DIY: Make your own beads

I've been having lots of fun crafting my heart away. One of the projects I undertook was bead making; I learned to roll my own beads. You can make rolled beads with lots of different materials - leather, fabric, soft plastic - but the easiest way to start is with paper. Once you learn the basics, the possibilities are endless; you can coat them to make them glossy, paint them, glitter them, you can do anything you can imagine!

Supplies:

• Paper - try experimenting with different kinds ie. old magazine pages, construction paper, candy wrappers
• toothpick
• glue

Step 1: Cut long isosceles triangles (remember that word from elementary math?)

Note: the longer the triangle the chubbier the bead; the wider the triangle, the longer the bead

Step 2: Roll the paper around a toothpick, starting at the wider end and finishing with the point

Step 3: Put a dab of glue on the last bit of the point as you finish rolling the paper

Finale: Slide the paper off the toothpick and VOILA a bead!

Look what you can do with paper beads

These purses are from FORRESTgold, check out her shop

Bracelet courtsey of www.paperbeads.org