Winter Project: Beads (Paper Recipe)

Living in the middle of no where is a challenge after spending most of my life in cities. Lots to do in a city. Not so much in the country. During the summer months, I garden, do house repairs, and lots of outdoor activities to stay busy and engaged. Then winter sets in making even the most active person want to hibernate. My first few winters in the country I thought I would go insane with boredom, so now I plan indoor projects in advance to keep me busy during the cold months. Previous years I have painted walls, furniture, and canvases, and built furniture. This year I wanted to something less toxic, less paint and less construction-oriented.



I'm making beads!! Long ago I decided I needed some room partitions for archways. The previous owner of my house used plastic slider doors that were in pretty bad shape...and UGLY. Gross. I removed them and instead envisioned colorful beaded partitions, like hippie chicks used to hang. I love the textures and patterns of beads and thought this would be a fun, playful, artsy look for rooms.

I have three, maybe four, archways that might benefit from a curtain of colorful beads. Two are off my kitchen between the kitchen and the pantry and the kitchen and the office so they will need to be blue, red, yellow, green, and white. Another is off the laundry room which is yellow, blue, purple, and green. The fourth is between two bedrooms so pink, blue, purple and white. I'll also make some black beads and maybe use them as accents and I have some white tubular beads that I think are made from bamboo that I can add in. I'll need at least a 1,000 beads for each, maybe more. We'll see how many beads I can make before I get tired of the process.

I found several bead recipes online using recycled paper. Paper is lightweight and durable. I wanted a material that wouldn't break every time someone would walk through the bead curtain. The first recipe was making beads from magazine covers, but the paper seemed too thin and the beads too tiny. I liked the idea, but it wasn't my vision. I have a whole box of unused construction paper in a closet that I've had for years and rarely gets used for anything so I experimented. I love the colors! Here's how to make paper beads whether you use magazine covers or construction paper:

 

First, cut the paper in triangular shapes. The longer the piece the thicker the bead. I use an Exacto knife and don't measure, but the measurements are about 1/4th inch on one end and 1 inch on the other.

 

Run a bead of Elmer's glue (or any glue that dries clear) along one side. Elmer's glue has a bit of smell, but it doesn't seem to bother me. Also, because it's so very non-toxic, getting it on my hands doesn't affect my skin either.

 

Roll the paper, glue side out, on a toothpick starting at the thick end. I'm using a bag of kabob sticks I bought at a yard sale for this very purpose. As you roll, try to keep the paper centered, but this is really difficult. If it's off center, you'll get a variation of shapes and as you can see, mine are all off centered! I don't care. I think it makes the beads look interesting. Do try to keep the paper tight so it's not loopy.

 

 

Position the sticks with the wet beads so they aren't touching. Let the glue dry.

Because I don't want the colors to fade in the sunlight, I've chosen to varnish each bead. This IS toxic, but I'm doing it in a separate room while wearing a mask, gloves, and opening a window. I've used this varnish on furniture and find it relatively non-toxic. It also dries fast leaving no smell. It makes the beads shiny, pretty and a little stronger than they would be without.

 

I place like colors on one stick and varnish them all at once. Before they are allowed to dry I make sure the beads aren't touching. After they dry, I'm storing them in egg cartons.

 

I plan to hang them using fishing wire from a piece of wood.

It's going to take a lot of beads, but I have all winter!

In another post, I'll show how to make beads from newspapers which is a much different process.