Painted Wood Bead Garland Craft Project
Right now I am loving little craft projects that can keep my mind and hands busy for a couple of hours and create something cheerful for my home.
These painted wood bead garlands make a fantastic quick project which all the family can get involved in and don’t be afraid to be brave with some bold colours if the monotone look isn’t really your thing!
You will need:
- Wooden beads in assorted sizes
- Cream or white acrylic paint
- Medium and dark grey acrylic paint
- Paintbrush
- Tie wire
- Jute
- Hemp
- Scissors
Method:
Sort beads and decide which sizes you want in which colour.
Mix 1 part white/cream paint with 1 part water in a large bowl (or you can use a paper bowl or a paper plate that has higher edges). Pour in all of the beads that you want to make white and roll them around until they’re completely coated in paint.
Cut a 12” piece of tie wire and make a couple of bends at one end. The first bend will stop the beads from sliding off the end and the second bend will be your hook.
One by one, pick the painted beads up with the straight end of the tie wire and thread them onto the wire. Stop when you have about 1-2” left on the straight end and bend it to make a hook. Hook the beaded wire between two sturdy drinking glasses to dry.
Repeat steps 2-4 with each new colour of paint and its corresponding beads.
Allow the beads to dry completely. (A blow dryer helps if you just can’t wait!)
To make your jute tassels, start winding the jute around your hand, over and over. The wider you spread out your fingers, the longer your tassel will be. (I wound the jute around my hand 14 times.)
Remove the jute loop from your hand and tie a 24” piece of hemp around it by sticking one end of the hemp piece inside the circle and tying it into a very tight knot around all of the jute strands. Leave a tail of hemp about 1 1/2” long.
Cut the loop end opposite of where you tied the hemp, trim any uneven bits
Then take another 12” piece of jute and wrap it around the top of the tassel over and over (about ½” from where you tied the hemp) and secure with a knot.
Paint the 12” wrapped around jute piece with your medium grey paint; let dry
Make a second tassel but don’t do step 8, you will tie it onto the hemp after all of your beads are on.
String painted beads on in whatever colour pattern you like. Tip: to avoid unravelling, smooth a little school glue on the end of your hemp stringer before you start!
Once you have the garland to your desired length, tie the extra hemp end onto your second tassel. Leave about an inch of slack so you can make gaps in your garland for draping over things.
