MoW Security Envelopes - A Post Scriptum: Make your own beads

The Queen of Crafts has a short attention span. And therefore my mind wandered away from the security envelopes rather quickly after making a few projects with them. On the other hand, the Queen of Crafts doesn't like unfinished business. And therefore you are now getting a post scriptum - another security envelope project.

I used the security envelope paper to make my own beads. The project couldn't be any simpler:

First, cut your envelopes into strips of paper. If you want slightly rounded beads, make sure you cut the strips slightly diagonally. I used a paper cutter/guillotine for quick and straight cutting.

Then roll up the paper strip. The start is a bit fiddly, but you will soon get the hang of it. Start with the slightly wider end of the strip. Hold the bead between thumb and index finger and pull the paper a bit so that the paper is rolled really tightly. Fasten the end of the paper with a little bit of glue. I tried spray mount as well as pritt stick - both glues work equally well.

That's it - you have made a bead. Depending on how wide you cut your paper strips and how long you left the strip, you get longer or "fatter" beads. I tried to make round beads but never could get the paper the right shape for that... However, I do like those barrel-shaped beads. If you want the beads to last a bit, you should give them a coat or two of clear varnish. In the absence of proper varnish I used nail varnish again.

Once I had made a number of beads from different security envelopes, I decided to turn them into a necklace. I took a length of black string and threaded it through a sewing needle for easier threading. I had sorted my beads according to size, so it was very easy to thread them onto the string in a nice pattern. I put small plastic beads in between them for a bit of extra sparkle.

It was not that quick a project - making each individual bead takes a bit of time and you will need at least 30 for a nice long necklace. This is mine:


This might actually be a nice little project for a child. You could use paper that you like - an ad torn from a magazine and cut into strips will be colourful and nice. Or use plain paper and paint the beads afterwards.