Seed Bead Ornament

I've recently taken up the love of working with seed beads.  Through BeeSpa I have grown to love seed beads more and more because they are so fun to work with when creating just about anything.  This recent project was more of an experiment than anything else, but it came out better than I expected.  Here's how it's done.

What you'll need:
1,000+ glass seed beads of different colors.
 Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Hemp Twine, or wire.
Star design cut-out or plastic made ornament.

I went with three different colors, as shown.  I started with a star design I found in a magazine a few years back, but you can use any design you want.  A good start would be a design like this here.  You can even start with a plastic design similar to the one pictured HERE.  Save the image to your computer, adjust the size you want and then print.

Once your star is printed, or the design you picked, lay it on newspaper and cover with a sheet of wax paper.  Trace on top of the wax paper the exact image that's underneath.  There is no rush here so take your time.  The image itself can be a bit messy, but don't go too far off pattern.  Be sure and make a small loop of glue at the top to hang the pattern later.

Once the image has been traced in hot glue, allow to dry completely and remove from the wax paper.  You want to keep the wax paper underneath it while you set the beads, but you don't want it to stick to the paper anymore.  Once your image has been lifted from the wax paper, you can begin setting your seed beads to the design where you want them to be.  I worked in small areas at a time so that I didn't get too many seed beads in one area and they didn't attach completely.  Start from the outside in and lay a dab of glue in one area and apply your seed beads, as shown above. 

For the outer, orange circle, I applied a circle of glue and then sprinkled seed beads on top.  I went back over the area with more seed beads and smashed them into the circle of glue.  I repeated the same process for the blue and then again for the center orange, as well.  I allowed each section to dry completely before going onto another section, that way the colors didn't mix with each other.

Once your design is covered in the seed beads and has fully dried.  Attach a small twine of hemp string to the top and hand in a window.  You can even use this method for custom gift tags and name plates.  

Drawing with hot glue is fun, but takes practice.  You can get the same results with Puffy Paint, if you wanted to mix the colors up and do a contrast.  

Eco-Tip:  Save water when you flush the toilet.  If you don't have a water-saving toilet opt for for one in the future, or get the same water-saving satisfaction by placing a brick or large stone in your toilet's tank.  For this and other green tips visit, The Earth and Me Go Green.