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The Craft Train

Crafty ideas for kids and parents

You are here: Home / Crafts and Activities / General Crafts / Paper Beads

Paper Beads

June 19, 2018 By Kate Leave a Comment

This post may contain affiliate links. I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post at no cost to you.

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I’ve always wanted to try making paper beads but have never gotten around to it. Today our contributor Shannon from Oh Creative Day is teaching us how to make them by upcycling old picture books. Declutter while making a cute craft – win win!

Make paper beads by upcycling old picture books. This is a fun craft for kids of all ages! #papercraft #kidscraft #beads #diy

Making your own paper beads is a project perfect for any season. If you’re facing the long, lazy days of Summer holidays, this is a perfect activity for staying cool and out of the heat. If the temperatures are dropping and you just want to stay snug inside, this is a great indoor activity too. Making paper beads is also a great way to recycle paper and fashion them into a creation of your own imagining.

How to make your own paper beads

You will need:

Craft glue (Mod Podge is a great choice)
Paintbrush to apply glue
Scissors
Skewer
Paper
Baking paper

If we have picture books that are too battered and tattered to donate to charity, we use them to make paper beads. The paper weight is just perfect!

How to make your own paper beads:

1) Cut your paper so that you have a wide end leading to a pointy end. You will end up with long, triangular strips.
The wider you cut, the bigger the bead. 
It’s a good idea to cut all your strips first. Once you introduce the glue, your fingers will get pretty sticky. Be sure to cover your work space with newspaper or a plastic tablecloth and have a damp cloth nearby for your sticky fingers.

2) Paint glue onto one side of your triangular strip of paper. This is the inner side of your bead.

Steps to create paper beads

3) Curl the wide end of your triangular strip around a skewer. Use your other hand to spin the skewer so that you can wrap the paper around itself.
Don’t wrap too tightly- you need to be able to slide the bead off the skewer!

Use extra glue to stick the thin end down. Slide the bead off the skewer and coat the outside of the bead in glue.

How to make paper beads step 3

4) Lay your beads on baking paper to dry.

Once your beads have dried, you can do so many things with them.
Thread them onto pipe cleaners or yarn to create jewellery.
Use jewellery wire to create different shapes and thread the beads onto the wire.

So many possibilities!

How to make paper beads by upcycling old picture books. This is a fun kids craft idea for all ages #papercraft #kidscraft #upcycling #paperbeads #easycrafts

You might also like:

• Easy beaded apples
• Make a collaborative art paper roll tree
• Easy butterfly squish art
• Teach kids how to finger knit– it’s easy!

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  • Kate GronoKate GronoCrazy Craft Fanatic

    I’m basically a big kid who never grew up and still loves to muck around with paint, glitter, glue and toilet rolls. With the crafts shared here on this website I’m hoping to give other parents and carers inspiration to get crafty with their kids at home – make our projects, or use them as a source of inspiration to spark ideas of your own. When it comes to crafting no rules apply!

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