Wooden Pendant Beads
Wooden Pendant Beads are the perfect surcie for friends and family. They are often used as gifts for celebrations such as graduations, weddings, new babies, and housewarmings. Wooden pendant beads can also bring comfort in times of bereavement or illness.
This is a brief tutorial to help you make the perfect set for your loved one.
You will need the following supplies to get started:
Wooden Beads. They didn't really have a large selection of these at Hobby Lobby or Micheal's near me, so I went to Amazon. I was able to get 300 for right around $10. This enabled me to make 10 sets of beads using 30 per strand. You may not need this many, so a trip to your local craft store may do, or you can find your needed quantity online.
Twine or sturdy string. I had some left from another project that I originally purchased at Hobby Lobby. This is a comparable version.
Clay. - I tried Sculpey's White Air Dry Clay first because it was a slightly larger amount and I thought it may be more workable. But it took daaayss to harden. If you have time, that's fine. But I admit it was the last step in adding to these beads and the waiting seemed to take forever. Next time I will go with their oven bake clay or a different brand of air-dry clay.
Knife or shaped clay or cookie cutters. I didn't have the shapes I wanted on hand, so I hand cut the cross and heart shapes using a simple plastic knife. Cookie cutters of any shape or clay cutters are great to use as well.
Paint. I used two different types of gold for mine - one is a bolder, yellow gold while the other is a little more subtle. You can use any color you'd like.
Paint brushes. Any kind will do, but I found that flat bristle brushes worked well for the pendants and round tips were good for the beads.
Steps:
Clay Pendant:
1. Flatten clay to just about 1/4" thick with your hand or a rolling pin.
2. Cut desired shapes using knife or metal, shaped cutter.
3. Poke small hole near top of the pendant to thread the string through later. I used a toothpick for this.
4. Bake shaped pendants using package instructions, or leave to air dry if you went with this type of clay.
5. Paint pendants desired color once they have dried and cooled.
Beads:
6. String an odd number amount of beads onto twine. I used 30 total - 29 on the strand, then a single bead to cover the knot.
7. Tie the twine at the base of the beads, leaving a few inches to tie on your clay pendant.
8. Thread both pieces of string through pendant hole from the bottom up. Pull over top of pendant and tie off in back with a double knot.
9. Paint wooden beads desired color or leave natural.
Once complete, wrap for gifting or use in your home for a personal pick-me-up! :)
If you'd prefer to buy instead of DIY, head over to our shop to see our wide variety of bead garlands. Want something customized? Reach out and we will do our best to accomodate!
Did you try this or have you made some before? Let us know how it went in the comments or if you have any tips for us next time we make some!