Hanging Tags

 Since I am not always able to remember how many times I have dipped or painted a certain string of my beads, I like having a way to keep track of this. What better way of doing this than to create a group of tags with numbers on to do the remembering for me. These hanging tags have helped me out way more than I like to admit. Before I started using these hanging tags in my bead making process. There were many times over a week's time that I have dipped or painted my beads , hung them up to dry. leaving them for days before getting back to them. Finally when I have the time to get back to them I would not remember how many layers were on each bead . Now that is never a problem everything is clearly marked and keeps me right on track.

What you will need to make your own Hanging Tags

Crafting wire

Packing Tape

Marker/Pen

Tissue Paper (or any kind of paper you want to use) I used tissue paper  because it is what I had in a lot of different colors and I also liked the sort of transparent look it added to my tags. So get creative and make them with your own special flare.

You will start off by using the crafting wire to form the shape you want your tags to be, ten form a loop on the top of it. For my set of hanging tags I wrapped the crafting wire around a  tube of glass beads to get a circle shape and then  formed a loop at the top of the shape. Since I do not usually go over 5 layers of any type of glaze or paint on my beads. I created 50 of these crafting wire frames.

This way I will have 10 hanging tags for each number .

Cut out pieces of tissue paper that will be able to fill in the shape of your crafting wire frames

Lay out a piece of packing tape sticky side up and place all of your crafting wire frames onto the packing tape. Now place your tissue paper cut outs into these crafting wire frames.

With a marker / pen  write the number you want onto each hanging tag.

Fold the other half of the packing tape onto the top of your hanging tags.  

Sealing them in between the tape

 Cut all of your hanging tags apart and trim them the best you can. There you have it easy as can be and you will never again forget where you were in the process of making your beads.

 I hope that these hanging tags are as helpful to you as they are to me, and that they help you be a more well-organized and productive bead maker in your future projects. Please feel free to share with me how your Hanging tags have turned out. 

I cannot wait to see how others have created these hanging tags to fit their own personalities and crafting styles.

The IBDCraftyLadyPaper Bead Project

Bead Racks

So just what are bead racks and why do I need them ?

Bead racks are use to keep the beads you make safe from being damaged until then can be baked, painted, or glazed.

There are plenty of different types of bead racks to choose from. Different types of beads will need different types of racks,  Plus every bead maker has their own way of making the racks they need. Since The IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project  is focusing on Paper beads.  I have made and used a ample amount of different types of racks while making  paper bead. Below I will discuss them all telling you both the good in them and the problems I had while using them.  In 2 days I will then post a DIY  to show you how I make the racks I now use for my paper beads .

 The first racks I used  were just  a piece of cardstock, by just  making an accordion fold out of a piece of card stock. Rolling the paper beads on a toothpick then balancing them between the folds

Good side of making this type of rack it costs nothing

Problems with this method is that it is not very sturdy and the paper beads are easily disturbed. Just walking by them could cause a breeze and they would be everywhere but where I left them. You can also go thru a lot of toothpicks.

After the folded paper racks I moved onto the  use  of Styrofoam  block

Good side of this kind of rack is it was very cheap as I had Styrofoam just laying around in my art room. It is also nice if you are not making a lot of beads

Problem with this type of rack was that it was only good for putting on 1 layer of glaze or paint. When I would go to do another layer I would  have to spend time removing all of the paper beads one at a time glazing them then replacing . It also knock over easily, and made a mess with tiny Styrofoam pieces all over the place.

Where  the Styrofoam  block was to light and I hated the tiny pieces all over the place I decided I need heavier and something that would not make a mess so I moved onto a slab of clay with holes in it. 

Good side of this was it stayed in place, and it was still cheap to make as I had clay laying around.

Problems with this rack was that it was sort of a hit and miss type of thing. Sometimes the toothpicks stayed in and other times they would just go in any direction they felt like going usually taking all the beads  around them with them.

 I had it with these types of racks and took a good look at my favorite racks that I used for my polymer clay beads. These racks I had made from flashing that was purchased from the hardware store. Since I did not want to use metal racks for my paper beads I decided to make them out of cardboard.  So I cut a Cracker Box in Half and cut some  notches on each side 1 inch apart.

 Good side of these racks are that they keep the beads in place. I can reuse the wires used to place the beads . I can paint or glaze more that 1 paper bead at a time. It is easy to do multiple layers of glaze or paint without upsetting the other beads. They are the perfect size for when I am making paper beads for a single project.

Problems with this rack If you want to make a lot of beads you will need a bunch of racks. You can paint or glaze more paper beads at a time but you cannot dip them.

This is the bead rack that  I will be creating The DIY Project for next week.

Glue Bottle Holder

This little holder will keep your glue always ready for use. No more waiting for it to get to the tip of the bottle, and it is always right where you left it.

