Make Sparkly Paper Beads From Old Magazine Pages

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Square feature photo of a finished bracelet made with handmade paper beads.

Learn how to make paper beads using simple supplies you likely already have on hand. This easy craft is great for making jewelry to wear, gift, or sell.

Square photo of the supplies used to make sparkly paper beads. They include a ruler, scissors, a pencil, wood skewers, a glue stick, stretch cord to make bracelets, clear sparkly nail polish, and colorful magazine pages.
Supplies

Supplies

  • Colorful magazines, junk mail, or any colorful papers
  • A glue stick
  • Skewers
  • A bowl or container to hold skewers while beads dry
  • Clear nail polish (with or without glitter)
  • Clip or tape
  • Scissors
  • Ruler or straight-edge
  • Small glass or metal beads (optional)
  • Elastic cording to make bracelets

How to Make Paper Beads – 4 Easy Steps

STEP 1:

Start by cutting a long triangle from paper. The length and width of the triangle will determine the size and shape of your bead, so feel free to experiment.

For reference, I made two bead styles: a shorter barrel bead using a ½” × 6¾” triangle, and a longer bead using a ¾” × 9¾” triangle.

Two long paper triangles cut from a glossy colorful magazine page with the exact dimensions and corresponding bead size. There is a long bead made from a .75" x 9.75" triangle and a smaller barrel sized bead that is make from a .5" x 6.75" triangle of paper. Ruler also at the bottom from reference.
Two different bead sizes.

Cut out one of the triangles and use it as a template to make more beads of the same size.

Photo of one long triangle shaped paper being used as a template to make more to get the same paper bead shape and size to make multiple same shaped beads for a bracelet.
Use your paper cutout as a template.

STEP 2:

Roll the paper onto the center of a skewer. Wide end first. Roll a couple of times to get your bead started without any glue. Doing this will keep the bead from sticking to the skewer later. Then coat well with a glue stick and finish rolling the paper tightly around the skewer.

Note: Don’t worry about being perfect when cutting and gluing. Each bead will be slightly different!

Using a skewer and starting to roll the widest end of paper without any glue to avoid sticking to the skewer later.

STEP 3:

To finish, coat the outside of each bead with clear nail polish while it’s still on the skewer. I’m using clear nail polish with glitter.

Closeup photo of an open jar or clear sparkle nail polish and bead coated on a skewer and drying.

Let dry completely before going to the next step.

Photo of multiple colorful paper beads drying on a skewers.
Beads drying

STEP 4:

To make bracelets, cut a piece of elastic cording that is about 2 inches bigger than your wrist. This will give you enough cord to knot your bracelet when you finish adding beads. String your beads and add small glass or metal beads in between each paper bead (optional). Knot the ends.

Vertical image of sparkly paper beads in a finished bracelet and on skewers drying. Please save this image to your Pinterest craft boards to come back to this craft later!
Star divider used has two hand drawn lines with a star in the center, used as a content break and signals new or different content below. This doodle style illustration is in a medium charcoal gray.

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