How to make round paper beads is a question I get asked by crafters all the time.
One of my YouTube viewers asked this question recently, so Abie M. – here are a couple of ideas for how to make round paper beads.
And as Alison K. also asked me for ideas on how to make beads from toilet tissue (see the pretty turquoise beads above), I decided to combine answering those two questions in one video.
The two part template I designed to make these round beads using 200gsm paper.
If you are wondering how to make round paper beads, you will find this template really helpful but you must print it onto the same thickness of paper that I did to get the same look.
I used 200 gsm heavyweight matt coated paper from Rymans in the UK but I believe the US equivilent to the UK 200 gsm is around 110 lb but you may want to check that conversion out yourself.
So that’s one way to make roundish paper beads. Below you can see more round paper beads that I made with toilet tissue.
When you are thinking of how to make round paper beads – you may not immediately think of using toilet tissue 🤔
But toilet tissue makes fabulous round beads that are extremely hard and durable if you follow the instructions I give in the video.
YouTube viewer Alison K. asked about making beads from toilet tissue and so I made the ones you see here.
I have used this method many times before, but usually using decorative table napkins instead of toilet tissue.
Yes – these are made from toilet tissue!
These are quite bulky to have as bracelet beads, unless you love the chunky look – I strung eight beads on a length of black 1mm round elastic and wore them as a necklace slung quite low.
I absolutley love turquoise, black and gold together and I show you in my tutorial how I decorated the beads to get this look.
But you can decorate yours however you want of course.
And now we come to the second paper bead strip design giveaway.
From me to you – a free digital down load to print off, cut up and make into beads.
In the tutorial, how to make round paper beads, I have included a quick video showing you how to make these beads with tips on how to finish them really nicely.
There are a couple of things you can do when rolling beads like these to make them look more professional and I include those tips in the video.
See what I do to make these beads really pop.
And here are your free downloads for making these beads.
European style paper beads are very easy to make when you have my two part printable template.
My carefully designed two part European paper bead template.
The template is available in my Etsy shop and my tutorial on how to use the template to make these black and gold european style paper beads is over on my YouTube channel.
I spent absolutely ages trying to figure out how to get that distinctive European style of paper bead.
Getting this shape eluded me for a long time – but then I cracked it and you can too with my template.
After many failed attempts, a few years ago, I finally got it right with a combination of a carefully graduated two part paper beadstrip template and 210gsm (78lb) paper card.
If you want to make European style paper beads like mine, have a look at my video to see just how I get the gold design on them.
You’ll be shocked at how easy it is and what the possibilities are for all sorts of decorative paper beads made this way.
Six European Style Paper Beads on a bangle – simple!
And in case you think there is no free printable with this post…
You’re wrong – hooray!
Included in the tutorial on how to make european style paper beads is a brief look at another paper bead template I designed to make 1 inch regular paper beads in earth warm spring-like colours.
My latest free printable to make this bracelet…So simple to make using my free paper beadstrip printable.
This is a really simple bracelet to make – the beads are easy to cut out and roll.
The strips can be cut out with scissors or with a Silhouette Cameo electronic cutting machine (as seen in the video).
You can probably use a Cricut machine too – let me know if you do.
To get my free printable in UK A4 size click here.
And if you are here because you wanted to find out how to make European style paper beads…
…you might want to know where to get my 3mm paper bead rolling tool and other materials/tools I use in the tutorial.
My 3mm paper bead rolling tool is available in my Etsy shop
I ship my tools all over the world. They are simple to use because of the gently shaped handle which is very comfortable to hold.
Good for those who find it hard to hold tools.
Watch the video by clicking here and leave me a comment or ask a question on YouTube!
And for the other items I use in my tutorials, visit my Amazon shops where you will find lots of craft goodies. including the wonderful Silhouette Cameo cutting machine like I use in the video.
This is my latest free printable. Free for you to download and use to make jewelry to sell. A link to the download is further down this page – so keep reading!
