I spy with my beady eye ...

 

Christmas present buying is done (even though I never feel I buy enough or get everything right), Christmas food shopping is done (and there are way too many calories lurking in cupboards, ready to ambush me with their sweet tasting treats.)  So, it's the ideal time to get stuck into some non-Christmas crafting.  Armed with a tube of Original Hi-Tack All Purpose Very Sticky Glue (that's a name that says it all!) I set about making a handful of boho beads.  

I've watched various YouTube tutorials, and most recommend you start off with a packet of drinking straws, cutting one of the straws up to make your basic bead shape.  The only issue with using a straw is that the resulting bead has wide openings at the top and base.  I think they look better if they're narrower at each end.  For a narrower bead it's easier to roll a piece of scrap paper around a thin knitting needle, or - what I found ideal - a spindly plant support cane.  I used copier paper initially for the beads, but a softer paper is easier to roll and stick down.  Such as a page from an old book (that's too tatty for the charity shop and only fit for re-purposing.)

Then it's a case of winding strips of fabric around your paper bead, adding glue to secure it.  Bright silky material works best if you're going for a boho look.  Ribbon with a bit of sparkle is perfect.  Your bead can be as plump or skinny, as long or short as you want.  The tacky glue I mentioned earlier does the job of keeping the fabric in place, though you do end up with fingertips coated in sticky gloopy dried glue.  Easily washed off though.  

After that it's a matter of inserting the wire, adding beads either end, and whatever embellishments you fancy.  The fabric looks pretty enough, but the beads can be prettified some more with seed beads and bugle beads threaded on to thin wire and wound around them.  I added Lurex Thread too, a bagful bought for a couple of quid in a charity shop, because I knew it'd come in handy sooner or later.  

You can jazz up your boho beads to your heart's content as this isn't a craft for anyone who's into minimalism.  It's also a good way of using up any single earrings or broken necklaces or bracelets that you have.  You could add sequins or even little bells, like the kind you'd find on a cat's collar.  Anything goes! 

These are the ones completed so far, and I'm happy with how they've turned out.  Not certain what I'll use them for, possibly something to hang at a window where they'll catch the light.    

Hope you like 'em, and you're welcome to leave me a comment if you do.  (Of course, if you don't like them then you're welcome to keep your opinions to yourself ... 😉 )  Have fun!