How to make your own beads out of magazines

 In my last post I said I would show you how to make these beads.  I hope I can do a good job of explaining how to do this.  If you don't understand something, please ask.  They are made out of magazines!

First you need to assemble the supplies. 

You need one of these clear embossing ink pads. 

I found mine in the stamping department at Hobby Lobby, but I'm sure any craft or scrapbooking store would have them.

You need this ULTRA THICK embossing powder. 

The crystals are bigger than the kind you usually  use for embossing on paper.

You will also need a paper plate,

glue (Elmer's is fine),

bamboo skewers,

and a heat gun that you usually use for embossing,

and magazines!

You can use some of these very thin sparkly threads if you want to add some glitz to your beads.

You can see the threads here by the arrows.

You will need to cut strips of magazines, keeping in mind that the only part you are going to see is at the top or bottom of the page, depending on the direction you roll the strip.

You'll need to sprinkle a little bit of the embossing powder on a paper plate, and a little bit goes a long way.  There is enough here to do a lot of beads.

Figure out what you want the bead to look like.  That part of the magazine should be at the top and on the OUTSIDE.  Then, take a dab of glue, and put it on the INSIDE bottom of the strip of magazine.  Don't put it on the very bottom.  You don't want it sticking to the bamboo skewer.  Go up a tiny bit, and put the dab of glue.

Then start rolling it on the bamboo sewer.  See how you start at the bottom of the strip, and the glue is a little higher up.  That way the glue will adhere to the paper and not the skewer.  It takes a little practice but it's not hard.

After you get it rolled almost to the end, put a dab of glue on the very end.  Give it a minute to hold the paper together.

Your little bead should move easily on the bamboo skewer without sticking.
The next step is to roll it on the ink pad.  I just gently roll it up and down a couple of times to be sure the bead is covered.

Right after rolling it on the ink pad, you roll it in the crystals.  This adheres the crystals to the bead.

Then you melt the crystals with the heat gun.  I had to set it down to take the picture, but when you do this you'll hold the heat gun and actually see the crystals melt.  Kind of roll the skewer around so that all of the crystals melt.

Give it a minute to cool.  The bead will then have a bit of shine to it. 
After it's cool, roll it again on the stamp pad,

then roll it in the crystals again,

and when you use the heat gun on it the second time, it becomes very glossy.

Once it cools down, twist it off of the skewer.  You'll need to clean the skewer off a bit because you can't help but melt a few crystals on it and they sometimes get in the way of taking the bead off of it.

You can see how the different width of paper determines the length of the bead.

Remember the journal I showed you in the last post.

 I made a little bookmark for it out of beads, including the one the lady gave me at the journal class.

These are a bit addicting to make and would be great for gifts.

If you have any questions feel free to put them in the comment section.

Enjoy!

Cindy