Bracelets bolster spirits, bind friendships

With the school year coming to a close, this is a good time to crochet a few friendship bracelets -- or something motivational -- to help friends stay connected through the summer months.

For Robin Norgren, making colorful wrist cuffs started as a lark -- a way to use up yarn left over from larger crocheting projects.

She wasn't certain her simple cuffs would sell on Etsy.com at all. Norgren posted half a dozen of them to her online shop, Well of Creations, then went to bed at home in Mackenbach, Germany. When she awoke the next morning, all six bracelets had sold overnight.

"I was throwing it out there into the abyss and going 'This is lame,'" said Norgren, 41, whose U.S. Navy Reservist husband, Michael Norgren, works at an Army hospital near Ramstein Air Base. "And they sold."

Her bracelets were featured in an Etsy e-mail that is sent to members to drum up business for Etsy artists and crafters. The draw? At $6, they're inexpensive. The kicker? Norgren donates $5 from each bracelet to Care, a humanitarian aid group fighting poverty worldwide.

"The irony of all of it is I'm not making any money," Norgren said. "Yes, this is just how life is. Being selfless -- that's what sells."

Online:

* www.etsy.com/shop/Wellofcreations

* www.care.org