Stop… do not throw away that magazine, recycle and make beads. Yes, these beads are just strips of magazine pages rolled into a bead. Grab some glue and lets make these easy beads. This is a great project for older children!
Materials:
- Magazine
- Tacky Glue
- Scissors
- Double stick tape squares
- Plastic cocktail straws
- Wax paper
- Long wooden skewer
- Clear varnish sealer gloss or satin and paint brush
- Optional for necklace: jump rings, seed beads, eye pins, needle pliers
Directions:
Pull out pages that you want to use from the magazine, I like finding colorful pages. Cut pages into long triangles, the fatter end will determine the length of the bead, the longer you cut the triangle, the fatter the bead will be.
Let’s make a bead(s), place the side you want to be seen down, and place a double stick square about a 1/4″ from the top (the larger end). Place a small plastic straw on the top and start to roll, you want the tape to stick and hold the paper not on the straw, this makes it so easy to slide the finished bead off.
I outlined the tape, see how it is not all the way at the top. I have found this step makes it faster and easier to make the bead, if you do not have double stick tape, glue will work but you need to keep the bead moving around the straw or it will not slide off.
Now add a line of Tacky Glue and keep rolling to the end.
There will be glue that comes out the sides, with your fingers rub the glue over the bead and slide of straw to dry.
You can make this beads in any size.
Lay the bead(s) on wax paper to dry (do not let them touch each other). When they are dry I like to paint a coat of gloss varnish sealer. Slide the beads on to long wooden skewers, paint a coat of sealer, and use a jar to balance the skewer on top to let them dry.
You do not want the sealer to get on the skewer, it will make it hard to get the beads off. When dry slide off.
Now what to do with all the beads…. let’s make a necklace.
I’m using eye pins, but you could use wire and roll each end to hold the jump rings. I start with a small seed bead, then a larger bead, the magazine bead, a larger bead, and end with the seed bead on the eye pin. With needle nose pliers round the end to make a closed circle.
When all beads are on the eye pins, open and attach a jump to the ends, keep going until you have the length you want. I made two strands, one with 24 beads and the other with 22.
This necklace cost under $5 and I love the colorful look.
A quicker way to put together this necklace is to string the beads on a leather cord or hemp! Tie a knot to hold the magazine bead in place and maybe add some small glass beads or wooden beads, tie the ends together and you have a one-of-a-kind necklace. This project is great for older children, they can make them for all their friends!
