DIY Beaded Water Bottle Strap

Hi, guys!  Here's a tutorial for something a bit different.  Something utterly practical, simple and good.

What is it?  Why, a fancy water bottle strap.  One you can customize with any beads to suit your taste.  Look:

Perfect for walks in the forest, strolls in the city, fashion-forward day hikes, lost weekends at Comic Con.  Here's one modeled by my impossibly cute friend Jane.

A stellar handmade gift for those hard-to-bead-for people!  Also a terrific way to use up some of your beady stash.


So let's make one!  Find a rubber O-ring, a tiny bit tighter than the neck of a water bottle.  (Mine are 15/16" in diameter, 1/8" thick.)

Cut two pieces of skinny cord.  Make each piece long enough to go around your chest (like the strap of a cross-body bag).  Double each cord around the O-ring like this:

Now thread a whole lotta beads over the doubled cords, as pictured:

Lightweight, large-hole beads work best.  If you have trouble stringing your beads over the doubled cord, try my favorite trick in the whole world: those little blue flossers.  Use them to pull the cord through, it really works!

Once both sides are strung, tie a knot to join the two halves.  Trim the extra.

Done!

To add a water bottle, just slip the O-ring down past the cap.  It grips and stays like a champ.

 Then sling it over your shoulder and go.  See Jane go.

Go, Jane, go!