Make Your Own Paper Beads
- In This Quick Guide:
- Rolling Paper Beads
- Papier-Mâché
If you can’t find beads you like or you just want to try your hand at making beads yourself, why not make some paper beads? Paper is one of the simplest and least-expensive materials you can use for making beads. The more interesting in color, pattern, and texture the paper is, the more interesting the bead will be. This is a great project to do with even the youngest kids, but the results can be exciting enough to satisfy any adult. Here’s how you do it.
Rolling Paper Beads
Rolled paper beads are simple to do and look nice strung together with accent beads, or you can make one as a focal bead. If you want to try your hand at this kind of beadmaking, here’s how to do it:
- Assemble a variety of papers, including old magazines, junk mail, scraps of gift wrap, homemade paper, origami paper, and wallpaper. Whatever you choose, just be sure its substantial enough to hold up when saturated with glue.
- To form the beads, you’ll need long triangles of paper. An efficient way to cut these triangles and create uniform and elegant beads is to start with a square piece of paper and mark 1½-inch increments across the top edge with a pencil. On the bottom edge, mark ¾ inch from the right side and ¾ inch from the left side. Then mark 1½-inch increments between these two ¾-inch markings as you did on the opposite edge of the paper. Then, with a ruler connecting the base of the triangle at the bottom of the paper to the tip at the top, mark the triangles to cut. (You can try other cutting patterns as well. The longer and thinner you cut the strips of paper, the smaller and fatter your finished bead will be. The wider your strip, the more tubular your bead will be. Experiment with different-size strips to see what variations you get.)
- Once you have a size of paper strip you like, use a small paintbrush and coat the top side with glue (Elmer’s is fine). Then it’s time to roll! Starting with the widest end of the paper, roll it tightly around a skewer, drinking straw, or toothpick, depending on the size hole you want. Roll until you get the size of bead you like, and cut off any leftover paper.
- If you’re using a straw as the base of the bead, just cut off the straw at both ends of the bead. It can remain inside and strengthen the hole. If you’re using a skewer or toothpick, gently pull it out.
- Let the bead dry for several hours or until completely dry and then seal it. You can “glaze” the bead by painting it with a thin layer of glue that’s been diluted with a little water. Or you can use several coats of varnish for a different look. Be sure to test a scrap of paper with either sealer to be sure it doesn’t cause the color or print to run.
Diagram for cutting paper bead triangles.
Variations you can use to get different paper bead shapes.
When you’ve rolled your bead to the size and shape you like, just trim off the ends—including the straw, if you used one—and you’re ready to string it!
Papier-Mâché
Another versatile material you might remember from childhood activity time can take on a grown-up look—or not! Papier-mâché is a great way to use those old newspapers you might have stacking up.
Many recipes are available for papier-mâché, and you might have a favorite of your own. Here’s the recipe I use:
- Mix 3 parts water with 1 part flour or wallpaper paste.
- Tear old newspapers into about 1-inch squares. Make enough scraps to mix with your flour-and-water solution so it’s not too wet and not too dry. Using your hands, squeeze a small amount of paste into the paper pieces and work it in until it feels like clay. Start with a few pieces of newspaper, and add a little at a time until you get the right consistency. If it gets too dry, you can always mix up a little more flour-and-water paste to add.
- Taking a small amount of the papier-mâché mixture, form your beads into whatever shape you like. You can roll some papier-mâché between your hands to get a tubular or round bead, or free form the papier-mâché into other shapes. Remember to poke a hole in the bead with a toothpick or skewer, depending on the size of hole you want.
- Put your beads on a cookie sheet and let them air dry for a day or two. You can also put them in a 150°F oven for 2 or 3 hours to speed things up.
- When the beads have hardened (and cooled if you hardened them in the oven), you can paint your beads with acrylic paints. After the painted beads are dry, seal them with acrylic spray sealer and let them dry again.
Now that you have gorgeous paper beads, it’s time to start stringing! Have fun, and happy beading!
From The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Beading Basics by Georgene Lockwood
