How To Make Paper Beads

Bead making is a timeless art that is easy and fun, but best of all, anyone can try it. One of the easiest ways to make beads is to cut, roll, and glue colorful paper. Not only do the beads come out beautiful, the craft is perfect for using up junk mail or old magazines.

Materials:

Paper
Scissors
Toothpick
Glue

Materials Information:

Paper

You can use almost any kind of paper to make your beads, but thicker paper works best. If you want to use a thin or tissue-like paper, think about using a couple sheets glued together to add some body. Glossy magazine pages always look fantastic, but you can also use two different colors of construction paper to create an interesting bead.

Single, solid colored papers make very boring beads. The more detail, pattern, and differences in your paper triangle, the more interesting and patterned your bead will be. When you use two pieces of paper in different colors, you get a neat spiral effect, as many of the “step-by-step” pictures show.

Toothpick

You use the toothpick to help you roll the bead into shape and to help keep a hole open for threading. Toothpicks are perfect for this task. However, depending on the size hole you need, you can use anything from a needle to a chopstick to wind the paper around.

Glue

The glue you use doesn’t need to be fancy or expensive, basic white glue works, just so long as it dries clear. Any glue that has a color, or will dry and look cloudy shouldn’t be used. A little glue will always drip from the sides of the bead, and is invisible as long as the glue dries clear.

After the bead is rolled, glued, and dried, it’s also smart to use a thin, even layer of glue to help seal and protect the bead. The glue seal will help keep the bead waterproof as well as make it harder to squish. If you want a seal that’s a little nicer or stronger, you can also use any varnishes, glosses, or sealers made for general craft purposes.

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