold the wire over and thread it through the crimp bead, creating a small circle. Flatten/squeeze the crimp bead with your crimping tool and hide the excess wire by feeding it through the existing beads.
Step 6:
Open a jump ring and place it inside the loop that has been created at the end of your wire. Add a toggle or clamp and then squeeze the jump ring closed, making sure that the jump ring is perfectly closed. (If you don't do this the wire will fall through the crack and the bracelet will fall off), Do this for each end of your bracelet.
Step 7:
Open another jump ring and thread a crucifix through it. Place it on the beginning of your rosary bracelet or near the first Our Father bead. Then, close the jump ring.
Once step 6 and 7 are completed, it should look something like this:
Step 8:
Repeat Step 7. Instead of a crucifix, you will place a Miraculous Medal. Instead of placing near the first Our Father, you will place it near the second Our Father.
Step 9:
Try your bracelet on. For me, I like my bracelet to be about 7.5 inches to 8 inches in length.
Here are some examples of different bracelets our group made:
Let me know how this works for your group! I'd love to see what you have created! Also, if this is too expensive of a craft for your group, you can consider making a knot rosary bracelet. Knot bracelets are pretty easy to make and are inexpensive. A tutorial can be found here at Knot Just A Prayer.
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