Bag charms seem to be everywhere these days. One version I have not seen, until now, is a dice bag charm. If I’m going to jump on a craft trend, I’m at least going to give it my own spin roll of the dice.
I used wooden dice to make my bag charm, but the beauty of this craft is that dice beads come in a rainbow of colors. Let’s get into how to make a dice bag charm.
What you need to make a dice bag charm:
- dice beads (like these or these)
- round beads (I used these and colored them with a permanent marker.)
- optional: drill and tiny drill bit if you aren’t buying beads
- cord of your choice (I used a leather cord.)
- key ring or clip
- jump ring (depending on how you make your charm)
- scissors
Dice beads are a thing!
You don’t have to drill into the dice you find in your game cupboard to make beads. There are tons of acrylic dice bead options on Amazon. They might be called dice spacer beads. Try one of these:
Multi-colored acrylic dice beads
Where can you find wooden dice?
You have two options: make them or buy them.
If you make them, I have a tutorial on that. You can read it here. Essentially, you need small wood cubes and a wood-burning tool or another way to make the dots on the dice.
If you want to drill the wooden dice you make, you can buy these half-inch wood cubes.
If you want pre-drilled half-inch wood cube beads so you can skip the drilling part, these are your best bet.
If you want to buy wood dice, there are so many options on Etsy. Since they are made of wood, you can easily turn them into a bead by drilling a hole through the dice. These wooden dice are gorgeous, but they might be too pretty to drill through.
How to make a wood dice bag charm:
If you’re making your own wooden dice, do that now. If you’re using dice beads that are ready to go, you can move forward with assembling your bag charm.
Prep the items for your bag charm by gathering the dice beads and round beads together to plan out your color scheme and the order you want to use your beads.
Cut the cord you will be using to your desired length. Err on the side of longer because you can always trim off the excess.
Fold your cord in half to create a small loop at the top that you can get your pinkie finger through. Tie an overhand knot just below the loop to lock it in place, or you can experiment with fancier knots to secure the loop. There are a million YouTube videos that demonstrate fancy knots for bag charms.
You’ll be left with two ends of cord to string your beads on. Add the beads to each section of cord, leaving room at the bottom.
Tie a secure double knot at the bottom under the last bead, add a drop of glue if using a cord that can fray, and trim the excess cord.
Add a key ring or a jump ring and a key clip to the loop at the top of your bag charm.
Tada! You’ve made a dice bag charm!
I love how my dice bag charm turned out. It’s definitely a different look from the bag charms I see made with plastic beads, which is what I was going for when I put my own spin on this craft.
The hardest part of this entire thing, for me, had nothing to do with the beads themselves. The part that stumped me was trying to tie a fancy knot. I did it one time in the neighborhood of good enough, and that’s the version of the cord I had to use to make my bag charm.
True story!
In fairness to myself, the leather cord I used was not very forgiving. But, I suspect, that the main reason for my challenges is that knot tying is a foreign language my brain does not understand. Maybe if I had grown up on the high seas if would be a different story.
Have you made a bag charm yet? What do you think of the one I made? How are your knot-tying skills? I have time. Tell me everything. You can comment here on this blog post, email me here, or reach out via direct message on Instagram or Facebook. Comments are like happy mail from a friend. They totally make my day!
Happy Crafting!
Thank you for being a part of my world. I’m so glad you’re here. If you’d like another blog post to read, try one of these!
DIY Wood Acorn and Bead Garland
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