Making Jewelry To Sell – Five Things Beginners Need To Know.
In this post, I am going to talk about making jewelry to sell and giving you suggestions for a quick and easy way to begin, even if you are not artistic or full of creative ideas.
By the end of this post, you will know how to quickly begin creating attractive handmade jewelry that you can sell online or at craft fairs.
Although I do sell craft printables on Etsy, I also regularly give away free printables on here for those who may appreciate having designs they can use when making jewlery to sell.
In this and future posts, I will be showing paid for designs that you can buy for a few dollars in my Etsy shop but I will also be giving out new free printables on here as well to ensure everyone has access to designs they can use freely.
On sale in my Etsy shop – £3 – Can be used to make pendants to sell
So for those who are new to making handmade jewlery, here are the five main things you need to know when making jewlery to sell.
Your handmade pendant/bracelet/bag charm/keychain must be quick and easy to make. Otherwise, you will not be able to make enough stock to make a worthwhile profit. You should be able to make plenty of stock quickly if you want to make money. And unless you are making high-end gold or silver handmade jewelry, you will not be able to set your prices based on how long it took you to create a piece.
If you are a beginner to crafts or handmade jewlery, a very good place to start is making glass cabochon jewelry which is quick and easy to make but is also attractive and looks professional.
The four main elements of glass cabochon jewlery are:
The pendant bezel, which is the metal tray that the design sits in.
The design – an image that sits under the glass cabochon.
The glass cabochon, or dome, that sits on top of the design to protect it
A chain to hang the pendant on.
You can see how to put these elements together in this YouTube tutorial.
Handmade glass Cabochon Jewelry
2. Your jewelry needs to be made with good quality, robust materials that will not fall apart.
The challenge you face in selling handmade jewelry is sourcing good findings that don’t cost the earth and yet still produce an impressive, good quality product you can sell at the right price.
The pendant trays and glass cabochons that I use in my jewelry are a good example of how it is possible to find good quality supplies at the right price.
Pendant bezels – the basis for your handmade pendants.
And I will be giving links further down, showing where you can get these supplies to use either with your own designs or, with the free designs I post on here.
In the images above, you can see three of my previous free printables which are still available. All you need to do is click the link to go to the post where you will find links to the videos showing how I used them. And in those videos you will be given a password to get into the download page for each design.
Pristine square glass cabochons – round ones are also available.
3. Your jewelry needs to be priced just right in order to attract buyers.
To see what I mean, have a look at the handmade jewelry being sold on platforms such as Etsy. Look for stores that have lots of sales and take note of their pricing and quality.
Then look for stores that have beautiful handmade jewelry but very low sales and look at the pricing. Is it too high? Is that why people are not buying?
You can learn a lot about the handmade market by Etsy surfing and seeing what sells well and at what price.
Being able to source decent findings, at a good price and of a standard good enough to use as a base for your designs, is the key to being able to sell at a price people will be willing to pay.
If your base supplies are very expensive and it takes you two days to make one item of jewelry, the chances are you will not be able to charge enough to cover your time and costs and make a profit.
4. Your jewelry needs to be unique and any designs used must not infringe copyright.
Cabochon jewelry is all based around having an eyecatching design at the heart of the piece. That is the point of cabochon pendants, keychains, bag charms, fridge magnets or card toppers. You need an attractive design that will go under the glass cabochon and be the main focus of the piece.
For these pendants, I used some of my own artwork in bronze and silver colored bezels.
But what if you are not confident with your design skills or artistic capability?
Does that mean you can use pictures from the internet instead of creating your own designs?
This is where you need to be very careful.
Using designs that belong to individuals or organisations without their permission is a bad move.
The rule of thumb is this – if you did not create the image/painting/drawing you want to use, there will be copyright issues to consider and consider them you must.
Using any images, icons, characters from, for example, a Disney movie could get you into a lot of trouble.