What you will need to create this Glue Bottle Holder

1 Empty Cereal  Or cracker box

1 Empty Paper Towel roll if you do not want to form the small tube out of your box.

some packing tape

Some paper or Contac paper to cover it when you are done

This is pretty much Free to make. I used all scraps of the materials to make this glue bottle holder. The way I see it crafting tools like these should be as cheaply made as they can be. They serve their purpose and if they get to a point where you cannot use them anymore then you can just toss it and make a new one.

Cut a piece of your cardboard box to the dimensions of 2.5 inches wide by 8 inches long.

Then make a crease every 2 inches so that it looks like the photo above.

Use packing tape to connect the 2 ends in order to form a bottomless box.

I also used the part of the box where it was glued together in order to make it a bit more bottom heavy.

Cut another Piece of the cardboard box to the dimensions of  1inch wide by 4 inches long.

use packing tape to form a ring.

Cut a 1 3/4 inches long piece of the paper towel tube  off.

Use the packing tape to connect your 2 cardboard tubes like the above picture.

Level and center the larger ring with the top of the box and use the packing tape to secure your tubes to the top and bottom of your box.

Turn your box over

Get an 8 inch long piece of packing tape and fold it in half 

so that both sticky sides are stuck together.

Lay this piece across the bottom of your box and attach it with more packing tape.

It should look like the above photo when you are done.

You can now place your glue bottle into the holder 

either on an angle or straight up and down.

No more worries of drips messing up your working area, it helps to  keeps you from having to clean up spills, and when you set it down you will not end up talking to yourself .

I know personally I have said "now where did that go I just used it" a million times while crafting. That alone makes it worth having in my crafting tools.

 You can leave it just plain or you can decorate it to your liking.

I like to coordinate all of my crafting supply containers and tools so I found some Contac paper that I really liked at the dollar store and use it to keep all of my crafting areas looking like they all belong together.

You can also use this holder to

 Hold your markers as you decorate your papers before they are rolled.

To hold small scissors and a bead sizing tool for when you are working on your jewelry designs or the jewelry pieces themself.

For something so simple it is a big help in so many ways, it will only take you about  5 - 10 minutes of your time  to make one so go ahead you might as well make a  few extras. 

Other Links you may find useful

IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project

DIY Paper Bead Roller and Bead Hole Maker

 These are my favorite Paper Bead making tools.

These tools are so easy to make and you only need a few items to create them all.

What you will need to make these tools:                                                                    Price

1)  pen will make : 1 Paper Bead Rolled and 1 Bead Hole maker                     a pack of 5 pens $1

1)  3/32 cotter pin (for the roller)                                                                       a pack of 6 for .69 cents

1) 1 1/2  inch Bright Wire  Nail     (for the hole maker)                                    a pack of nails $2.49

A Glue gun                                                                                                          $5

A few Glue sticks                                                                                                $4.97

The prices above reflect what you would have to spend if you did not have any of these items in your crafting supplies.

When I created mine it cost be about  .50 cents as i just had to purchase a few cotter  pins.

Gather your supplies together

The hardware store near me sells the cotter pins separately  for between .10 and .15 cents each so I picked up a bunch of different sizes to test out, the 3/32  worked the best for me. 

Take the old pen apart.

Get rid of the ink section and the white part of the clicker if your pen has one.

 Now just fill some of the empty section of half of the pen with hot glue and place the cotter pin

into the hot glue. Center the cotter pin  the best you can, once the cotter pin is placed add some more hot glue to fill in the hole and  to seal it in good and tight so it does not move..

And there you have it a paper bead roller. For this 1 I used the top of an old pen.  I just love this roller and since these pens had a grip on them it felt very comfortable in my hand as I used it.

 This one was made from the bottom of the same kind of pen with a longer and thinner cotter pin.

When using the bottom of the pen, make sure to glue the loose clicker into the bottom space of the pen to give it a  nice rounded bottom and a more finished look.

 Since this cotter pin was longer and thinner  it makes smaller holes in the paper beads  but it is not as strong as the other  one. In order to use this paper bead roller I needed to add 2 beads in order to stabilize it . Beads are formed in between the 2 beads if you do not use the beads 

it will separate and your paper bead will unwind easily.

 I also used a dremel  to trim the clip off of the bottom of the pen. This way it does not feel uncomfortable in your hand and it will not be in the way while you are making your beads.

Bead Hole Making Tool

This tool helps you to  have nice clean holes in your beads . To make these tools you just place nails into the hot glue instead of the cotter pin.

 One hole Bead tool.

Two hole bead tool

Above are the tools that I  use when I create my 1,2 and 3 hole beads.

 You will have to decide what tools you will need in your supplies and how many you want to make. I do not like making my beads larger than 1 inch, so these are all the tools I need.

IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project

Paper Bead Making Tools

Here is a list of all the tools I use to create my paper beads. Some of you might think they are not must have tools for you. But I have found that they have all in some way helped me to make my paper beads better and faster than I did before I had them in my bead making supplies. So even if you don't think you need them you might want to just give them a try.

Bead Roller:  The tool that you will use to roll up your paper to form your bead.

Bead Hole Maker: A tool used to make sure you have a clean even hole in each of your bead. They can be created to make  one , two, and even 3 holed beads.

