Paper Bead Bracelet

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  Step 1

  Start off by picking out two different pieces of sturdy paper. I personally prefer scrapbooking paper or card stock or some kind.

  These are going to become your beads so feel free to be creative with it. You can play around with textures and even pick out an image that you cut out around.

  I went with a flat black and a ribbed gold.

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  Step 2

  Once selected, choose the shapes of your beads, how you will arrange them and how many you will need.

  Trace your shapes on what you consider the "wrong" side of your paper. DON'T CUT THEM OUT YET!

  I picked a triangle for my black paper and square for my gold and traced them on with the help of my rule and pencil.

  To decide on how many beads I needed and their size, I measured the circumference of my wrist beforehand and divided the measurement evenly to determine how many beads I needed based on my design. I figured one inch beads would be big enough.

  I ended up needing 3 gold beads and 8 black ones. Because my gold paper is black on the back, I cut twice as many (6) in order to glue them back to back so if they happen to flip while I'm wearing the bracelet, they won't be random white squares.

  Note: I actually ended up making more than the beads I needed, just in case something went wrong and I needed more.

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  Step 3

  Once you have your shapes traced, paint a layer or two of Matte Mod Podge on both sides of the paper in order to seal it. If your paper is glossy, don't put Matte Mod Podge over it because it will remove the gloss.

  Once the paper is dry, cut out your shapes.

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  Step 4

  Once you have your shapes you're going to want to use decent sized balls of sticky tack on the back of each piece and stick them to a piece of scrap paper. This is to elevate them and to prevent them from sticking to the scrap paper when you will spray paint the beads with varnish. It also prevents your little pieces of paper from flying off when you spray them.

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  Step 5

  You ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO use varnish in a spray can for this. This is because we want to avoid brush strokes of any kind that normal varnish applied with a brush could potentially leave behind.

  You're going to want to spray the s*** out of those little pieces of paper up close in a way where you're pretty sure there's WAY too much vanish on them.

  Once that's done, you'll have to play the waiting game and DO NOT touch the beads to check if they're dry. It will take several hours. I waited about 2 to 3 hours between each layer I applied. To check if the pieces were dry I would touch the scrap paper rather than my beads.

  I applied a total of about 6 layers of vanish to get the clear 3D build-up I was looking for, but feel free to go with more or less. It's really up to you.

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  Step 6

  This is what my beads looked like after the spray. I used a mini hole punch to make my holes, but you can a needle or your jewelry wire to poke holes. It depends on how much you care in terms of the clean look. If you're uncertain, test it out on some extra beads you might have made.

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  Step 7

  Once you've made all the holes you needed in your beads, it's time to hook them up together. You can use various methods for this depending on your design. I went with wire in between my beads rather than chain and jump rings.

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  Step 8

  I used needle nose pliers to create two loops in my wire in order to link up my beads. At each ends, I linked up a jump ring and attached chain to one end and a clasp to the other.

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  Step 9

  Tada! You're done. :)

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Shirin L. · Hong Kong, HK · 41 projects 8th April 2013

this looks amazing!

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