I really love looking at and buying beads and making jewelry, but I hadn’t really ever thought of making beads myself. In Bead Making Lab, they make beads with all kinds of materials, from polymer clay to origami paper and lots of other materials. I’ve looked through the whole book, which includes clear instructions and photos of the process and I’ve found several I really want to try.

I love the tiny bluebirds of happiness made out of air drying clay. I want to make a whole bowl just filled with these! Since I have a lot of origami paper, my daughter and I are trying out the deco beads, which have been really easy (and fun!) to make. I also really like the wire beads and have been practicing those, too. I enjoyed the brief interviews with bead artists where they answer questions like where they get their ideas from.