How to Make A Jali-jali Bracelet

When I was a kid, I used to pick up jali-jali seeds with my friends from the farm. We used the seeds to make necklace or bracelets. Things were different back then. There was no smartphone or online games. So, we were just had to be happy with anything we found on the farm, in this case, the jali-jali seeds, to play with.

My son resting in the farm

I was cycling one afternoon with my son to the rice farm near my house when I saw a jali-jali bush on the way. I nearly shouted to my son telling him that I used to play with the seeds some years ago. It was a bit embarrassing to think of it.

The jali-jali seeds have different colors depending on their age. The young jali-jali seeds are green in color, then when they get older, the color change into black or white. The white and black seeds are very hard and shiny.

I picked up some of the branches that have seeds on it and brought them home. At home, we soon got ourselves busy to pick up the seeds from the branches. We managed to collect a small plate of jali-jali seeds.

Well, another reason I picked these seeds are not actually to bring a nostalgic feeling but to get my son something to do. I feel that he did not get enough education since he has not been able to go to school due to the COVID-19 situation. He was quite excited when I asked him to pick up the seeds.

The next step required a bit of patience. We need to put a thread into the holes of each seed. The purpose was to attach the seeds together to form a bracelet or necklace. For this task, my wife took over.

She used a needle to help to enter the thread into the holes of the seeds. Some seeds can not be used because the holes were blocked. After attaching about 30 seeds, the bracelet was finished and ready to be worn.

My son was very happy to have it on his arm.

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