Bead Glazing  Racks: Glazing racks are used to place or hang a finished bead  once it has been glazed so that it can dry properly.

Glazing Rack Counters: Glazing rack counters are used so that you can keep track of how many times a bead has been dipped in glaze. A great way for you to keep track of the layers of glaze on the beads you are working on  if you cannot get back to them right away.

Glazing Rack Hangers: These hangers will show you how to get the best results from dipping your beads.

Glue Bottle Holder: A simple holder that will keep your bottle of glue always ready for use while making your paper beads.

Paper Bead Display: This  display rack is used so that you can place a sample bead on it along with the information you need in order to recreate the same bead over and over.

Now that you have an understanding of what each of these tools will be used for during The IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project we will move on to how I created each of these tools . I will produce a DIY project for each of the paper bead tools listed above. Over the next 2 weeks you will then be able to create everything that you will need in order to join in on The IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project with me.

 Note: Once we have everything needed we will then get started  on our mission of learning how to make each of the different types of paper bead. Can you feel your bead collection growing I know I can see a lot of paper beads in mine very soon.

Paper Bead basics

So you want to learn how to make paper beads but where do you start. Are there any terms  you need to know? What kinds of paper should you use? We all have a lot of questions when starting out on a new crafting adventure. The best place to start is with the basics. So here you go the basics of making paper beads.

1. Collecting paper: There is no one type of paper used in the creation of paper beads. You can use any paper you find interesting be it in color , texture or just having a  large quantity of a certain kind of paper on hand. What you need to know about you paper is that its thickness and length  will determine the attributes of the beads you create. For example if you create 2 of the same bead with 2 different  thicknesses of paper. The bead made with the thicker paper will be larger and bulkier that the one made with the thinner paper.

2. Cut the Paper into strips: How you cut the paper you use will depend on the way you find easiest. Some ways people choose to cut their paper into strips are buy by cutting them out by hand using a scissors, a rotary cutting wheels or exacto knifes. Other crafters  like to use a paper trimmer and cutting boards. Find the way that works the best for you and helps you be the most productive.

3. Use a roller to roll up your bead: There are a lot of things you can use  a  bead roller such as  a toothpick, a bamboo bead roller, a metal bead roller, and even crank bead roller just to name a few. But I will show you how to make your own bead making tools in a future post.

4. Glues: Basic white glue is perfect to use when creating paper beads. I have seen some say you can use a glue stick but unless it is one of the more expensive ones they do not always hold and cause your dead to unwrap.

5. Decorating and Glazing:  We will get into decorating in more detailed posts on each type of bead. But for your basic paper bead no decoration will be needed. Starting out you will just be using the graphics or colors on the papers you use.  For now glaze with a clear gloss or varnish of your choice. This is another topic that will be gone into in more detail in a later post.

Paper Bead Terms

Types of paper beads: Tube beads, Round Beads, Bicone beads, Cone Beads, and  Disc Beads.

These are the main kinds of beads that have been created over the years. I have created a few more types of paper beads that I will be adding to this list.

Paper Bead Roller:  Is any item the crafter uses to create their paper bead with.

Glaze:  The product used to harden, water proof and protect your paper bead from being ruined

Drying Rack: Places use to place or hang your paper beads after they have been glazed.

Now you know the basics and you see it does not take much to start you on your way. I hope you will keep following The IBDCraftyLady PaperBead Project as we take these basics to the next level.

The IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project

For the next 4 months I will be working on the IBDCraftyLady Paper Bead Project. This project will be to try and take making paper beads to a new level.

The paper bead project will start out by taking you threw the basics of making of paper beads, the tools you will need to create your paper beads, along with DIY projects to help you create all of these tools for your own use.  Once all of this has been completed I will move on to explain how to create each  of the different types of paper beads old (being the ones everyone makes )and new (the beads I have come up with ). Not only will I explain how to make each type of bead I will also show you how to decorate each type of bead in several different ways.

The paper bead project will also include several ways on how to store and display your finished beads while they are waiting to be used.

And  last but not least for the remaining time of the IBDCRaftyLady Paper Bead  Project . My time will be dedicated to creating DIY jewelry making projects to help you use up all of the bead you now have in your paper bead stash. These DIY projects  will show you that green jewelry does not have to mean ugly jewelry. Paper beads can be  artistic and beautiful .Paper beads can be used to create jewelry  that anyone would be proud to wear and this project will prove it. Not to mention you get to help the planet out some by recycling.

So come and join me as the paper bead project progresses. Follow along  and see just how easy making all of the different types of paper beads can be. and how to take them to the next level. What do you have to lose except not having these awesome paper beads in your own collection of beads.

Paper Bead Project Links

the-history-of-paper-beads

paper-choices-when-making-paper-beads

paper-bead-basics

bead-racks

how-i-store-and-prepare-my-papers

diy-paper-bead-roller-and-bead-hole-maker

diy-glue-bottle-holder

diy-hanging-tags

diy-glazing-rack

diy-paper-bead-display