Ideas for making beaded gifts for your friends and family!
There are so many ways to make zany and unique homemade gifts with beads, that your family and friends will love to receive. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.
Some basic tools needed:
-copper wiring and/or decorative cords and threads
-beads (any object with a hole that you can put a string through)* glue
-clasps (search through thrift stores and buy old necklaces, or use broken pieces of jewelry)
-Needles (beading or big eyed, twisted wire needles)
-earring wires and hoops
-round and chain nosed pliers
-wire cutters
-conchos, barrette backs, hat pins, etc.
-safety pins
-chains (various link sizes)
To make a bracelet.
Buy a couple packages of large gold-plated safety pins, thin gold elastic cord, wooden beads, small pearl beads, nut bolts, and several types of other gold plated beads. On each safety pin you can vary different beads before closing the pins. Cutting two strands of cords long enough to fit around the wrist, place the cord through one nut bolt, then a safety pin, a nut bolt, and so on. Then do the same at the other end of the pin, tying the ends of the cord together in a knot. Okay, it's a little strange but really kind of pretty. Be inventive when looking around the house for your own special twist. You can make earrings, bracelets, necklaces, barrettes, and broach pins using these materials.
Another great gift would be to cut various lengths of beading string, tie a knot at one end then bead with various beads and wrap the top ends around a rim of a candle holder to give it a fringed look. You can do this with lamps, purses or anything you want to give a beaded fringe.
Sew beads onto hats, canvas shoes, purses, homemade greeting cards, or cardboard trinket boxes. String and glue around objects such as flower pots, glass candle holders and picture frames. The more you do the more ideas you will come up with. Soon you will see beading potential in many common everyday items.
If you bead with copper wiring, bend and shape with pliers into squiggles and spirals, then wrap around glass stemware, colored or clear bottles and jars.
Vintage styled jewelry is very popular but also can be expensive and hard to find in certain areas. Try making your own creations with seed pearls and beads. This particular craft can be very time consuming and require a lot of patience.
To make a black velvet purse:
Fold the material into thirds, and sew the edges together of two-thirds of the square, and left the other third for a flap. Stitch a black satin ribbon around the edges to dress up. Because evening purses are basically small, you don't need a lot of material. After stringing long, shoulder length strands of black seed pearls, sew them inside the sides of the "pocket" area of the purse for the shoulder straps. Then sew black seed pearls into the velvet and made fringes at the bottom of the purse (the fringes at the ends shorter, and the middle area longer) and voila! an evening purse.
These are just a few ideas but fun and easy to do. So get busy and create gifts for yourself and your family and friends. They will love it.
