The first step is to cut some long tapered strips from the magazine. The top is about 1cm tapering on both sides to the narrowest point which is about 0.5 cm. Use the whole length of the page.
You can make the strips any width you want. The wider the bottom the wider the bead; the more tapered the point and longer the strip, the fatter the bead.
You can also do this with a ruler and pencil or if you get fed up with that (as I did) just do it by eye. This part is fun because you can experiment with the colours. The colour at the point of the strip will be the main colour of the bead. I've tried, with this bracelet to make the beads roughly the colours of the rainbow.
Next step is to wind the strip of paper around the stick or knitting needle starting with the wide end as in the picture.
Try to keep the paper centred so that the narrow end ends up in the middle of the bead. Wrap the paper tightly and when you get to the point where there is just about 5cm left to roll then add a thin strip of PVA glue.
Wind the last 5cm around the stick. It doesn't matter if the glue oozes out and spreads onto the bead, it will dry clear and will also keep the bead nicely together.
Gently pull the bead off the end of the stick/needle.
Now make a few more.
I made about 80 for this project. It was a random number - the amount I could make while sitting in front of the television catching up on Gossip Girl and Waterloo Road.
I then decided I'd varnish them to make them a little more robust. (This is the part where I put the recycling bit to one side). The easiest way to do this is to put the beads in a small cardboard box and spray the varnish into the box.
When they are dry, string the beads onto a piece of elastic. The piece I used was reclaimed from a box of chocolates and is 70cm long. More at www.madebypin.comThe first step is to cut some long tapered strips from the magazine. The top is about 1cm tapering on both sides to the narrowest point which is about 0.5 cm. Use the whole length of the page.
You can make the strips any width you want. The wider the bottom the wider the bead; the more tapered the point and longer the strip, the fatter the bead.
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