Monday, February 1, 2010

Paper Bead Cones Pendant


I'm so excited about this new shape for making paper beads I discovered, and my first idea for how to use them. I love this pendant. I made it from 8 horn-shaped paper beads and hemp cord.

First I made the beads. I cut my paper into tapered triangles that were 1/4 inch wide and 12 inches long. I rolled them around a toothpick as usual, but instead of keeping the paper centered as I rolled it, I kept moving it slightly to the left as I rolled, creating a horn shape. The last couple of inches I rolled on top of itself to create a little lip at the edge. I glued the end down, then carefully pulled the bead off the toothpick and bent it into a slightly curved shape before I coated it with polycrylic finish.

After I had eight beads with three dry coats of polycrylic, I strung them on a bit of elastic beading thread. I formed them into the circle shape I wanted, tied the elastic, then adjusted the shape until it was perfect. Then I dunked the entire pendant into the polycrylic and hung it up to dry.

I used three, one-yard lengths of hemp for the necklace. I attached the paper bead pendant in the middle, tied an overhand knot, then braided the hemp to the ends and tied another overhand knot. Voila! I think this is a fun, casual paper bead pendant. I'm looking forward to making several with different colors of paper.

4 comments:

  1. Sometimes mine come out like that when I have them wound too tight on my bead roller. Maybe I should not try and 'fix' the mistake, but instead go with the flow and create something new! This pendant is gorgeous!

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  2. Eveline--that was my thought as I watched my son wildly making beads without giving a thought to perfection--and some of them were really neat. If you can't experiment in art, where can you?

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  3. I love your work Melissa. I am just getting started with experimenting in different materials and shapes for beads. I was wondering what brand of polycrylic you use, and your supplier as you have a beautiful finish to your beads.

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  4. Hi Felicity. I use Minwax polycrylic, and I just get it at Wal-Mart. Thanks for the compliment! Good luck with your beads.

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