Make Your Own Beads

This is a fun and simple project... a great way to use up those little scraps of paper and thread that you don't want to throw away.

What you need:

1. Scraps of paper or card stock

2. Scraps of embroidery thread

3. Mod Podge

What you do:

1. Cut your paper to the width that you want your beads to be. Wrap the paper around something like a BBQ skewer (other ideas: a long nail, a thin paint brush, a toothpick...) and glue the ends together. Make sure you don't glue the paper to the skewer.

2. Apply a coat of Mod Podge to the outside of the paper bead. Start wrapping the scrap piece of thread around the paper.

3. Trim the extra thread and add a thin layer of Mod Podge to the outside of the bead. Let the bead dry (I moved the bead along the skewer a few times while it was drying to make sure it didn't get stuck).

Now you can use these beads to make a bracelet, or you can mix them with other beads. I think they would look especially cute as a part of a hemp friendship bracelet.

 

http://www.linesacross.com/2012/08/make-your-own-beads.html