This four cord braided bracelet is simply made by braiding four cords and incorporating some shiny beads for a bit of spunk.

Materials: About 20" Natural Greek Leather 3 Pieces, about 20" each, of Black Greek Leather. These will each be used for their own strand. About 20" of any Polyester or Hemp Cord. This design uses Light Blue Polyester Cord. 6-10 6/0 Seed Beads. This design uses Metallic Silver Seed Beads. About 10" of 22ga Wire in the color that matches your design the best. We carry Sterling Silver, Gold Plated, Solid Copper, and Silver Filled 22ga wire. 1large hole lamp work bead which can be found on the Fancy Lampwork Beads Page. Tools: Ergonomic Plier Set Instructions: Cut your wire in half so that each piece is 5-6" long. Set one piece aside. About 5mm (1/2cm) from the end of the wire, bend the wire to make an "L" shape. Using a round nose plier make a gentle curve in the wire right next to the bend. Make the curve on the long side of the "L". This curve creates a basis for wrapping the cord - so make the curve a similar thickness to that of your cords when they are all together. Each cord piece should be about 20" - and yes there are 5 (1 natural, 3 black, 1 colored) don't worry about this, 2 strands will be used together as one when you actually start the braid. Line up the ends of the cord. About an inch down from the end of the cord is where you should start your wire wrap. Settle the curve you made in the wire around the cord, letting the little 5mm piece of wire lay flat on the cord - you will wrap around this. Start wrapping the wire around all the cords - creating a coil. You should be wrapping around the 5mm piece laying on the cord. After about 5-6 coils, cut the wire about 5mm from the last coil. Bend the extra wire back towards the coil and tuck the excess underneath the coil. This will prevent it from unwrapping or getting caught on things. Tie a half-hitch knot. For details on tying this knot click Here. String the large hole lampwork bead, or any other large hole bead (copper beads and wire are great to use on jewelry for a man), on the cord and slide it up to the knot. Tie another half hitch knot on the opposite side of the bead so that the bead is held in place. This is where you will start braiding. I found it helpful my first few times to anchor the cord ends, at the end of the braid, to something else so that the braid would stay in place. This is not necessary but it is super helpful. Lay your strands flat, lining up the thin polyester color cord with one of the black leather pieces - these will act as one cord (it may be helpful to tape them together at the bottom so that the stay together while braiding). Take the right most cord and take it under the two center ones. Then, with the same cord bring it around and over the top of the second cord that it went under - but only the second one! Take the left most cord and take it under the two center ones. The original right most cord should now be in the center. Next, take the same cord and bring it around and over the top of the second cord that it went under. Continue doing this pattern, switching off from right to left each time. If you get lost, remember that the next cord that you bring under the two center ones will always stick out the highest on the braid. When the thin colored cord is in the highest position - so it's about to be taken under the center - string on one of the 6/0 seed beads. In this bracelet, instead of stringing on a seed bead every time the colored cord was on top, I did it every-other time just to have more space between the beads. Continue braiding until the length from the beginning of the braid to the end is just long enough to fit, snugly, end-to-end around your wrist - or ankle. At the end of the braid tie a half-hitch knot. Before you wire wrap this end of the bracelet leave about an inch or so of cord and then wire wrap the stop. This open space will be used as the ring of the toggle, and the bead on the other side is the bar. So make sure that there is enough space that the bead can fit through the loop, but not so much that it pulls out. Wire Wrap a stop, using the piece of wire you set aside, just like you did in the beginning (steps 2-3, 5-8). Cut the cord ends about an inch from the end of your stop, and you are done! NOTE: The colored polyester cord will fray, so it may be desired to melt the tips of the cord a tiny bit as to prevent fraying. You don't have to do this on the leather. **Please note that all designs used for tutorials are intended to inspire. We may run out of any/all products used in a given project. Most of our designs contain products that are easily substituted. We do not intend for anyone to copy these designs exactly.