Recycled paper beads in a Necklace
I have made paper beads with a recycled newspaper and some glue mixed in. This is a easy fun project that you can do without any preparation. 
Just put some stripes of newspaper in a pot of water and wait until the newspaper starts to dissolve. Then mix in the glue and start rolling beads!
It was the painting part that took time, but it was fun though. I painted my beads with acrylic paint where the gold color kind of shines through in the wrinkles. One some I painted dots and on others I added glitter! I couldn’t shape them too well because the “clay” turned out rather bulky. I think maybe next time I try I will let the mixer separate the paper a bit too. It’s not a clay to make difficult shapes in either. The fibers from the paper makes detailed work almost impossible, and that’s true for the ordinary paper clay (bought in a craft store) too.
Then I drilled holes in all the beads after they had dried thoroughly for a few days.
I have stringed the turquoise paper beads to a piece of beautiful ribbon, but I don’t know if will ever wear it in public. Would you? One one level I think it looks cool and very artistic, on another level I see it with the viewers eye and discard it as a bit… strange? crazy?
I still have pink beads left and I have to decide what to do with them. Don’t you think they look like candy? I could use them in a wall hanging piece or as decoration on some project or other – if not for jewelry.
My inspiration
How to make paper beads, a tutorial found on the great blog A storybook life. I also made a tiny heart that is still unpainted if you want to see how that look.
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This is a cool project. I have only made paper beads by rolling triangles of paper into tubes. If you don’t feel comfortable wearing them you could use them to add a little razzmatazz on a journal spine… Just a thought.
Hi Hanna,
Those are great! I love that they don’t require any fancy materials. The first thing I thought of when I saw them was this project I’ve been wanting to do from Purlbee:
http://www.purlbee.com/the-purl-bee/?currentPage=3
I always have vases of twigs around my place because they’re easy to take care of (you can’t kill them, unlike plants) and they add a spot of nature inside, and these pretty beads would be perfect instead of sewn or knitted balls!
Great tutorial! The pink ones look like speckled chocolate eggs. :)
This is wonderful, thanks for sharing!
Oh, thanks for this lesson, these are so funky and fun. I’m going to do this during my trip!!
WOW! These are great! Thanks for sharing, Hanna ~ :)
Beautiful. I’d say, wear it with pride!
They really do look like candies:-)))You can use them for a mixed material collage or candle holder decoration etc.
ohhhh- Love those beads! Man, would I make a mess trying to make those!
Oh my goodness if you can’t be a little crazy, how are you going to stand out in the world!?!
Love the beads, especially the turquoise ones! For a finer, less ‘chunky’ bead you can put the pulp in a blender. Not your favorite Margarita blender of course, but an older blender!
I can’t believe those are paper. They look just like real beads. Beautiful colors!
(Catching up on posts missed while away)
Those would look great with felted beads. You could prehaps make discs instead of spheres for a less chunky look.
They’re so cute! I’d probably end up with a mess in my hands, so I’ll content myself with the pics of that cute turquoise necklace.
Hanna, those are beeeeeeautiful!
The beads looks cute because of the paint. i’ll try to make circle beads and add it in decorating boxes.
I love the beads, they look fabulous and so much richer than regular paper.
I would wear the necklace, and so should you. It’s different and you won’t see anyone else wearing the exact same necklace.
It’s good to be slightly different and not a sheep!
I’m very happy to find people who share the same interest and love for this pm beads!they are lovely!
I had the same problem with their shapes after drying but i discovered that if i let the pulp uncovered for a day or two and then mix with the flour mixture (i like the best)they do not loose so much their shapes.
and if you rub them with sand paper or a special craft tool (sorry my english is not the best) with sandpaper on its head they’ll look gorgeous.try and smile!
I love all your beads – maybe if you strung them on black nylon or satin cord you’d feel better about wearing them in public – a string of all the colors would look very summery like a rainbow sherbet – your beads are very bohemian and different from anything else you’d see – stand tall and wear your creation
Oh there are lovely and fun….i plan on making some for my journal….as an embellishment!
Love, Violette xoxo
I tried doing this by using paper from our shredder, and I even shredded newspaper because they dissolve easier in water. I then, made a batch of glue by mixing cornstarch and water. This is a lot harder than just rolling strips of paper into paper beads but the outcome is all worth it.
I love those beads! what a wonderful way to recycle newspaper in to something beutiful!
This beads are gorgeous thanks for sharing