How to make your own beads [glass, bread, plastic, clay, wood, paper, papier mache]

1. Bread beads
Materials needed: baked bread, lime or lemon, color, brushes, lacquer.
Tools needed: broom-stick, art knife.
Steps
- Make preliminary sketches and idea development of the bead to be produced
- Remove the outer hard brown cover of the bread
- Crush or break the inner soft portion of the bread into smaller bits and put it into a fine container
- Add some amount of white glue and lemon to the bread dough and knead
- Roll and cut the kneaded bread dough into the expected sizes
- Mold into the expected shapes and sizes
- Use broom stick to create or perforate hole in the bread dough
- Allow it to dry
- Decorate it using color and brushes
- Apply lacquer to it to make it shinny and attractive
- Allow it to dry and string
2. Bead and loop
- Cut wire into strips. All of the same size
- Hold the tip of the wire and coil to make a loop on one side with the round nose plier
- Put bead through the other side
- Make another loop to lock the bead
- Make several of them and use jump ring to join them to form chains
3. Seed beads
Materials needed: seeds, color, lacquer and thread.
Tools needed: an awl, hand drill, needle.
Steps
- Make preliminary sketches and idea development of the bead to be produced
- Collect seeds from the locality
- Dry seeds for some time
- Perforate the seeds for threading. If seeds are too hard for perforating, heat sand in a pan and arrange the seeds in it to be soften
- Remove their radicles and thread through it
- Decorate it by either vanishing or painting to enhance its beauty
4. Wooden beads
Materials needed: wood, color, and lacquer.
Tools needed: saw, scorching iron, file, chisel, brushes, sand paper, awl, bodkin, hand drill, art knife.
Steps
- Cut wood into size and shape desired with a suitable woodworking tool
- Use file and sand paper to smoothen the shapes
- Create threading hole in the wood pieces with either a drill or hot iron
- Decorate the beads by scorching, painting or spraying with lacquer and vanish to give it a glossy effect
- Thread the pieces of beads together
5. Plastic beads
Materials needed: discarded plastics (cups, bucket, plates, bowls, basins etc.), color, lacquer and thread.
Tools needed: hand saw, an awl, thin metal, pan or empty tin, hand drill, bodkin, awl, needle.
Steps 1
- Make preliminary sketches and idea development of the bead to be produced
- Collect discarded plastics from the locality
- Break plastic material into pieces
- Melt plastic pieces in a container
- Allow the melted plastic to cool a little bit and mold into the desired shapes and sizes
- Use a scorching tool to make hole in them
- Polish and string
Steps 2
- Make preliminary sketches and idea development of the bead to be produced
- Collect discarded plastics from the locality
- Cut plastic material into strips
- Set light to one end of the strip and hold the burning strip over a bowl of water
- Allow the melting plastic to drop into the water to solidify
- Collect the droppings and perforate them
Steps 3
- Make preliminary sketches and idea development of the bead to be produced
- Collect discarded plastics from the locality
- Shape plastics into geometric shapes such as round, triangle, rectangle, Square etc.
- Use bodkin or heated metal to create hole in the
- Polish and string
6. Clay beads
Materials needed: clay, color, and lacquer.
Tools needed: broom-stick, kiln, brushes and art knife.
Steps
- Make preliminary sketches.
- Prepare the clay using dry or wet method
- Knead the clay to remove trapped bubbles.
- Roll the clay.
- Cut the clay into required shapes and sizes
- Mold into the expected shapes and sizes
- Pierce or create holes in them.
- Allow it to dry
- Fire the beads
- Decorate the beads
- String the beads
7. Paper beads
Materials needed: paper, glue, color or dye, lacquer.
Tools needed: broom-stick, pair of scissors, ruler, brushes, and art knife.
Steps
- Make preliminary sketches
- Use pencil/pen to draw the outline of the bead you want to produce
- Use pencil/pen and ruler to measure and rule the lines on the paper
- Cut the pieces of papers into strips using scissors or the knife
- Roll the strips round a piece of broom stick or matchstick using the glue
- Decorate the beads by painting, spaying or vanishing
8. Papier mache beads
Materials needed: paper, glue, color or dye, lacquer.
Tools needed: broom-stick, pair of scissors, ruler, brushes, and art knife.
Steps
- Make preliminary sketches
- Soak paper for some times
- Remove from water and squeeze out excess water
- Pound the soaked paper to get fine particles
- Mix pounded paper with glue or starch
- Mold to the desired shapes and sizes
- Use broom stick to create hole in the beads
- Allow to dry
- Polish the beads by filing to make it smooth
- Decorate the beads by painting, spaying or vanishing
9. Glass beads
Materials needed: scrap glass, clay, cassava leave stalk, suede (color), fuel for grease/oil
Tools needed: metal mortar, metal pestle, grinding stone, file, sieve, bricks, and mold
Stage 1: Designing and making clay mold
Steps:
Prepare clay slab
Make holes of the desired shape and size in the slab
Allow to dry
Stage 2: Designing and building a brick kiln
Steps:
- Make a design of the kiln
- Make a dimension of the kiln to be made
- Prepare bricks
- Construction of kiln according to the design
Stage 3: Preparing glass powder
Steps:
- Break glasses into pieces
- Pound or grind broken glasses into fine particles
- Sieve pounded glasses into fine powder
- Store for use
Stage 4: Making beads from glass
Steps:
- Paint the holes of the mold with kaolin or oil
- Fix a cassava leaf-stalk into each hole
- Fill the holes with powdered glass
- Add colored powder to the glass powder for decoration
- Pack mold in the kiln for firing
- Allow to fire
- Remove from the kiln and allow to dry
- Smooth beads by filling the rough edges and polish
- Design if necessary
Source: Jewelry theories & practices for Senior High School by Juliana E. Ankutse-Ashiagbor