How to Make a Girly Necklace from Magazine Paper Beads

Yep. Remember those rolled paper beads? We used to make those beads in first grade. They were excellent for easy necklace as a Mother’s day gift.

They still are, but some ‘upgrading’ of this craft has been long overdue.

So, here is a BEAUTIFUL necklace made from those magazine paper beads. 

What’s the difference? The difference is in the detailing, e.g. the colors, the glazing, the in-between beads…

 

 

 

Basic Paper Bead Making Technique

What my kindergarten and first grade teacher s made us do:

1. First day: rip out pages of an old magazine

2. With a ruler, mark long triangles across the pages

3. Cut the long triangular strips

4. Dip them in a glue (household glue, Mod Podge, or wood glue) solution

5. Roll them around match sticks and let them dry.

6. Next day: string your paper beads into a necklace,

and add a ‘Happy Mother’s Day’- tag.

 

Enhancing The Craft, From Good to Great

Now, to elevate this oh-so-simple project to some level of greatness, what I suggest is to have a bit of a design plan before you begin.  Your jewelry design plan should include:

 

1. Desired length of your necklace

2. Decision on the appropriate width of the strips to befit that kind of length

3. A color scheme, with adjacent or complementary colors from the color wheel

4. Selection of matching in-between beads, or feature beads

5. Adding one or more glazing layers glitter glue to the beads, when they have dried.

 

Here, I choose colors & details that befit a young girl, but you could replace those to befit the person who will be the lucky recipient of your necklace.

 

Materials Needed

A couple of old magazines

Shiny spacer (or feature) beads

Simple wood glue, mixed with some water

A box of matches

Scissors

Elastic band in a matching color to your necklace. I choose pink.

Glitter glue and/or glossy acrylics varnish

 

Tip: before you tie the final knot on your string, stretch your elastic band a notch or so. Elastic band has the tendency to weaken over time. If you pre-stretch a bit, your necklace will look great for some time to come.

 

Voila Your Lovable Paper Bead Necklace

What I particularly love about this necklace is that…

* It is child safe given the type of elastic I’ve used

* It is so light to wear, you won’t notice you are wearing it

* The feather-lightness of these beads, combined with their strength, make them suitable as earrings and ideal as spacer beads for a necklace or bracelet with heavy semi-precious stones

* it’s easy, it’s fast, and … it’s free!