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Paper Bead Tutorial – SUMMER FUN!

Hi Everyone  

Here is a super fun activity for a Summertime Camp, party or sleepover – a necklace made from paper beads. You can use old magazines, or dcraps of scrapbook paper. This is a great activity to do with your kids, or pre-cut the shapes for them and leave them to it!

First, using a sharp knife or scissors, cut your paper to the shapes shown below. I like to cut a template from an old cereal box and then draw multiple images by tracing onto scrapbook paper lightly with a pencil. Then use a knife or scissors to cut out (your kids may be able to do this depending on age – but you DO need to be reasonably accurate).

Using a cocktail stick, wrap the wide end of each strip around tightly and secure using a tiny spot of glue (I used Tombow liquid glue which holds and dries in a couple of seconds).

Keep on rolling the paper into a bead shape using the occasional spot of glue until  you reach the end – and you are done! You can see below several examples of each bead – you don’t have to worry at all about them all looking identical – they won’t!

I then gave my beads a coat of Glossy Mod Podge for extra shine and protection – but even without that the beads are pretty solid. Remember – they ARE paper though – and won’t really tolerate getting wet! You can then thread them onto string or elastic – they look really great with some plain acrylic beads separating them – especially in these bright colors.

Shop at scrapbook.com for a wonderful selection of bright papers. We suggest you check out Echo Park Paper for some bright, fun colors and collections!

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We would love to see any beads you have made – please share on our FACEBOOK PAGE!

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39 Comments

  • Reply keri @ shaken together July 10, 2012 at 4:22 PM

    Lowri – these are so vibrant and perfect for summer jewelry! Definitely adding this to my summer to-do list 🙂

  • Reply Julie S. July 10, 2012 at 5:24 PM

    These are beautiful! I've never tried the different shapes before; I'll have to give that a whirl.

  • Reply lutingobelin July 11, 2012 at 5:59 AM

    What a great idea and this is a perfect way to use scraps !

  • Reply Christine B July 11, 2012 at 7:27 AM

    Oh wow Lowri! these are awesome and you make them look very easy to do!

  • Reply TLN July 11, 2012 at 8:07 AM

    Love it! 🙂 Just pinned this.

  • Reply Zima July 11, 2012 at 9:40 AM

    Love those vibrant colors! Great idea!

  • Reply Laura Stewart July 11, 2012 at 12:07 PM

    cute beads!!

  • Reply Barbara July 12, 2012 at 1:48 PM

    Thank you!!

  • Reply Amy Anderson July 13, 2012 at 2:23 AM

    These are so pretty!! I would love to feature! You picked some great paper.

  • Reply Anke July 14, 2012 at 12:58 PM

    I love how the beads turned out! So pretty and colorful!

  • Reply april@gingerbread July 14, 2012 at 2:13 PM

    I pretty much LOVE those paper beads…what a great tutorial! I hope you will link up with me here:
    http://www.thegingerbreadblog.com/2012/07/sweet-saturday-link-party-v47.html

  • Reply KarenLavendersCraftBlog July 15, 2012 at 2:34 AM

    Absolutely gorgeous!

  • Reply Jenn Lifford July 15, 2012 at 7:48 AM

    Hey Lowri! You have been a busy girl! I am loving all of your projects but this one is my absolute favorite!! I had no idea you could make beads from paper! Thanks so much for linking up to The Creative Spark. I'll be featuring this tomorrow. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
    Jenn 🙂

  • Reply Stacie July 17, 2012 at 7:07 PM

    Would it be okay if I share a photo and link back to your tutorial on my blog as part of my 101 Days of Summer Fun for Kids? Let me know!

  • Reply Hands to Work, Hearts to God July 20, 2012 at 7:55 AM

    What a fun project! The beads are so colorful! Patsy from
    HeARTworks and
    papemelroti

  • Reply Brandi July 20, 2012 at 9:46 AM

    Such a creative idea! I love your colorful beads! So pretty!

  • Reply Liz July 20, 2012 at 3:05 PM

    Wow, that looks great! Such a nice idea! Liz

  • Reply Cheerios and Lattes July 21, 2012 at 1:34 PM

    The beads look so amazing! I just bought a necklace like that at a book store and I wear it all the time. I would like to invite you to share this on Saturday Show and Tell (http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com/saturday-show-tell-20/). I'm sure my readers would love this post as well as some of the other posts you have on your site. Thanks and have a great weekend.
    -Mackenzie
    http://www.cheeriosandlattes.com

  • Reply Amanda M. July 21, 2012 at 2:52 PM

    SO cool! Thank you for this tutorial!!

