Rasta Craft Ideas

Rasta Bracelet

The colors red, gold, and green represent much of what Rastas stand for: red, for the blood of the martyrs and of all living things; gold, for the wealth of Africa and of all the earth; and green, for Ethiopia’s beauty and vegetation. To make a Rasta bracelet, you’ll need some craft foam, craft thread (red, gold, green and black), pony beads, a hole punch, scissors and glue.

First, cut the craft foam into a basic bracelet shape – a 1-by-6-inch rounded rectangle – and punch a single hole at either end. Next, wrap the craft thread about the bracelet to form stripes of varying color and width. Leave a 3/4-inch allowance at either end. Glue the ends of the strings at the back of the bracelet and trim off the excess. Pass a 16-inch length of each color craft thread through the holes and use a pony bead to secure the thread. Finally, braid the threads together and knot the ends.

Making ornaments and useful kitchen utensils out of gourds is a popular folk craft in Jamaica. For this craft, you’ll need a dried gourd bowl (available at craft stores), a small drill, strips of black fabric (around 2-by-24 inches), wood beads (red, gold and green), paint (red, gold and green) and varnish. Drill two holes for the handles about an inch from the rim of the gourd. Braid the strips of black fabric together and string the beads up on either end. Paint thin, horizontal stripes of alternating red, gold and green all around the gourd until you have a band of about 3 inches or more. Cover with varnish. Once the varnish has dried, thread each end of the fabric braid through the holes in the gourd and secure with knots.

The Lion of Judah, a well-known Rasta symbol, is seen at the center of the Imperial Ethiopian flag, from which the three symbolic Rasta colors also come. To make your lion, you need a large, flat-bottomed paper or Styrofoam bowl, a banquet-sized paper plate, construction paper, scissors, paint and glue. Paint the bowl tan or yellow, and paint the lion’s eyes on the side and its open mouth (with teeth) on the bottom. Next, paint the front and back of the paper plate orange or brown. Cut out four semicircles of construction paper for the ears: two big tan or yellow semicircles and two pink. Position and glue the lion’s ears and face onto the big paper plate. Finally, finish the mane by cutting slits all the way around the plate and ruffling it up a little.

To make a faux stained glass Rasta flag, you’ll need a sheet of clear, colorless acetate, black electrical tape, clear Scotch tape, and red, gold and green cellophane. Cut three equal strips of cellophane of each color, and tape them onto the acetate: green on top, gold in the middle and red at the bottom. Flip the acetate over. Cut your electrical tape into thin strips, and use those to line irregular shapes on the acetate, replicating the stained glass mosaic effect. Finally, use the uncut electric tape to create a thick border around the flag and a slightly thinner one between the colors.