Teaching at VBS Creative Arts Camp

This week I taught 12 girls at Vacation Bible School how to make paper beads.  I promised the girls I would put their handy work on my blog.  The girls were all 4th-6th graders and we made paper beads as our art project.  To keep it simple (FOR ME) I cut scrapbook paper, comic book pages and magazines into one inch strips.  The girls used modge podge for glue and they rolled the paper around coffee stir sticks.  This made it easier for the girls to roll the beads and left a good hole for running the elastic thru the bead to assemble into cuff bracelets and necklaces.  Once the beads dried we coated the beads several times with the modge podge to help the beads be more durable.  The beads dried overnight on wax paper so they would not stick to anything.  I bought some plastic pony beads in case anyone was short on beads to complete their project and they look cute incorporated into the designs.  We used elastic from the fabric department to assemble the cuffs.  The cost of the project average $3.50 a girl and they all made 2-5 pieces.  The greatest cost was for the elastic as the cuff designed used two yards per cuff.

Cute cuffs made with rolled paper beads and pony beads

Some of the girls made necklaces to match their cuff bracelets

Our supplies and samples

 Top right shows a bead on the straw or stir stick, they came off the straws once dry,  Bottom right shows strips of paper ready to roll into beads.  I copied some funny pages and ran them thru the printer, noticed the print is only on the top of the page as you will not see the white at the bottom once the bead is rolled.  Top left is a sample of one of the girls work and the bottom left shows a cuff being tied off to complete the design.  I added a little modge podge to the knot to keep it tied securely.

Lots of fun colors

Top right shows a simple but cute pendant one of the girls made.

The diagram on the photo above was on the dry erase board to show the girls how the elastic needed to be threaded into their beads for the cuff design.  Basically the elastic enters from each end and crosses in the middle of the bead and comes out the opposite end it entered and repeat...and repeat again. It took about 16 beads to fit most of the girls. The girls had a great time, and I hope they all now have a new fun hobby to do.

Thanks, Diana, Alana, Macy, Chelsea, Elizabeth, Bre Anna, Jamie, Molly, Hanna, Callie, Favor and Maddie for a exciting week at CAC.  
Ms. Cindy