Glossy Paper Beads

Create these beautiful glossy beads from paper. Yes, that's right . . . paper.

They look like expensive glass Pandora beads but they are actually made of paper.

Making paper beads is fun and a great way to recycle junk mail, newspapers or magazines. Or, you can use pre-designed paper or design your own using white paper and markers.

Paper

Paper Cutter

Rotary Cuter

Aleene's Fast Drying Tacky Glue Glue Pen; any white glue will do but I like using glue pens because they are easy to use

Bead Roller - I prefer using an 'F' size crochet hook because when done the center bead hole is the correct size for a 4mm eyelet, but you can use any cylinder object like straws or metal/wooden dowel rods

4mm Eyelets

Embossing Powder

Embossing Ink Pad

Embossing Heat Tool OR a cheap hair dryer on low setting

Tooth picks

You can create many different styles of paper beads but for this instructable we will focus on the 'oval' bead

Using 12-inch long paper, cut 1/2 inch wide paper strips to form long rectangle shapes

Like in the previous step, using 12-inch long paper, cut 1/2 inch wide paper strips to form long rectangle shapes, then cut diagonally end to end to form long triangle shapes

Using a rectangle shaped paper strip, begin rolling paper over the bottom end of the crochet hook. Continue rolling the paper around the hook, making sure to keep the paper taut and the sides even

Dab a bit of glue at the end and continue rolling. Then hold end down for a few seconds while glue dries

Remove bead from crochet hook and add a dab of glue just past the end of the roll. With a triangle shaped paper strip, place the larger end over glue butting pieces end-to-end and hold down for a few seconds then begin rolling

Roll all the way to the end of the triangle making sure the paper stays centered on the bead. Place a small dab of glue onto the end of the paper and continue to roll. Hold for a few seconds while the glue dries a bit

Embossing powders are typically used for stamping or drawing onto card stock or paper with heat-embossing-friendly ink, then covering the inked area with special powder that melts when heat is applied with a heat gun or heat tool. But we're going to use this wonderful medium to create that glass-like, glossy look to our paper beads

1) Place paper bead on a tooth pick and roll it over the embossing ink pad. Do this several times to ensure the bead is completely coated

2) Immediately sprinkle embossing powder over the bead

3) Gently spin the bead under the heat until the powder turns to a liquid and continue to spin the bead for an even distribution

4) Before the liquid dries (or hardens) sprinkle with more embossing powder and heat again

NOTE: If the powder hardness between steps, just heat again or reapply embossing ink

5) Repeat three (3) times

NOTE: This step takes a little practice so don't despair if the beads don't look quite right at first

Let beads cool or harden before continuing to the next step. I like using my old colander for this step, but you can use anything you like as long as you let the beads rest or cool for a bit before handling

Draw a bit of glue around the end of the bead and place an eyelet in the hole and press and hold for a few seconds. Repeat for the other side of the bead

You can use these beautiful beads to create necklaces, brackets or Rosary's like I did here.