Tuesday, 7 May 2019

Learn How To Make Paper Beads In A Few Easy Steps

By Barbara Hall


Crafting has been a favorite way for people to pass time for as long as history has been recorded. Beading is a timeless craft that can be done using products made of a variety of materials such as crystal, glass, plastic, metal, and stone. Learning how to make paper beads makes doing this type of craft more fun and personalized.

This is a super easy craft that can produce a great number of different looks that can be put together to form so many varied projects. They can be formed as round, oval, or tubular shapes in a range of sizes and thicknesses. Follow these simple instructions to amass a batch and create fun projects like necklaces, earrings, bracelets, purses, curtains, and so much more.

Gather up scrapbooking sheets, colored papers, magazines, newspapers, or like items in order to create the strips needed to build the different types of bead. To get tubular results use a rectangle, a right triangle for teardrops, and isosceles triangles for rounded ones. Understand that a wider bead will require longer strips and the shape's base will determine the bead's height.

Decide what size the center hole will be by selecting either a wooden dowel, toothpick, or skewer and start wrapping the wider end of a strip around it until its whole length has been wound. Wrapping tightly is necessary to prevent the piece from coming undone when taken off the sizer. If the strip is not straight, the results will be a freeform shape, while remaining centered will build the bead symmetrical.

Once fully and tightly wound, take a bit of tacky glue and check to be the end is secured. Poke the stick into a block of florist foam or styrofoam and allow the adhesive to fully dry before proceeding. The next step is to add embellishments if so desired.

After the glue on the end has dried, it is okay to use markers or paint on the pieces if desired. Wire, thread, or puff paints may be used to create texture, and sparkle may be added with glitter. Before sealing the piece, it is important that the adhesive utilized for the embellishments has completely dried.

There are several mediums that may be used to seal the pieces and render them more durable such as Modge Podge, clear drying glue, Diamond Glaze, marine varnish, clear nail polish, and a water-based wood hardener. The easiest way to do this for most options is to load the baubles onto a piece of wire and fully immerse them into the solution. The piece needs to be completely coated with the medium and left to dry before the next coat is applied.

Now that the pieces are sealed, they will be durable and last much longer. They can be used to create a number of awesome projects from the simple design of a necklace to something as complicated as a handbag. Try different combinations and mediums to find the one that fits one's personal tastes best and get creative with it.




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