Give your Rainbow Loom new life by using it to make rubber band critters. Here are directions, from Loopy Loom Rubber Band Animals, to make a dragonfly. Bonus: Turn this kids’ craft into a hair accessory!
These jelly bands create a really effective dragonfly charm.
Try attaching them to hairclips for a fabulous hair accessory!
SKILL LEVEL: ♦
What you will need to make a Rainbow Loom dragonfly
- Loom
- 76 clear bands
- 20 turquoise bands
- 28 purple bands
- 2 black bands
- 2 yellow bands
- Hook
- Holding hooks
- Glue gun
Rainbow Loom Setup
Set up your loom in the diagonal format—3 pegs wide x 13 pegs long
Directions to make a Rainbow Loom dragonfly
1. First, make the wings. With the arrows of your loom pointing toward you, lay out doubled-over single clear bands in the order shown. Add a clear cap band to the bottom peg, twisting it around the peg four times.
2. Lay doubled-over clear bands diagonally over the pegs, as shown.
3. Insert your hook under the cap band, pick up the bands, and hook over their opposing pegs in the order shown. Continue all the way up the loom in the order shown.
4. Insert your holding hook into the loops on the top peg and gently pull the wing off the loom. Put it to one side, leaving it on the hook. Repeat steps 1–4 to make three more wings.
5. Now make the body. Lay out pairs of bands in the colors and order shown, except for bands 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18, which are three bands. Take one turquoise and one purple band and create a cap band by twisting them around the bottom peg four times.
6. Make the eyes by wrapping one black, one yellow, and one purple band around your hook twice. Repeat with another set of bands and then pull a single turquoise band through all the loops on your hook.
7. Place the eyes over the outer pegs of row 1. Then add a single purple horizontal holding band in a triangle shape over row 3, as shown.
8. Place the wings made in steps 1–4 on the body, as shown.
9. Insert your hook into the bottom peg, under the cap band, then pick up the bands and hook them over the opposing peg. Hook the rest of the dragonfly in the order shown.
10. Insert your hook into the top peg, through all the loops, and gently pull the dragonfly off the loom. Thread a single turquoise band through all the loops, thread one end of the band through the other, and pull tight to secure.
|
With the help of an adult, glue the dragonfly charm onto a hairclip using a glue gun or Superglue. Allow to cool before wearing. |
 |
Excerpted from Loopy Loom Rubber Band Animals by Lucy Hopping ($14.95) with permission of CICO Books. |
Loom illustrations by Louise Turpin
Photos by Emma Mitchell
