Paper Bead Jewelry

Looking for an inexpensive and fun project for crafters of all ages? Let’s make Paper Bead Jewelry! This project is great, because it allows you to recycle old paper, like magazine pages, flyers, previous artwork, etc. by turning it into beads. Then, we can use those beads to create all kinds of jewelry. Take a look…

You’ll need:

For the beads –

paper (I used pages from an old magazine)

scissors

ruler (optional)

glue (I used Mod Podge Satin)

For bracelet/necklace: beads and elastic cord

For earrings: ear wires, head pins, rounded needle nose pliers, beads

Step 1: Cut your paper into triangles.

These should be long, thin, isosceles triangles. The bottom of the triangle should whatever width you want the finished bead to be. Mine were 15mm.

If you want to make your triangles perfectly neat and even, you can measure and use a straight edge. Or, if you’re like me and aren’t so concerned with perfection, you can just freehand them.

Step 2: Wrap your triangle around a skewer or toothpick, adding glue.

Start with the bottom section of the triangle and roll it around the skewer to form the bead. As you go, apply glue (I used Mod Podge Satin Formula) to the back side of the triangle to adhere it together.

Step 3: Slide your beads off the skewer.

It’s a good idea to give the entire finished bead a coat of glue or Mod Podge to seal it.

Step 4: Create your jewelry!

To create a bracelet or necklace, cut a piece of elastic cord that’s 2″ longer than you want your piece of jewelry to be. String your paper beads, along with any other beads you like, onto the cord. Tie a knot and trim off the excess cord.

For earrings, place your paper bead and an additional bead on a head pin. Form a wire loop at the top, then attach it to an ear wire.

Since no two paper beads are exactly alike, your earrings won’t be identical, but you can choose beads that are mostly the same colors.

There’s no limit to how creative you can be when turning your paper beads into jewelry! Make coordinating sets, or just string them all together for a fun, multi-colored look.

What do you think? Which of the jewelry is your favorite? Try using different types of paper to get lots of variety in your bead colors. I can’t wait to see what you create.