How to Make Hand Rolled Paper Bead Baskets
- 1). Cut magazine pages into strips about 1 inch wide and 6 inches long, then cut each strip in half diagonally to create two long triangles.
- 2). Roll each triangle tightly around the wooden skewer, starting at the base and aligning the triangle so that the point will end up at the center. Apply glue to the last 2 inches of the strip before you finish rolling it. Repeat to create about 100 beads. The number of beads you need will vary based on the intended size of the basket.
- 3). Cut eight 3-foot-long pieces of wire. Lay them out on a work surface with their ends aligned, then pinch and twist the center point of the wire bundle to hold them together. Divide the 16 ends into eight pairs and spread the pairs out at even intervals around the center point. Thread two beads, one after the other, onto each of the eight pairs, threading both wires in a pair through each bead together.
- 4). Place one bead in the gap between every two pairs of wires, orienting the beads to form a rough circle around the center point. Thread one wire from either side through each bead. For example, if the wires are arranged in pairs AB, CD, EF and so on, with each letter corresponding to one wire, thread wires B and C through one bead, D and E through the next, and so on. This will form the edge of the basket's base.
- 5). Bend the wires to point upward. Thread one bead vertically onto every pair of wires, then thread one wire from each side into a ring of horizontal beads as you did to create the edge of the basket's base. Thread one bead vertically onto each new pair of wires, and continue alternating between rings of vertical and horizontal beads until the basket reaches the desired height.
- 6). Finish the basket with a ring of horizontal beads. Wrap the end of each wire around and through a bead, then trim off the excess with wire cutters, leaving enough to wrap the wire around the bead again and tuck the end into the center of the bead.
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