Paper Bead and Paper Clip Jewelry

 

Paper Beads

With Mother's Day a week away, I thought my students would enjoy making a their moms gifts, so we made paper beaded jewelry.   I got out old wall-paper books and we cut long triangular strips, about 15"-18" long, and 1/2"-3/4" wide). The longer the strip, the fatter the bead, and the width of the strip will be the width of the bead.  Be sure to use an X-acto knife or paper cutter for smooth edges. We started wrapping the wide end (not the two very long sides), around thin paint brushes, thick plastic needles, or toothpicks, and once it was about 1/4th of the way wrapped, we used a glue stick on the back (non decorated) side of the rest of the strip.  This can be done before winding begins too. I found it easier to pull the paper strip out from under the glue stick rather than run the glue down the paper. It used less glue and made less of a mess on the scrap paper protecting the table.

If you don't have big wall paper books, no worries. I almost liked using colored copy paper better. It is only 11" long and a lighter weight, so the beads aren't as thick, but they don't tend to unwind and you can be more intentional with color.  I used purple and blue marker to create a simple and somewhat uniform pattern on mine.  12"X12" patterned scrap book paper is another good option.

 To add a shimmer, I used glitter nail polish.  First I strung the beads on old wire hangers and placed that over a bin, that way the polish wouldn't get on anything.  Some people dip their beads in wood hardener several times. Others, roll their beads on an embossing pad, sprinkle with embossing powder and then use a heat gun to melt the powder. This can be done several times too if you want your beads to look glass like.  Once the beads are dry, it is easy to string on wire or thin elastic for a necklace or bracelet. Store bought beads can be mixed in for some fun.

 

Paper Clip Jewelry

For my elementary school students, we began making bracelets by stringing paper clips. I got this idea from my brother's cub scout den mother, Cathy Breuninger. Kevin came home from his cub scout meeting one night with a beautiful necklace with extra fringe for my mother. I think they used fancy blue & white contact paper, but I wanted to make sure each student left with something that shows their mark. They each chose a color of paper, and color of makers, and the pattern they wanted to make.  Since most of these students are blind, most of the marks look like scribbles, but I did have a few who carefully made zig-zag patterns or tiny hearts.  We cut rectangles from the decorated paper.  The width should be slightly less than the width of the paper clip (about 1"), and the length is about 1/2-2" so it can be wrapped around the paper clip several times.  We used a glue stick and covered each paper clip with the decorated rectangles. Nine worked pretty well per bracelet. It would be prettier with tiny metal jump rings between each clip, and fewer paper clips, but these worked just fine for a 30 minute project. And we used the half of the decorated paper that didn't get put into the bracelet, as wrapping paper for their gift.

Clay Bead Necklace

 Beads! I have found that even my students who are totally blind and have severe cognitive impairments, can string beads. It's one of the few assignments that almost everyone can do independently. I have a giant bin full of tiny plastic beads waiting to be strung on thin wire or pipe cleaners.

But I asked the students, who are ready for more aesthetic ownership, to make their own beads. This also worked for the students who completed their clay assignment early and had a couple days to do a project on their own.

The processes was very simple. They rolled little balls of clay and poked a thick gaged wire through each one. The clay (and the holes in the clay) shrink with drying, so some of the beads had closed up and were useless. If there is just a tiny piece of clay blocking the hole, a heavy wire and a little work can open the hole again, but it's best to just be sure they are big and straight enough when they are first made.

After firing, the beads were colored with Sharpies or painted before being strung on thin. Many of the beads were fairly large so the results were heavy, Wilma Flintstone style necklaces, but my students didn't mind. They were so pleased with the results, I may need to come up with a paper bead lesson for them.