Making beads

A favorite activity for the children at our house is making things with beads. Lately they were running low on beads (after making bunches of Geckos) and Mara was wondering when we were going to go to the hobby store. I wasn't planning on making a trip anytime soon and suggested she check into making beads, so she did a little online research and found a clay recipe.

Combine:

• 2 cups flour


• 1 cup salt


• 2 Tbsp oil


• 3/4 to 1 cup water


• And we also added food coloring

Mix together flour and salt. Add the oil and then slowly add the water and stir until you get a nice clay consistency. Then we divided it up and the kids worked the desired color into each lump. After that they worked at shaping them into beads (we used a toothpick to make a hole in the middle but next time we want to use something a bit bigger) and other fun objects. Along with the beads we made some "fruit" for the barbies and I helped Jonathan make some clay Geckos.
Our beads weren't perfect (at all!!) but we think with practise they will get better. The kids really enjoyed the whole process and hope to make some more when friends come over today.

After shaping them all carefully and putting them on a baking sheet they need to bake for around 1 hour at 250 degrees. Try not to make anything to thick as it will have a tendency to crack. You can paint your objects afterwards if you want too.

The "new bead" geckos look a little unique but they are well loved as they are totally homemade!

I thought this worked well for Thrifty Green Thursday as we were able to avoid a trip to the store, use what we had on hand and get by with no packaging. And we had a lot of fun in the process!