I used 80 safety pins

A word of advise:  hold the beads tightly when you begin to close the pin.  If you don’t, and lose your grip, beads will fly everywhere.  Believe me, I almost gave myself a heart attack as I wasn’t expecting it.  :0)  I made sure I held them tightly after that so as not to repeat that catastrophe.

You do want it to be elastic cording because it must stretch to get over your wrist.

The key when threading them is to alternate the colors and the tops and bottoms of the pins. First right side up, then right side down…..continue that pattern. This will enable the bracelet to keep a consistent thickness. Otherwise the top or bottom will be wider than the other.

I didn’t do anything to prevent the pins from opening… the beads also keep the pins quite tight.

the opening is on the outside of the bracelet. I have not had any problems with them opening though. Some of them were even quite hard to close, because I layered the pins right up to the top. Just as they are made with safety pins, I think they should be perfectly safe.