The below craft project looks easy and fun to make. When I taught special education the children loved to do crafts--- especially with beads. One of the most popular projects was one to put on the refrigerator even though it did require the beads to be heated up. The “PAL” kids (student assistants) would do the ironing of the beads for the special needs students.
Below are several ideas for you and your family……
Dazzling Dragonfly
Materials: Wire
(20 gauge), Ruler, Wire cutters, Multifaceted plastic beads (with diameters of
12 mm, 8 mm, 6 mm, and 4 mm), and Needle-nose pliers
Instructions:
Start
by creating a long straight body. Bend an 18-inch length of wire in half. Use
the pliers to curl up a 3/4-inch section near the bend to create the tip of the
tail. From the other end, slide nine 6 mm beads onto the doubled wire. Next,
add two 8 mm beads followed by one 12 mm bead.
Make
the wings by threading eighty 6 mm beads onto a 20-inch length of wire. Bend
the tips to keep the beads from sliding off. Shape the upper two thirds of the
strand into a figure 8 for the top set of wings; then shape the lower third
into a smaller set of wings.
Set
the body on top of the wings and attach the two by wrapping the trailing wire
ends of the wings around the body wire between the 8 mm beads.
Sparkling Sun Catcher
Materials: 2 1/2 feet of 20-gauge beading wire, 25
to 30 translucent colored beads, Ruler, Wire snips, Spice bottle or similarly
shaped object (optional, for molding), and Clear fishing line.
Instructions with pictures:
Bend
and twist a hanging loop at one end of the wire.
Thread
a bead onto the other end of the wire and push it up until it sits about 1 inch
from the bottom of the hanging loop. Bend the wire in a Z shape around the bead
to lock it in place, pressing the wire so that it hugs the bead tightly.
Thread
on the rest of the beads using the same technique. We threaded ours
approximately an inch apart, but you can vary the distance. Leave at least a 1
1/2-inch tail of wire after the last bead. Wrap this end snugly around the bead
twice, and then snip off any excess wire.
Mold
the sun catcher into a spring by very gently wrapping it around a small spice
bottle or similarly shaped item. To give it a sweet egg shape, as in our
finished product,
gently tighten the top and bottom coils. (You can also skip the spring-molding
step and turn your sun catcher into a star or ring.)
Crystal Caterpillar
Materials: Wire (20 gauge), Ruler, Wire cutters, Multifaceted
plastic beads (with diameters of 12 mm, 8 mm, 6 mm, and 4 mm), and Needle-nose
pliers.
Instructions:
Bend
an 18-inch length of wire in half. Use the pliers to curl up a 3/4-inch section
near the bend to create the tip of the tail.
From
the other end, slide five 8 mm beads onto the doubled wire. Next, add two 12 mm
beads followed by two more 8 mm beads and one last 12 mm bead.
Thread
a 4 mm bead onto the tip of each antenna. Then use the pliers to bend the tips
(to keep the beads from sliding off) and curl the tops of the antennae.
For
legs, cut three 3-1/2-inch lengths of wire. Tightly wrap the center of each
wire once around the body wire between beads and then shape the feet.
Butterfly
Beaded Safety Pin Design
Materials Needed: 14 - 1
1/16-inches Safety Pins, 1 - 2-inch Safety Pin, and Seed Beads (refer to
picture for colors needed).
Instructions:
Follow this pattern and the basic directions on the safety pin jewelry page to complete this project.
Each number column represents a pin;
for example, your first pin will have 10 blue beads. Your second pin will have1
blue bead, 3 orange beads, 3 blue beads, 2 orange beads, and 1 last blue bead.
When you thread these beaded pins onto your larger pin, start with pin number
1.
When I was a teenager I did a lot of beading. I used to have a lot beads for t-shirt
embellishments.
Share your ideas on this or anything here on the blog either
here or e-mail me at stipple@verizon.net I look forward to hearing from you!
Sandi
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