Do not be fooled by those who appear to be getting away with breaking copyright by using well known characters, logos, names, images etc on their products – do not follow suit.
Whatever money you make is not worth what will happen when copyright owners catch up with you. It really isn’t. So what do you do?
You can either buy designs from online shops such as Etsy or look for free printables like the ones I give away on here.
If you buy designs, you must check to see if you are allowed to use them to make items you are going to sell.
The same goes for free printables. Always check with the seller’s Terms & Conditions for the limitations are on how you can use them. Most sellers publish their T’s & C’s on the page where they are selling the download.
My free printables can be used freely to make jewelry, bag charms, fridge magnets, card toppers or keychains to sell.
The only restriction I place on my free printables is that they must only be used to create a jewelry item in which the design is used. They must not be sold on, or given away, as a sheet of designs or repackaged in any way to be sold as is.
There are Terms & Conditions on the download pages with each free download.
If in doubt, you can always contact me through the contact form to ask.
5. Presentation – Your handmade items need to be presented/packaged properly
Before you begin to make items to sell, you need to give some thought to how you will package them.
Organza bags are a cost effective way to present your jewelry
Organza bags such as those you see above are a great way to present your pendants etc.
They are easy to get online and will not add too much to the costs of making your items.
Another way to present your work that will not cost you too much is to fix your jewelry to a piece of card that you have stamped with a decorative stamp.
You could combine this with the organza bag if you wanted to – just slip the card into the bag and this will finish things off nicely.
You can also buy small boxes but of course the more sophisticated your packaging, the more your costs will eat into your profit.
As you can see, making jewelry to sell is fairly straightforward if you follow these five tips.
If you still feel daunted by the thought of what you will use for designs, just go ahead and watch my YouTube video tutorials in which I give the passwords for the pages on this site where the free printables are, download the designs, print them off and make your first pendants, bag charms, keychains, fridge magnets, card toppers or whatever other items you can think of.
Here are links to the YouTube videos showing how I used my previous giveaways:
So now that you have some designs to use, where do you get these bezels, glass cabochons and chains?
It’s easy – everything you need to start making cabochon pendants to sell is all under one roof in my Amazon storefront. Follow this link if you are UK based and then go to the Craft Supplies section where you will find everything you need.
There are also double-sided tapes in my stores but I have not used them myself and so I don’t know if they are crystal clear.
If you want to use the double-sided tape that I use to make my pendants click the link below. It looks red because it has a red liner which you peel off and discard.
If you having been looking for an easy, relatively inexpensive way to explore selling handmade jewelry online, I hope this has helped.
Feel free to ask me questions via the contact form or in the comments section below the YouTube tutorial that goes with this post.
Good luck with making jewelry to sell – and don’t forget to subscribe to this blog and to my YouTube channel to keep up with all the free designs I will be posting here.
To get my free printables, you will need the links to the pages where they are stored.
Please note, these free printables are a thank you for those who follow my YouTube videos. To get acess to the free downloads, you will need to watch my most recent YouTube video and make a note of the passwords I give during the tutorial that will open the free printables downloads pages.
The smallest pendant was made using the last free printable I published back on May 23rd 2020.
To get the free printable on the left, click here to go to the post and read it through to find out how to download your free printables.
The two larger pendants were made using one of my newest free printables, published on June 6th 2020.
And if you have never seen the supplies I use before or simply don’t know where to get them (supplies such as the glass cabochons/domes and pendant bezels) visit one of my Amazon storefronts and browse through there, I have most of what you will need listed there.
If you want to be sure to get access to all the free printables coming in future, subscribe to this website and also to my Youtube channel where there are lots more videos you may like.
Just a few of the many videos on offer over at Rainbow Lane.
Thanks for being here…
I look forward to seeing you next time with more free printables!
Free printables are now a regular feature of this craft blog and this week…
…I am pleased to bring you a colorful design depicting the sun, moon and stars.
