Free Craft Project

Pasta and Bead Jewelry

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Materials

• homemade clay (recipe below)
  
• macaroni with hole (i.e. stars, elbow)
  
• 1/4" wood dowel (or very thin pencil or pen)
  
• yarn or ribbon
  
• pipe cleaner
  
• poster paint
  
• paint brush
  

Homemade Clay:

• 1 cup salt
  
• 2 cup flour
  
• 1 cup water
  

Mix dry ingredients and then gradually add water. Knead dough thoroughly with hands.


Bead Instructions:

Form small balls by rolling pieces of clay between palms. Some beads can be left round, others can be flattened slightly, or even formed into diamond or star shapes. Let the kids decide!

Push dowel (or thin pencil, pen) through the center of all beads.

The beads can dry on their own, or they can be baked in the oven at 300 degrees for 15-30 minutes, depending on the size of the clay object.

Once the beads are ready, the kids can paint them however they wish. If the kids are old enough, they can add glitter to the wet paint. Then, when the paint is thoroughly dry, they can cover the beads with clear nail polish.

Bend about a half inch of one end of the pipe cleaner back against itself. Then hook one end of a length of yarn or ribbon into the tight fold. Now they have a large "needle and thread" to string beads and pasta easily, alternating the two however they want.

Note: If the kids aren't thrilled with jewelry, you can always let them use the clay to make all sorts of critters and unusual objects!