Loom Bracelet Phenomenon

If you have kids, nieces, nephews or grandkids, you’ve no doubt heard of the loom bracelet phenomenon. It’s a new craze of making friendship bracelets from tiny coloured rubber bands using a plastic loom and crochet hook. There are many different patterns and designs and with so many colours to choose from the possibilities are endless.  Hours of fun can be had on a budget and the phenomenon has even seen celebrities like the Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William, Harry Styles and Beyonce wearing them.

While you can use the loom to make bracelets and necklaces, one housewife in the UK decided to make a child’s dress using 24,000 rubber bands to sell on eBay.  The item went viral and the dress sold for an astonishing $296,000 (the equivalent of 170,000 pounds).  Can you believe it?

If you’d like to know more, here’s a selection of great books to get you up and running.  Totally Awesome Rubber Band Jewellery by Colleen Dorsey (pictured right) was published in Australia last year and is at a great price at the moment.  You can also check out Colleen’s follow up book Rubber Band Jewelry All Grown Up – Learn to Make Stylish Bracelets, Rings, Necklaces, Earrings, and More, published this year.

Beginners might like to check out Loom Band It – 60 Rubberband Projects for the Budding Loomineer by authors Kim Schader, Kat Roberts and Tessa Sillars-Powell.

Then there’s Rubber Band Bracelets – 35 Colorful Projects You’ll Love to Make and Friendship Bracelets – 35 gorgeous projects to make and give for children aged 7 years+ by author Lucy Hopping.

If that doesn’t satiate your needs, try Rubber Band Loom Crafts – Easy Jewelry & More for Girls & Guys! by Leisure Arts

While the kids or grandkids are having fun constructing their new creations – and making a mess of course – you can sit back, put your feet up and read Looming Murder, a cozy murder mystery by Carol Ann Martin.  In Looming Murder, protagonist Della Wright moves to picturesque Briar Hollow to pursue her dream of owning a weaving studio (okay so it’s not loom bracelets, but the theme of looming is continued, sort of).  Anyway, all is going well until a a dodgy local businessman is found murdered and one of her weaving students is the prime suspect.

Looming crafts are a fabulous hobby and pastime for boys, girls and the young at heart, especially on rainy weekends or during busy school holidays.  (Just remember they can be a choking hazard to babies, toddlers and pets).

If you have a photo of yourself wearing/making a loom bracelet and reading a book, we’d love to see it.