Gemstone Fidget Bracelet or Keychain

DIY fidget tools are great for helping you stay focused at meetings, work, and can help reduce stress & anxiety. My examples were made with Italian onyx (flat square beads) and mixed gemstones (black & gray beads). You can go high end with gemstones and silk thread or simple with plastic pony beads and yarn but either way it's a fun result.

This is an easy project that just needs some beads and threading material (yarn, embroidery floss, dental floss, etc) and either a bracelet clasp or a keyring. You’ll want at least 5 beads for a nice sliding/fidget tool. I like 10 for counting and deep breathing exercises. Smaller, roundish beads with larger holes seem to work better but if you allow enough threading material almost all beads will work. Your threading material needs to be smooth and thin enough to go through each bead hole twice. I'm going to share the mistakes I made as I put these 2 projects together to try and save you some headaches. Let's begin!.

Beads- I suggest at least 5. These can be plastic pony beads or fancy gemstones or anything in between. Round and not too big seem to work better. Consistent shapes also seem to work better. I've seen examples made with hardware- hex nuts on paracord seems to be popular.

Threading material- at least 2 feet of yarn, floss, paracord, etc. 3 feet/1 yard is better for bigger projects (larger beads or longer bracelet wanted). The just/hemp cord I tried first was too thick for my bead holes so I ended up using pearl cotton (similar to embroidery floss).

Anchor- bracelet hardware- jump rings & clasp OR keyring. You can skip this if you make a loop from your threading material & use a final bead as the closure (this will give a button / button hole effect).

Tools- scissors, a ruler, sewing needle or 2, a needle threader.

Jewelry hardware is good to finish off your project as a more professional looking piece. Jump rings, clasps, crimps beads etc as needed.

Gather your tools. If your beads are trying to roll away, a towel or washcloth can help hold them steady while you work.

Measure the wrist you want to make the bracelet for (or estimate 7 inches for most ladies & 8 for most guys). End bracelet should be a little loose so you can move the beads.

Cut your threading material at least 3 times the wrist measure + .5in per bead. REMEMBER- you can cut your thread shorter at the end but it's pretty hard to make it longer!

I fell into the "too short thread" hole- my onyx beads were kind of wide and so took up more thread than I expected. So, I ended up without enough left to finish the bracelet. I'll take it apart and restring it eventually.

My wrist is 7.5 and I used 11 beads so I wanted 22 + 6 inches. Just in case, I cut at 36 inches for my second attempt- the gray beaded bracelet. I had thread left over this time.

I planned to use the hemp cord with the onyx beads but the cord was too thick for the holes drilled in my beads. So, plan 2- go for the cotton cord.

I usually just use about 2 feet of threading material and 10 beads.

Fold thread in half and do a lark’s head knot over your anchor- the jump ring or key ring.

How to do a lark's head knot: Fold your cord in half to make a loop at the middle of your cord, puit folded end through anchor, then push loose end through thread loop so it all wraps around anchor ring. I like to do another 2 or 3 knots after this.

You can add a spacer knot [leaving .5 inch or so of room] if your beads/stones are large. A tube bead with both threads run through will also add some room between the sliding beads & the clasp.

You may want to lay out your beads if you aren't using all 1 shape or you have color variants you want to emphasize. I ended up not using the tiny round beads on the gray bracelet. I did add spacer beads on each end- a barrel shaped bead- I ran both strings through, tied a knot and started stringing my sliding beads.

For adding the beads- I like to use a double needle method- take each piece of threading material, thread thru needle and then cross pass thru beads. The threads will zig-zag up the chain of beads, this is what allows the beads to slide so the fidget works.

Lay out the two tail-ends of your anchored cord so it’s easy to tell which end is on your left, and which end is on your right. Pick up your first bead, and slide the right-side tail through the hole first, pushing it through from right side to left side. Then slide the left-side tail THROUGH THE HOLE IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION (in other words, into the side that the other tail just came out of, and out of the side that the other tail started on). By now, the piece of cord that was on the right side at first should be sticking out the left side of the bead, and the piece of cord that started on the left side should be sticking out the right side of the bead.

Pull the two ends of the cord tight so the bead slides up next to the anchor. Pick up your next bead and put the new right-side tail through the bead from right to left, then the new left-side tail through in the opposite direction (left to right). Pull tight again.

Repeat with all remaining beads in your pattern.

If you want to be able to slide the rows on your project back and forth, then you will need to leave a little extra space at the end of your beads, before you knot off your cords.

You can use whatever kind of knot you like, so long as it stays tight. For beaded projects where I want to leave that extra space for sliding, I find it easiest to wrap the two cords around my finger, take the loop off my finger, push the ends through the loop, and then pull them tight – so that the knot is secure, but there’s still some distance between the knot and your final beaded row. If you added a tube bead at the beginning, you may want to add a matching one now for balancing the pattern.

You can then add the other end to your bracelet clasp. Or leave the strand loose for the keychain version.

Once the keychain or bracelet is done, you can slide the beads- IE fidget with them. See pictures showing the sliding.

Wear with pride & go forth and fidget!