Have you ever tried to make paper beads necklace?  This was our first attempt at them and I am already sure it will not be our last.  We have had some great fun making paper beads from leftover wrapping paper this week.  It is a super fun activity that is perfect for working on fine motor skills with kids.

I was surprised at just how simple and fun this activity was and you really can mix it up by using different materials.  Both the colours, texture and thickness of the paper will make a difference to your beads.  Plus you can change the shape of your triangle to change the shape of the beads.  Our size was dictated by the amount of paper we had and also the number of beads we wanted to make.

How to make a Paper Beads Necklace

Materials:

• Paper or card – we used some leftover wrapping paper from Dots and Spots
• Cocktail sticks
• Glue Stick
• Varnish
• Shoelace or thread and needle

Instructions for making paper beads

Depending on the size of the hole you want for threading you can use a cocktail stick like we did or you can use a wooden skewer.  Fist of all you need to mark and cut your triangles from your paper.  Ours were 12 inches by 0.8 inches and we made them all the same size so we had regular sized beads.

Then you need to wrap your paper around the cocktail stick.  We loved the variegated pattern, so kept the white side with the hearts to the outside.

I found it easier to remove my paper from the cocktail stick to roll it sometimes (see the video).

When you are near to wrapping it all around the stick then take a glue stick and apply to the paper so it sticks.

How to make paper Beads Shiny

To make our paper beads shiny and more durable, we then coat them with either modgepodge or another varnish – we used DuraClear gloss varnish.  I love this as it is  non-yellowing and leaves your paper beads with a beautiful shine.

We then allowed our paper beads to dry before we turned them into a necklace by lacing them onto a bright pink shoelace.

I love shoelaces for threading as the aglet makes a needle unnecessary which is brilliant for younger children (this is my best friends four-year-old turning the beads into a necklace).

Maxi was surprised at just how hard the beads dry, they really are beautiful and I can see us experimenting with lots of different material and shapes to make more.

It is just amazing what you can make from scraps of paper and they were a great fine motor exercise.

We are taking part in a year-long series about creating from recyclables.  It is going to inspire me to go through our junk modeling pile and craft stash to make new things and I hope that it excites you as much as it does me.

Find some more awesome ideas on how to recycle and create with gift wrapping paper!

Stick Puzzles by Teach me Mommy
Gift Wrap Flowers by Peakle Pie
Gift Paper Frogs by Nemscok Farms
Scissor Practice and Games with Gift Wrap by Powerful Mothering
Coiled Paper Heart Craft by The Gingerbread House
Paper Beads from Wrapping Paper by Mum in the Madhouse
Scissors Skills Crash Course by Sugar Aunts
DIY Magnetic Bookmarks by Kidz Activities

Paper Collage with Flower Punch by Words n Needles