Made with the two largest sizes off this week’s free sun moon and stars free printable.
Free printables are very easy to use (as long as you have access to a printer of course!)
Each week, I create a new page on here with a new free printable for you.
The page is always password protected, so you will need the password to get in.
This week’s free printable – Sun, Moon & Stars
To get that free printable password, you need to watch the YouTube tutorial that shows how I used the images.
In that video I will give out the password and all you need to do is write it down, come back here, follow this link and put in the password.
Simple! There is no catch to getting the free printable, the only thing I ask in return is that you watch the video and if you like what I do, perhaps subscribe to my blog and my YouTube channel – that’s it! Not a bad deal really😍
Once you have your free printable, you need to print it off on good paper.
But should it be on glossy or matte paper?
Well that depends on how you are going to use your design.
If you intend putting a glass dome over the top using a medium such as Diamond Glaze or Glossy Accents, you will need to use a matte finish photographic paper.
Glass dome/cabochonA glass dome fixed to a circular design with Glossy Accents – the design was printed onto matte paper.
Glossy Accents and Diamond Glaze are brilliant for sticking glass domes to designs printed onto matte paper.
As you can see above, using a special medium like Glossy Accents to stick the design to the glass dome is very effective when your design is printed onto matte paper.
But if you like printing onto glossy paper, as I do, what happens if you try to use a wet medium to stick the glass dome on?
The pendant design on the left was printed onto glossy photo paper and stuck to the glass dome with Diamond Glaze.
The same pendant design on the right was stuck to the glass dome with a special, crystal clear double sided tape designed to be invisible.
In all the years I have been making glass pendants, this is the fastest, easiest, least messy way I have found to fix glass domes in place on my designs for pendants.
When I first decided to experiment with using double sided tape to do this, I had all sorts of disasters. Most double sided tapes have lines in them that you don’t realise are there until you use the tape on something transparent, such as between a glass dome and a design.
Every single ordinary double sided tape I used from the craft store had marks in it.
And then I discovered a company online called SK Tapes and I found the perfect tape to stick the glass domes to my designs.
Design was fixed to glass dome with crytal clear SK Tapes double-sided tape.
This tape is made for commercial use for companies making signs and nameplates etc, however, listed in the description on their website, it does also say for use in arts and crafts.
It’s not as straightforward ordering this as it would be if you were ordering, say, on Amazon for example. You can’t just go and make a few clicks to order.
Don’t be fooled by the red appearance – that’s just the transluscent liner – the tape is crystal clear.
You have to go to their website and go to the products drop-down menu and click through to double-sided tapes (it’s at the top of the menu). Once you are on the double-sided tapes page, click on the one that says, Butt Cut Double-Sided.
On that page is an enquiry button and I sent them a message from there.
When they came back to me, I told them what I wanted, the 25mm one, paid over the phone and they sent it straight out.
It is expensive, but, this is a quality commercial product. Last year, I paid £12.96 for my roll but that included postage and Sales Tax. And it will last me absolutely ages.
USA readers may know of similar products stateside that we don’t have here.
And if you do, please scroll down and leave a comment to let people know what it is called. Or you can leave a comment under the video over on YouTube.
If you want any of the other items I used in my tutorial, such as pendant trays, glass domes, paper punches or ball chains, you can visit my Amazon shops and have a look through the items I have listed on there.
Paper punches do make life easier when cutting any shape accurately. And pendant trays (right) are ideal for making unique gifts for friends and family.
Next week my YouTube tutorial will be showing you how to use the smallest design on the sun, moon and stars free printable to make a dainty little pendant that will appeal to those who prefer smaller, more delicate necklaces.
Come back next week and join me for that. And if you like my free printables, please consider subscribing to this blog and also my YouTube channel. In the future I will be giving free printable designs to my blog subscribers only, so make sure you sign up now so I know who you are.
