Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Easy Instructions On How To Make Paper Beads

By Barbara Hall


All throughout recorded history, people have used crafting as a means of spending time together and filling the hours. One such craft was beading, which utilizes pieces created from various materials including glass, stone, plastic, crystal, and metal. One can personalize the process and increase the fun by discovering how to make paper beads.

This is not only a really easy craft to do, but it enables one to get a lot of different looks which can be combined in a variety of projects. Cutting papers a certain way can create oval, tubular, or round items in many sizes and thicknesses. Following some simple instructions to build these items, one can construct projects such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, curtains, purses, and many 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.

Wrap the wide end of the strip around a toothpick, wooden skewer, or dowel (this determines the size of the hole in the middle) and continue to wind until completely done. Be sure the wrapping is done tightly to ensure that it does not come undone when removed from the sizer. For a symmetrical look, keep the strip centered during wrapping, and allow it to go a bit off-centered if a more freeform shape is desired.

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.

When the glue holding the end has thoroughly dried, the pieces can be painted or colored with markers if one chooses. Adding puff paint, wire, or thread before or after painting, can give the piece texture, and glitter adds a bit of sparkle. Be sure that all embellishments are completely dry before proceeding to the sealing process.

To seal these pieces and give them more durability, several different mediums may be used, including clear-drying glue, Modge Podge, marine varnish, a wood hardener with a water-base, Diamond Glaze and even clear nail polish. With most of these options, the simplest thing is to string the baubles onto wire and fully immersing them into the desired solution. Allow ample time for the first coat to dry before applying additional layers.

The multiple layers of sealant will allow the pieces to be durable for a longer length of time. Their range of use is limited only by one's imagination, as they are perfect for something as simple as a string necklace to a project as complex as a handbag. Creatively experimenting with varied combinations of shape and mediums is the only way for someone to determine at best suits their personal tastes.




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