How to Make Bangle Bracelets

Learn how to make bangle bracelets – just pick your favorite papers, paint, embellishments and Mod Podge to create amazing jewelry!

I’m very excited to share my DIY bracelets with you today! Do you ever start a fashion project and then realize how much FUN you are having doing it? I’m really into Mod Podge jewelry lately!

More specifically, I may have found a new career decorating bangle bracelets – that is how much I love it. It’s one of my favorite decoupage ideas.

It started with an order of DIY Bangles and went crazy from there. Now I’m making bangle bracelets like there’s no tomorrow, so I’m sharing a few of my recent creations with you. I’ll show you how to make bangle bracelets the way I did.

I warn you though, I can’t be responsible for time spent away from your children, husband, and work duties to make these.

Right now I have ring-around-the-bathtub and I don’t even care. Here’s how to make bangle bracelets!

Wooden Bangle Bracelets

Gather These Supplies

For all bangles:

• DIY Bangles – the pennant bangle is the 1″ dome, the pink floral bangle is the flat exterior and the moss bangle with turquoise beads is the pentagon
• Mod Podge Gloss or Mod Podge Satin
• Scissors or craft knife and mat
• Pencil
• Craft glue
• Paintbrush

Pennant Bangle

• FolkArt Acrylic – Seamist
• Scrapbook paper scraps – I used Crate Paper Restoration
• Brads in coordinating colors
• Silver Sharpie
• Piece of yarn

Pink Floral Bangle

• FolkArt Acrylic – Graffiti Pink, Yellow Citron
• Paper scraps
• Velvet scalloped ribbon
• Pink brad floral embellishment
• Candle
• Sandpaper

Moss Bangle with Beads

• FolkArt Acrylic – Forest Moss, Spanish Olive
• Mod Podge Dimensional Magic
• Paper scraps – I used Crate Paper Restoration
• Martha Stewart Microbeads in Feldspar
• Tissue paper or vellum
• Tape
• Candle
• Sandpaper

You need to do some preparation for the pentagon bangle, since you have five flat areas to cover with paper.

Using a vellum scrap and a pencil, I rubbed around the edge of the shape to make a template for cutting paper – kind of like pencil rubbings you did when you were little.

Should you only do one? No – I recommend doing all five sides and then numbering. I like my paper shapes to fit exactly.

Tape the vellum down to your sheet of scrapbook paper and then cut out the five separate shapes. The way I kept track is with numbering.

If you write a number onto the bangle and onto the back of the scrapbook paper, you’ll never see it; it will be Mod Podged down.

At this time, cut paper to fit your flat bangle as well. Set all the paper aside.

Basecoat all of your bangles according to the colors listed above. For the moss bangle, I used Forest Moss as the base color. Give at least two coats and allow to dry.

The moss bangle and the floral bangle are distressed. You can distress easily by rubbing a wax candle all over the bangle, especially on the ridges.

Rub firmly and then brush off any extra wax chunks that are left.

Remember that the more wax you add, the more distressed your DIY bracelet will be.

Paint your second color directly over the wax and the first color. Paint until the first coat is completely covered and allow to dry.

Rub a piece of medium grit sandpaper over the top of the bangles – you’ll see the areas where the wax is just rub away (quite easily), and you can see the first layer color beneath.

Isn’t it super cool? Sand more for more distressing. Your DIY bracelets are coming together!

Add the paper pieces to your distressed bangles with Mod Podge. Allow to dry for 15 – 20 minutes, then give them a top coat. Add a few coats of Mod Podge to seal the bangles.

At this point you just need to add embellishments to the floral bangle and you are done with that one.

Add the microbeads around each of the five papered parts of your bangle. To do this, paint a medium line of Mod Podge around the oval shape and then sprinkle the beads on.

They adhere nicely like glitter. If your bead line goes a little wonky, just wash the Mod Podge off the paintbrush and then run it around the edge to wipe some of the beads and clean it up.

I worked each oval shape one at a time, sprinkling beads and allowing to dry. I used a styrofoam bowl to catch the beads.

Once the beads are completely dry, add Mod Podge Dimensional Magic to the oval part of the bangle, right on top of the paper. Unfortunately this is a slow process, but only because of dry time.

The good thing is that you can add the Dimensional Magic and leave it to dry (DM side up). Come back later and then rotate the bangle, add more DM.

Total application time is about 15 minutes, but total dry time means this project is at least going to take overnight. Once the Dimensional Magic is dry, your moss bangle is done.

Back to the pennant bangle to finish.

So the pennant bangle has little flags, right? I wanted to measure to make sure that my flags fit correctly, so before I did anything I measured the circumference of the bangle with a piece of yarn.

Once I had the circumference, I laid the yarn out onto a ruler and divide the bangle into five equal parts.

I marked the yarn with a pencil, and then taped the yarn back around the bangle. I marked the bangle where I wanted each intersection of flags to be. There’s probably an easier way of doing this, but it was the method that worked for me.

I then cut out the mini-flags from the paper using my craft knife. I free handed the flags (I knew about what size I wanted them), and then I went back and trimmed them after I was done, making sure they were all the same size and would fit four flags between each pencil mark.

Using the pencil mark as a guide, Mod Podge down the mini-flags. Allow to dry for 15 – 20 minutes and then give the entire bracelet a coat of Mod Podge. Repeat.

Add the pennant string with a silver Sharpie. Then clip the heads off of your brads and glue them down at the five intersections where the pencil mark is.

I used a toothpick to help me get the right amount of glue. Let dry and this bangle is done!

These DIY bracelets are some the most fun projects I’ve done in a long time. Now that you know how to make bangle bracelets, I highly suggest these for girlfriend gifts. Enjoy your bangle decorating – I definitely am.

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Let me know what you think of these wooden bangles in the comments! I’d also love for you to check out these other jewelry craft ideas:

• DIY Bangle Bracelets Are SO Easy to Make
• The Easy Glitter Bangle That’ll Get You Compliments
• This Photo Bracelet Makes a Special Gift
• Dimensional Magic Washer Necklaces
• Fabulous Gem Rings You Can Make in Minutes