Papers to Use to Make Beads

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Glues and Finishes for the Beads

White Glue

I use just plain white glue to secure the end of the rolled up strip of paper. Place a dab of glue on a scrap piece of paper and use a toothpick to apply the glue onto the inside of the end of the paper strip before taking the bead off of the rolling pin.

Shiny Finishes

I use 2 coats Mod Podge and 1 coat Future Floor Finish to glaze my beads. Use a soft bristle children's craft brush and apply 2 coats of Gloss Mod Podge to each bead. I then put some of the floor finish into a small plastic container and with the bead on a toothpick, I dip the bead into the finish. Then I stick the toothpick with the bead on it into a drying block.

Nail Polish

You can use any type of nail polish you like. I have tried a base coat/top coat clear nail polish. I have found this is the best finish for the final coat over the mod podge but it is a bit expensive. I only put one coat over the mod podge. I brush my beads in the mod podge, allow to dry then brush on the nail polish. The way I brush the ModPodge on them so they won't stick to the tooth pick is I brush them on the sides and the top. Then after that is dry. I turn the bead over and put it back on the pick and brush the top again, which does not have any ModPodge on it and the sides one more time. I only need to do this with the tube beads since they have flat ends. The tapered beads I just need to brush the ModPodge on being careful not to get the Mod Podge onto the pick. When you brush on the nail polish, for the tube beads, you will need to brush the end away from the pick, then the sides. When that dries, turn the bead over and brush the other end of the bead.

Acrylic Paint

If you make your beads out of scrap paper and want to make them look different, you could paint them with any acrylic paint which dries quickly. I haven't tried this yet but the possibilities for how they would look are only limited by your imagination.

Liquid Polymer Clay

This would have to be brushed on and then you would bake the beads in the oven. I haven't tried this yet.

Candle and Bees Wax

This is the way it was done in the old days. If you use bees wax, you would end up with a yellowish finish. I personally would prefer to use the mod podge and Ceramcoat varnish for my beads.

Glue and Water

I have tried this method an found that the colors ran so I do not recommend this unless you are coating magazine pages. Use 3 parts glue to 1 part water to just thin the glue down a little bit. You can then dip the beads into the mixture, shake them off then allow to dry completely. Do this at least 5 times to get good coverage.

Spray Varnish

I would only do this outside and only on beads which are made from magazines, giftwrap or brown paper bags since the colors would tend to run if you use too much at one time. The surface tends to be a little bumpy so you would want to sand your beads between coats.