We are going to start working on paper beads today to make a necklace as a Mother’s Day gift (Marijke, please be surprised all the same!). It takes a little concentration, patience and fine motor skills to roll the paper strips around a skewer and I think we will be doing this for this and next week, followed by the assembly of the necklace. I don’t mind an ongoing project for a change for a bit of long-term planning. It is open to them how many or few beads they want to make, once they know how, the children can work independently.
You need: pages from magazines (the cover works, too, but is harder to roll), a skewer, glue stick and later a piece of pretty yarn or string and some beads.
Cut the paper into strips about a half inch wide.
Start rolling the paper strip around the skewer.
Add a little glue after the first two or three rounds to prevent the paper from unwanted unravelling.
Add glue again to the last inch or two to secure the roll.
Slip bead off your skewer.
Make more beads (5 or 10 or 20…you can even go double-stranded, in other words it is up to you how many beads you have the patience to make).
String beads onto your piece of pretty thread, alternating with (in this case wooden) beads.
You are done! Again, I love the simplicity of making something out of stuff you have lying around anyway. You can omit the wooden beads altogether, you can paint the beads or put glossy varnish on them and, depending on the paper you use, you can play around with a lot of possibilities there. Have fun experimenting!