It’s really easy to subscribe and I do not share your email address with anyone.
Enjoy your sun, moon and stars free printable – and see you next week.
(If you are missing the weekly craft tutorial, I’ll let you into a secret, it’s not on YouTube yet but last week I made a step-by-step tutorial over on Instructables showing how to make a beautiful bracelet from a piece of wallpaper and an old pair of pantyhose/tights. See image below.)
A bracelet made purely from discarded scraps.
Art chill-out is a video I put together last week showing a collection of my artwork.
Why? Well sadly I hurt my back and was unable to complete my usual weekly craft tutorial as I was flat on my back.
So, armed with only my iPad, I decided to use a folder full of images I took of my artwork and create a video using the iMovie app.
Then I selected some chilled music to add and I was able to go ahead and publish a video as I usually do each Saturday at 8.30pm London time..
My Art Chill-Out video is for anyone who wants to relax and unwind for ten minutes.
The music is quite soothing and the images are colorful. They are all created by me through painting, photography or digital art. Sometimes I create my pieces using a combination of all three.
So if the current worldwide pandemic mess is stressing you out, watch my art chill-out video and escape into surrealism and fantasy for 10 minutes of peace.
But if it’s crafts that are keeping you sane, go over to my Instrucables page and find out how to turn junk into something useable, wearable and/or very pretty.
See you next week with another craft tutorial and another free craft printable!
And next week I will be giving you an image in three sizes to make a beautiful pendant with a sun moon and stars theme. So subscribe to this blog now if you don’t want to miss out on your free printables.
This is how to subscribe
And if you really want to keep up, go over to my YouTube channel and subscribe there too.
Oh and I hope you enjoy my art chillout video (there is a clue in the video to next Saturday’s free printable😍), can you find it?
Watch my latest YouTube tutorial and then get my free printable to make this pretty bracelet.
Paper beads still remain my favourite go-to craft of all time.
And with this ongoing crisis, which we all hope will end soon 🤞, I am really enjoying sharing some of my printable paper bead designs for free. My latest YouTube tutorial shows how I used my design, seen below, to make the double strand bracelet above.
You can make this with my free download printable – details below.
DIY BoHo bracelet – A lovely bright cuff bracelet for you to make using my free printable design.
I’m back this week with another craft tutorial on my YouTube channel and this week, I’ve brought you a chunky cuff design in warm colors with a Mexican influence.
Paper beads made with my free designer template in warm colors with a Mexican feel.
This DIY BoHo bracelet is a stark contrast from the delicate blue and white ceramic look of last week’s project.
Faux china beads made using last weeks free download.
The full tutorial showing how to make this week’s bracelet is over on my YouTube channel where you can get the password to unlock your free DIY BoHo bracelet printable design.
Get this free printable
To make this beautiful bracelet
Why am I giving away a free printable design each week at the moment?
Well, so many people are stranded at home without access to craft supplies right now and so I began my Crafting In a Crisis series of videos that I am uploading each week.
This week is Crafting In a Crisis No 5 and as with the other free downloads, you need to watch the video over on YouTube using the links further up this page and get the password from the video.
In the video I show you yet another way to easily make paper beads without a proper bead tool.
Once you have watched the video and you have the password, you need to come back here and click this link.
That will take you to the password protected page where the free printable is. And all you have to do is use the password I gave during the video and choose between US Letter size and UK A4 size. That’s it!
What can you do in return?
All I ask is that you subscribe to this blog. And that is optional. You don’t have to and you can still get any free downloads that I have previously offered to non-subscribers in the past but it would make me very happy to have you here.
Also, at some point soon, I am going to start making my future free printables available to subscribers only.
So subscribe today by clicking on the subscribe button in the menu on the left – see video below. You may have to click the gear icon on the left to get the menu to appear if you are reading this on a held-held device.
