Fun DIY for Kids and Adults: Fabric Beads

    It's that time of year when the children in your life start school again, except not all of them are leaving the house for school. In these unprecedented times, we need to come up with fresh ways to engage our children while they are stuck at home. Crafts are a great way to give your kids a break from all of the mandatory (and recreational) screen time. I have a few easy family-friendly crafts to share with you over the next few weeks. 

    The first of these DIY activities is Fabric Beads. This is an easy no-sew project that preschool-age children can help out with and it's fun enough for the teenagers to join in. Bonus: you can use up some of your fabric scraps from all of the masks you've been making!

You will need:

• Fabric strips
•  Note: they can be scraps, they can be shaped weird and have raw edges, it all just adds to the character of the bead! The thicker the fabric, the less length you will need. I used Cotton Batik for my beads and my pieces were 8-10 inches in length. 
• Chopstick/Dowel/Knitting needle/something to wrap your fabric around
• Fabric glue
• Optional: decorative thread or yarn, glitter, small beads

Let's get started!

    First, gather up your fabric scraps and look for narrow pieces. If you need to, you can trim down a piece by cutting or tearing, depending on how you like your edges. My beads were under an inch in width, you can make yours however wide you would like- everything about this is customizable!

    Next, take your strip and begin to wrap it tightly around your dowel. After you've wrapped it around a few times, you can add a small amount of glue. Don't do this step to early, or the glue might seep through and glue the bead to the dowel. You won't need to glue anymore until the very end.

Here you can add a spot of glue

    As you wrap, keep the fabric taut so that your bead is wrapped tightly. This is where you could help out your little ones. It's ok if it's not perfectly tight because you can leave it on the dowel afterwards and add decorations.

    Once you get the the end, add another small dot of glue and press firmly. Let your bead dry on the dowel so that it keeps its shape. If you want a more rigid bead, you can add more glue as you wrap or use more length of fabric. 

    When the bead is dry you can slide it off the dowel or leave it on and continue to decorate. You could use glitter glue, smaller plastic beads, or decorative threads to embellish the bead to your liking. This part can get messy, but it's a lot of fun for the kids! If the children are unable to wrap the beads, they can participate in this step.

    These beads are great for making bracelets, necklaces, earrings, or key chains. There are so many fun ways to use them- and that's another craft project you can do! If you decorate yours, please send us a photo- we'd love to see what you come up with.

Stay safe everyone, and happy crafting!