Help me create an adult's teething ring/comfort bracelet type thing.

May 11, 2009 8:42 PM

I'm trying to make a "comfort bracelet"/keychain type thing. What can I include?

I was at my therapists recently and realized I had taken some guitar picks out of my pocket and was absently moving them around in my fingers. I realized it made me feel more comfortable to have something small and tactile in my hands while I was talking and it calmed my anxiety.

Since then, I've been working on collecting small items I can string on a leather cord, either to make a bracelet/keychain/some small thing I can pull out when I'm anxious, that has small items of different textures that feel calming and can be played with.

What can I include? I have a mixture of wood beads, glass beads, guitar picks ( suppose I can drill a hole through) . What else? Feathers? Fabric? I'd also like to make one for a friend and bought a letter with his name on it. Aesthetics are less important than the varying textures, and it would need to stay pretty small in size.

posted by sweetkid to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

I have a quilted throw with tassels on it, and my kids loooooove to stroke the tassels. You could use fine silk thread or yarn and do it like this to make a small tassel that would fit the scale of the rest of your objects.

A loop of satiny ribbon might be nice, too. These little blankets are marketed under the premise that babies tend to be fascinated by the tag on any object, with loops of ribbon mimicking tags all around the edges (of course, my kids liked the real tag on theirs the best). The ribbon loops make a nice little fidget.
posted by padraigin at 8:49 PM on May 11, 2009

If you go to a bead store, or the bead section of a craft store, you'll find dozens of different textures right there. (IMO, bead store is better, since you can buy one bead at a time for most of them.) In my bin right now: Ceramic, glass, rocks, unpolished rocks, studded glass, shell, whole shells, chunks of lava, seeds, and metal in lots of shapes. I've seen squishy fabric and rubber coated beads, too, which I wouldn't use, but would be useful for that project. Also: coins with holes or random small things from the hardware store (things with screw threads, eg.)

On preview: to terminate the loop with a tassel sounds like a great idea.
posted by cobaltnine at 8:53 PM on May 11, 2009 [2 favorites]

This is such a great idea for a self-soothing tool!
A hole puncher meant for paper will work on a guitar pick, if you want to subvert the trouble of a drill. :) What about metal washers--those can take on a coolness from cool air, or warmth from your body, so they will feel different at different times. Maybe a shell that you can put a small hole into? A fuzzy pompom type of ball from a craft store? Maybe you can find a bead in the shape of, or paint a plain ceramic-type bead with a picture of, a comforting image too.
posted by so_gracefully at 8:53 PM on May 11, 2009

Seconding just going to a craft store and sifting through boxes. Things that might work well: corduroy fabric (or silk, or velvet); a wine cork; coffee beans? Heavy duty fittings from the hardware story would work, too -- things that are small, but still hefty enough to do the trick when you feel like you just need to throw something through a window.

(not that you should do this, of course)

Also, glass potting beads might be good. Hard to think of things that are small AND tactile -- maybe a bit of copper wire? to wrap and unwrap? it's late -- coffee beans and wire are pretty much what I got.
posted by puckish at 9:17 PM on May 11, 2009

An eraser.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 9:21 PM on May 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

I love love love squeezing things, like those little beanbag hand exercisers, or hand putty, or little balls filled with gel or beads or sand.
posted by iconomy at 9:22 PM on May 11, 2009

Not multiply textured, but interesting if you are not already aware of them: Worry Beads
posted by misterbrandt at 9:22 PM on May 11, 2009

There are some more ideas in this thread about "College-guy-appropriate comfort objects".
posted by dreamyshade at 12:04 AM on May 12, 2009

Nuts. Um, the nut-and-bolt kind, though I suppose you could use the nut-and-raisin kind too, provided you could get a hole in 'em.
posted by box at 6:49 AM on May 12, 2009

Got any friends who knit or crochet? Ask them to make a couple teeny swatches in various yarns/stitches. Petting swatches can be really soothing. (In fact, memail me if you'd like me to whip up a couple.)

A little sachet filled with potpourri beads or pvc pellets is good to have, too. My favorite part on baby texture toys is the "crinkle" - maybe a bit of clean cellophane stuffed in a tiny drawstring bag would do the trick.
posted by Metroid Baby at 8:26 AM on May 12, 2009

Learn to crochet beaded bracelets. Very portable craft, and everybody loves them. I'm the lucky friend of someone who makes these and love the bracelets. The bracelet is a good comfort object as well.
posted by theora55 at 9:08 AM on May 12, 2009