The “Loom Band” craze has hit Riyadh over the last couple of months with kids, tweens, moms and even dads alike have come around and enjoyed the peaceful craft of looming. Originally invented by a Malaysian dad named Cheong Choon Ng, the “Rainbow Loomband” phenomenon (yes, it’s a phenomenon) has gotten the US, UK and the Philippines under its spell. After the Philippine school’s summer break here in Riyadh, the youngsters came back to the city with tales and boxes of loom band materials and I was among the many doting aunties / titas who got curious.

It wasn’t until I found a store that sold cheap versions of the bands that I found myself hooked. It was for 5SR per box and it came with around 300-400 rubber bands and a hook. The seller taught me how to make a bracelet out of it using just two pens. Yes, two PENS! When I brought it home, I started making one after another, until it led me to search on Youtube to find a lot of other tutorials on looming. I’ll be sharing the best ones I could rely on here.

 

Video tutorial on how to Basic Fish Tail with Two Pens on Youtube:

Since were materials were found locally and it wasn’t like the complete boxes you’d find in the Philippines with more robust colors and a looming board included. So I stuck with the Fish Tail design for a while. My other friends also learned how to make loom bands out of just using forks! Yes, it’s true. It came to a point where in our friend’s mom was preparing dinner for us and she couldn’t find all the forks! All because me and my friends were using them to make loom bands. It’s a good alternative in case you don’t have a board around and it makes just as awesome designs as it would on a board. You can find the loom band tutorials with just a fork after the photos below:

Video tutorial on Looming with FORKS here:

When one of our friends returned from the Philippines and got us a complete box set, that’s when the looming sessions got REALLY intense. We’d move on to more complicated designs, robbing each other of internet bandwidth just to follow loom band tutorials on Youtube. I ended up with some pretty neat stuff that I am proud of.

Most of the videos I followed was from this Youtuber from the Netherlands. While she didn’t speak in English, her videos were clear and showed me how to loom it properly. You will find a lot of other loom band tutorials on the web. The ones I’m featuring are just my own preferences. 🙂

Video Tutorial for Dragon Scale here:

 

Video Tutorial for Double Infinity here:

 

 

Video Tutorial for Starburst Rainbow Loom here:

 

Video Tutorial for Hibiscus Flower Loom Charm here:

 

 

Video Tutorial for Treble Clef Loom Charm here:

Video Tutorial for Starburst Loom Ring here:

 

While the Loom Band craze had already faded quite a bit in the Philippines, I can still see its popularity here in Riyadh amongst the kids in the schools and like I said, even moms and dads and regular OFWs who wants to do something creative with their hands and spare time. For me, I’ve found it relaxing to just focus on this activity during weekends and find myself creating some cutesy accessories. Do you loom? 🙂