Paper Beads

As promised, here is my tutorial on how to make paper beads. I'm going for cylindrical beads since they are super easy and great for beginners.

You can see the pretty pattern on it here. I love it!

I used an old piece of sheet music that was destined for the recycle bin.

A paper cutter is a super handy thing to have around when you work with paper a lot. It won't replace a good pair of scissors, but it sure will get lots of use if you follow my blog.

I cut it into 1 inch strips. I wouldn't make them any bigger. They don't hang well on a necklace if they are too long.

WATCH YOUR FINGERS!!!!! THOSE THINGS ARE SHARP!

Now you have several strips. I cut out some of the blank parts of the page to make it have the pattern all over the bead. Otherwise you'd have some blank beads.

Now you need some glue. I use a glue stick. It's neater than anything else I've tried.

I'm going to save you some money. Make a beading tool out of a rolled up piece of paper and a bent paperclip. Just straighten out the clip and clip it to about 2 1/2 - 3 inches long. Bend it in half, making sure to press it together tightly.

Just slip in the clip. You have now saved yourself about 20 bucks. Aren't you handy?!

Slip the end of the paper into the beading tool and turn until you have a nice curl to the paper. You'll be gluing it next and then you'll slip it back into the tool to wind it up.

Put the glue stick over the majority of the paper all the way to the end. You don't want glue on the part you'll slip into the beading tool.

Just roll it up around your beading tool and remove the tool once it's wound tightly and nicely glued.

You'll need to seal the beads to make them more durable. You can use either a Modge Podge type product or a spray sealer made for paper. I like the spray better.

A few coats of Modge Podge will do it. But it is more time consuming than the spray. It dries slower too.

Just spray a coat or two of the varnish on them to make them a bit more durable. You can also use a high gloss varnish for a nice shine.

Here is the end result. You did it!

Here's a template that I got from Amazon.com showing some of the many shapes you can make.

Here are some beads made from a triangle piece of paper.

I get lots of compliments on this. I just put glitter on purple paper.

Making paper beads is a great way to recycle junk mail.

This is made from white paper beads and black plastic beads.

Here's a nice closeup of the paper beads. They're easy to make. Look for a tutorial later today.

Paperclip Jewelry

I made this necklace from stainless steel paperclips. A little creativity, a pair of jewelry pliers, and some turquoise were all I needed to make my Mom's gift for Christmas this year. Experiment with your pliers and some paperclips and before you know it you'll be creating a work of art.

Round nosed jewelry pliers can be found at most craft stors. I got these at Micheal's.

The rounded tips of the piers help you make a natural, consistent curve to the links.

Looking at the links you've already done will help you keep them uniform in size and shape. I ended up clipping off about 1/6 of the paperclip to make them the size I wanted.