Why Should I Make Paper Beads?

Have you heard of paper beads?? Up until about 5 months ago, I had never even heard of this concept but now I'm in love with this craft!

Not much is know of the history of paper beads, but it's thought to date back to Victorian women rolling leftover scraps of wallpaper on knitting needles, waxing them with beeswax and then stringing the beads onto string or yarn to make room dividers and such.

Early in the 20th century, women started making jewelry from paper beads. While the paper and glazes may have changed, the idea remains the same. Rolling paper up, using some kind of varnish and then stringing the beads to make jewelry, purses, adorn cards, as room dividers, etc. 

Here is what I love about this craft.

1.  It's cheap. I have 4 kids, cheap crafts are about all I can manage at this time. The pic above shows everything I needed to make a TON of beads. (And scissors, which didn't make it into the pic for some reason.) 
2. It's versatile. You can use magazines, newspaper, cardstock, wrapping paper, newspaper, old comic books, scrapbook paper...pretty much anything you can think of. 
3. Paper bead making is extremely easy to learn. Getting perfectly rolled beads does take a bit of practice, but it's a VERY easy skill to pick up, my seven year old son rolls beads with me! So it's a good family craft. 
4. It's SO easy to make personalized gifts. I have a friend who just surprised everyone by eloping with her longtime boyfriend. I made her necklace and earring set made out of the newspaper from her hometown on the day she got married. How is that for tailor made?!

For a tutorial of how to make beads, check out this free tutorial. If, like me, you're a book learner and want to know more about the history of paper beads as well as get actual templates for making beads, check out this book:

This is a recent necklace I made out of the scrapbooking paper pictured above:

Do you have any paper bead creations? Share photos in the comments below, please! :)