Paper bead bracelet

This one I blame Nancee for 🙂 I’d seen paper beads before but they’d never made it onto my must try list — yes, it was a use for leftover patterned paper, but at the end of the day you had paper beads and that didn’t really inspire me.

Then I saw Nancee’s What to do with those scraps post with all the pretty, shiny beads and the lovely bracelets she’d made from them.

So I decided to have a go. After discovering that my quilling tool was not suitable (the slot was too short for the paper strip) and playing around with a makeshift version, I gave in and ordered a paper bead rolling tool from Gilly Maddison, who also has a blog with lots of handy tips and designs.

The plain, rolled beads looked nice, but the addition of clear embossing powder really made them shine.

My biggest problem with making bracelets is the sizing. My first attempt at turning these beads into a bracelet — using wire and making a hook fastening — looked nice but wasn’t quite right. It sat on the side waiting for me to come up with a solution. Now they’re strung on beading elastic and actually fit me properly.