Earrings on a Whim

The other day I was thinking about things I should purge from my closets at home. I don't like a lot of clutter in my living space so my closets tend to get a bit out of hand (probably a common problem amongst apartment dwellers). I like to purge every once in awhile to keep "stuff" from accumulating. I figure if I haven't used something in a years time than it is probably safe to sell it or give it away.

I was rummaging through a box that held miscellaneous craft supplies when I stumbled upon my bead stash. At one point in my life I thought I was going to try out making simple bead jewelry so I had accumulated a nice little assortment of small glass beads and sterling silver wire. I experimented with a few pieces, but it was something that didn't hold my interest for very long, which is a common problem I run into with many of my craft projects I have to admit. So my beading supplies sat in a box in my closet until now. I thought a new pair of earrings was in order and what better way to obtain them than to make them myself?

I didn't really want a pair of earrings with just my glass beads so I chose to make them out of paper beads instead. Paper bead making is not a new idea - the first time I ever saw them being made was by a family member when I was a kid. She showed my siblings and me the process of making the beads probably to keep us out of her hair (quite literally, she had really long hair we liked to comb and braid frequently). There are many instructions for paper bead making on the Internet so I won't post instructions here, but one good site for basic instructions is here.

I love paper beads because I can make them as large or as small as I want and they produce fantastic color variations depending on the paper used. I only use paper from magazines to make my beads because it is the cheapest and the easiest to come by - it's also a great way to recycle any magazines lying around the house. Some of the more colorful advertisements contribute to a beautifully colored bead.

I find that using toothpicks or some kind of small wooden dowel works best for wrapping the beads and a small block of dry florist foam is perfect for holding the wooden dowels with the finished bead as it dries after being varnished. I actually did not use varnish on the beads in this project because I did not have any on hand. Instead, I used clear nail polish that was hanging out in my bathroom. I found that it worked quite well and produced a nice glossy finish to my paper beads.

I had to practice quite a bit on my wire wrapping and I still need to perfect my technique a bit more (I did not have any eye or head pins so I made the loops myself out of 20 gauge half-hard sterling silver wire), but I quite like the end result despite my less-then-perfect wire looping and wrapping. I added a few sterling silver beads as an accent, but the paper bead is what stands out. It makes a nice hip and funky earring that I like all the more because I made it myself.

Now if only I could be as successful getting the closets cleaned...