  • Reply Julie July 21, 2012 at 8:26 PM

    I am inviting you to come and share this in my Show Your Stuff blog hop:
    http://juliejewels1.blogspot.com/2012/07/show-your-stuff-33-upsidedown-brownies.html

  • Reply Toodie July 22, 2012 at 10:19 PM

    Oh, I love the colors you used! And you made this look so easy. Love it!

  • Reply Shannah @ Just Us Four July 23, 2012 at 1:03 PM

    This is a fantastic project! I don't think I have ever seen paper beads. They are beautiful though. Would you consider linking this up at my Pinworthy Projects Party? I hope to see you there!

  • Reply Joni Sorsen July 26, 2012 at 11:23 AM

    Do you seal your beads with anything?

    • Reply Lowri July 26, 2012 at 6:02 PM

      Hi Joni – I sealed them with glossy mod-podge – just because it gave then a shine (see above) but they are pretty solid without.
      I wouldn't want to wear them in the rain though!
      Hope that helps – Lowri 🙂

  • Reply Yeshka July 26, 2012 at 11:43 AM

    That's an awesome idea! Simple, but how impressive 😀

  • Reply Izzy Anderson July 26, 2012 at 12:40 PM

    Whoa, Lowri, this is AWESOME! And your photos are sooooo nice, too. What a good looking post and a terrific project.

  • Reply Danielle July 28, 2012 at 1:55 PM

    Good Morning! I wanted to let you know that I featured this today in my "What I Bookmarked This Week" post – stop by and see!

  • Reply Amanda August 2, 2012 at 2:10 PM

    Congratulations! Your project was featured in July's Top 5 most popular posts on Fun Family Crafts! Thanks for sharing your creativity, we love it! If you would like a special top 5 button to display, you can grab it at the bottom of the feature post. Thanks! http://funfamilycrafts.com/july-2012-top-posts/

  • Reply mylittlecardstudio.blogspot.com October 7, 2012 at 6:09 AM

    Wow, what a fabulous idea. They are gorgeous. Thank you for the fab inspiration and post. I am going to try this today. Thanks for the tutorial. Hugs, Jill x

  • Reply Tessia_Lewis January 29, 2013 at 4:24 AM

    I like the bright, but I am doing a project using pages from old books and brown paper. do you think these beads would work with brown bag paper?

    • Reply Lowri January 29, 2013 at 5:14 AM

      Hi Tessia – the paper might be a little thin – I guess you would have to just give it a go and find out!
      I have seen it done with magazine's though – so I am sure it would work.
      Don't use too much glue and make the paper too wet would be my best advice 🙂
      Let us know how it works out!
      Lowri

    • Reply Tessia_Lewis February 3, 2013 at 4:30 AM

      I think that the paper works just fine. My beads did turn out well. I did use hot glue, however, since my gun was already on for other things, so I don't know how it works using other types of glue.

  • Reply lici barsa April 10, 2013 at 10:28 PM

    muy buena idea para usar las revistas y las hojas de los libros,lo intentare con mis niños.

  • Reply Matthew Hoffman April 11, 2013 at 4:26 PM

    I love your ideas on how to make different shaped paper beads. Our church is having a sleepover tomorrow evening, so I'm getting to work today to make these beads. Thanks a lot for sharing.

  • Reply patty April 14, 2013 at 7:57 PM

    I like your tips and tuorial very much I also recommand to use a paper bead roller to find at http://www.paperbeadpatty.de, if you not already do.

  • Reply Cardstock Shop December 12, 2014 at 1:54 AM

    Great tutorial on making these gorgeous beads! We will be sharing your post on our Facebook page, hope that is ok! Thanks for sharing!

    Susan

  • Reply Ground Zero Creations April 3, 2015 at 1:29 PM

    Very nice! And so helpful for those who are learning how to make paper beads. I have an Etsy shop that offers precut paper strips for making paper beads, paper bead rollers, and paper bead kits. One of my customers purchased the kits for their church so the kids could make paper beads. I thought that was such a wonderful idea! But if any of your readers would like to make the process easier, I invite them to visit my shop http://www.etsy.com/shop/GroundZeroCreations

  • Reply Sleep Aid Gaba December 3, 2017 at 5:18 PM

    I have been looking for ever for a tutorial on these types of beads. I have gotten my soon to be daughter-in-law into beading and wanted to show her this style. Thousands of different beads on a budget. Thanks.

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