It would be lovely to have you subscribe to my YouTube channel as well when you go over to watch the tutorial that goes with this blog post.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope see you next week with a tutorial on how to make faux wooden beads with another free printable I will be uploading.
And for those who don’t have access to the 1mm elastic like I use in my videos for stringing the beads…
…I have a special tip in next week’s tutorial for how you can still make your stretchy bracelet without elastic. Yes really! I’ve been racking my brains for how it couild be done while people can’t get out to buy craft supplies and I have cracked it!
You won’t believe how easy it is!
Hope you enjoy using your DIY Boho bracelet template – see you next week.
Faux willow pattern china beads made from another one of my free printable designs available on this website.
As you may know, I have been making some of my free printable designs available to my YouTube viewers.
Most people worldwide are confined to home at the moment and many may not be finding it easy to get hold of craft supplies.
So that is why I have been trying to think of tutorials using stuff from around the house, such as kitchen towel, like I used in this tutorial to make the bracelet below.
The bracelet I made using kitchen towel
This week I have been working on some new free printable designs but then I thought of one I designed a few years back.
I will be making the new one available as time goes on but for my YouTube tutorial this week, I have made this pretty faux willow pattern china bead bracelet.
This is the design I use in my face to face workshops with people who are new to making paper beads.
Faux china beads with a willow pattern look.
As with my other free printable designs, my YouTube viewers can download the template for this and follow the tutorial to make this bracelet.
My finished bracelet
All you have to do to get access to the download is watch the video here on YouTube and listen for the password. It is different to last weeks password because it is on a different page. Once you have the password, click here to go to the download page for that design and use the password. Simple!
What if you don’t have all the other things I used to make my bracelet?
As long as you have a printer, a paper shredder (or scissors and a ruler) a bamboo skewer or toothpick and a glue stick, you can make these beads.
If you don’t have the tiny silver beads, craft eyelets or elastic, you can roll lots of beads and then make your bracelets when the craft stores are open again.
I’m not sure if US viewers are able to order on Amazon at the moment but here in the UK we are.
So I will be stocking my Amazon shops for the other things you need in case you are able to order right now.
This week in my YouTube tutorial, I bring you a third idea and show you how to make a simple homemade paper bead rolling tool that is good enough.
The homemade bead tool is a return to the 70s for me when I was making paper beads this way using cocktail sticks (toothpicks).
This method is fine for making paper beads when you can’t get a proper paper bead tool.
I developed the paper bead rolling tool that I sell online for people who are making lots of beads all the time and need something that is quick and easy to use.
But if you aren’t rolling hundreds of beads, my homemade version will be fine for you.
Have fun everyone and I hope you are enjoying my free printable downloads as much as I enjoy creating them – see you next time with my next tutorial and maybe some more free printable designs!
This is what you can make using my latest designer template for paper beads. For a short while, you will find the template on my free printables page but grab it quickly as it will soon be in my Etsy shop where you will have to pay for it.
Just a very quick post to go with my latest YouTube video which is about how to make this pretty, colorful bracelet from paper beads.
Paper Beads are ‘my thing’ and for many years I have been manufacturing and selling tools and templates to make it easier to make lots of paper beads.
But while this current crisis is still keeping us in our homes, I am devising ways for people to make paper beads without a bead rolling tool.
That’s in case you can’t get hold of one right now.
My latest video shows the second way I have found to do this, the first way can be seen here.
And to help out those who are new to paper beads, I have made a new designer template for you.
All you need to do is download it and print it out on thin glossy paper.
You don’t need to varnish the paper beads if you print onto glossy paper.
For a limited time, I am offering the template free on this website on my free downloads page. (Password needed, see below)
However, there is a catch!
You will have to go over to my YouTube channel and watch my tutorial on how to use it, to get the password for that page. You will see the password somewhere in the tutorial.
Sorry this is a very brief post – I am late publishing tonight!
Thanks for stopping by and please leave me a comment on over on my channel.
Have fun with your paper beads and see you next week!
