You’re probably sick of my junk mail crafting! If so, just imagine I’m making these with wrapping paper or hand painted papers.

There are numerous tutorials and templates for making paper beads out there (Google is your friend), so I’m not going to waffle on too much about them, my only tips are:

1. Remember the thickness of your paper greatly influences the thickness of your beads. If you are using junk mail you might want to glue two sheets together or paste another piece of paper to the back.

2. You can use any type of glue here, but I found a glue stick was the simplest, or a clear #450 or fabric glue. Some tutorials recommend a coat of Mod Podge or spray varnish over the top which I didn’t do, but would agree would make them more durable.

I used a Priceline Pharmacy catalogue for these beads, as I liked the dominant pink, black and white colours. Other junk mail will give more random colours, or as I suggested earlier, you could choose a wrapping paper or something instead.

Simply cut the paper into long thin triangles, the thicker end being the length of the finished bead, the length of the triangular strip will affect the fatness of the bead (along with paper thickness). Then apply glue to the back of the paper, and roll it around a skewer from the thick end down to the thin.

Make as many as you need for the jewellery project you have in mind.

I decided to space the stripy junk mail beads with small black beads.

Then it was a case of stringing them onto some black leather cord and knotting between each bead!