Monday Makery - Paper Beads & Brilliant Bracelets

It's London Jewellery Week and to celebrate we've been making some fun and colourful jewellery with the girls here at Sisters Guild. We've come up with some great creations that are as easy to make as they are beautiful. With different designs and ideas there's something here for everyone - even the boys!

First up; paper bead necklaces and brilliant bracelets:

You'll need:

• Coloured paper, wrapping paper, or an old magazine.
• Scissors
• pencil
• ruler
• elastic
• knitters needle

Here's how.

1. Mark out long triangles onto your paper about an inch wide at the base. You don't have to mark them out you can just cut away but it's easier for children if there are some lines to follow with the scissors.
2. Cut out your strips
3. Spread some glue on the thin end of the paper.
4. Roll up the paper from the larger end to the tip, making sure the end is securely glues to the 'bead'

That's it! Make as many as you think you'll need. I prepped lots the evening before for the girls so they could see them and have a bead bank to get started. Then they had a turn themselves, choosing their own colours.

For the fatter beads we put the glue on three strips sat them on top of one another and rolled them all up together. You can also make fatter and rounder ones or 'spacer beads' by using 2 different measurements of strips. Taking the wider strips first and winding them up, then where you finish off start rolling another set of thinner strips. This way you'll have a thinner and wider layer making the whole bead wider and flatter.

To begin making the necklace tie the end of your piece of elastic around the first bead in a secure knot. Thread the necklace. To finish make a loop in the elastic and knot it you can then usethis as a clasp to loop around the bead on the other end. Then tie the end of the elastic around the final bead as before so that both ends are secure.

Brilliant bracelets:

These are so easy to make and so versatile too. You'll need:

• A sheet of card.
• Pencil
• Scissors
• Elastic
• Sticking tape
• and crayons, pens, or paints if you fancy.

Here's how:

1. Decide on what your design is going to be..... believe me this is the hardest bit, especially with my 2 indecisive munchkins!
2. Draw your design on to the card and cut it out.
3. Now colour away to your hearts content.
4. Once its ready cut a small piece of elastic; enough to tie loosely around the child's wrist and stick the elastic to the back of the card with sticky tape!

There you have it....a wrist control panel, a hovering glittery butterfly...  whatever you can imagine. They're great for completing costumes too. The girls liked them so much I might try having a go at making some with felt and sewing a ribbon to the back to tie around the wrist with.

I have to admit I loved making these alongside the girls. I was so chuffed with my green paper bead necklace Sophia made me I might have a go using fabric scraps and fabric glue so they're more lasting. I didn't want to stop there either so in the evening I carried on, making a few surprises for the girls.

If you want to see what we made next come back and see the Monday Makery next week.

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We have more Monday Makery craft & recipe ideas here.

For behind the scenes photos of Sisters Guild we have the gallery of the A-Z of Sisters Guild here.