DIY jewelry has its own style, is unique and allows you to use the most unexpected materials. So, jewelry made from the covers of glossy magazines, colorful advertising brochures or old postcards is in no way inferior in beauty to jewelry made by an industrial method.
Waste paper beads
Any paper is useful for making exclusive beads from waste paper: magazines, newspapers, gift wrapping or colorful posters. It is important to remember that the thicker the paper, the larger the finished bead will be.
The preliminary stage of making beads is reduced to the ruling of a sheet of paper with isosceles triangles. The shape and size of future beads will depend on the size of the base of the triangle and the length of its sides: narrow, long blanks allow you to get elongated beads; from blanks with a wide base and short sides, rounded small beads are obtained. To form cylindrical beads, you need blanks in the form of rectangles.
It is recommended to iron each strip cut from lined paper on a scissor blade - this will allow it to curl more easily. Bead formation begins with twisting the wide end of the strip on a needle or any other thin stick. The end of the tightly twisted strip is lightly greased with glue and fixed on the finished bead. All elements of the future decoration are strung on a fishing line or thin wire and hung to dry.
The dried beads are covered with varnish diluted in water with PVA glue, if necessary, painted with paints or decorated with sparkles. After that, they are strung on a cord, combining, if desired, with beads, artificial flowers, ribbons, which provides the finished beads with a unique and original look.
Beads from napkins
Napkins or toilet paper allow you to create beads using the lightweight papier-mâché technique. To make beads, you will need paper, PVA glue, cocktail tubes or wooden skewers for canapés.
A little warm water is poured into a container for kneading the paper pulp, PVA glue and finely torn toilet paper or napkins are added, after which everything is thoroughly kneaded. The number of ingredients will depend on how many beads you need to make for future needlework. The resulting mass must be homogeneous, elastic and pliable, allowing you to give it any shape.
Pieces of "paper dough" are attached to the cocktail tubes on both sides, giving the beads the desired shape: round, oval, oblong, etc. The paper blanks are left to dry completely, after which the beads are painted with acrylics, varnished and strung on a bead string.
