Summers are getting hotter and hotter here in Dubai and we are getting stuck indoors. This is the right time to do some indoor activities and engage in some creative art. Now, we wanted to make something that would be fun and easy to make. So we tried our hands at making paper beads. Making paper beads is fun for kids and with a little help from us, elders they can make some interesting stuff. We were not sure what we would make at the beginning, hence all we focused, in the beginning, was collecting some colorful magazine papers and making beads out of them. It was entirely my daughter's responsibility. My 8-year-old had to search for colorful papers, make beads and then sort them and also decide what to make. This entire activity spanned over a week. She would make some beads, while she watched cartoons or just make them during the hot afternoons and leave them aside for the day...but by the end of the weekend, we had loads of paper beads, all of different colors and sizes.
Before we begin any activity, I always have this habit of researching a little bit about the craft and my quick search introduced me to an interesting website that had all the information we needed to make paper beads. Also, we came across some interesting information about the history of paper beads. Did you know that making paper beads goes back to the Victorian era when young ladies would gather in their dining rooms and make beads from scraps of wallpaper rolled on a knitting needle! This activity was revived in the 1920s and 30s for paper bead jewelry making.
Interesting isn't it? Making something useful out of scraps...well that's my kind of activity! It is always a challenge and fun to make use of scraps and make something interesting out of them.
This post contains a tutorial for making paper beads from magazine paper. It is a fun activity for kids and can keep them occupied for hours together. Also, making some handmade jewelry is always fun for us girls! Yes, this is what we did in the end. We made some paper beads jewelry...bracelets and lockets.
Materials required for making the paper beads:
Magazine paper, straws/toothpicks, glue, scissors, paper cutter
Procedure:
Step 01: Search for magazine paper. We used magazine papers from an A4 size magazine.
Step 02: Fold the paper into half and cut the paper into half using a paper cutter. We stacked about a couple of sheets and cut them together with a paper cutter. Saves time!
Step 03: Fold them into half again and cut them into further halves.
Step 04: Last fold and cut them into strips.
We have paper strips ready.
Step 05: Next, we cut the paper strips using a pair of scissors into triangular halves as shown below.
Triangular shapes cut outs from magazine paper.
Step 06: Next, cut off the top thin triangular corners with a scissor. This will make it easy when you glue them later.
Step 07: Now take a toothpick or a straw and start rolling the paper strips over them as shown.
Step 08: Apply glue at the end of the strip and roll it on.
Step 09: Slide the bead out from the straw.
Step 10: Make many such paper beads.
After our paper beads were ready, we sorted the beads, based on their sizes and colors, and made different accessories like bracelets and paper bead lockets and so on.
I just let my daughter make whatever she liked....freedom to create...can be the best thing we as adults can do to unleash their creativity. I helped her in stringing the beads but rest all the hard work from making the paper beads to the design of the jewelry was hers. So here's what we made...
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| Paper beads Jewelry |
Also, adding another picture of a completed necklace and matching bracelet made with paper beads. This particular set of beads were made by rolling the magazine paper over a toothpick.
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| Paper beads necklace and bracelet set |
Hope, you kids out there, try this activity and have fun...
Have a great day!
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