I've been a subscriber to Better Homes and Garden (BHG) magazine my entire adult life. And before that, I grew up with the magazine arriving every month to our home. I loved looking at the beautiful homes pictured and the lovely gardens featured. There were lots of delicious recipes that my sister and I often tried to make, lol! I also love the fact that the magazine would usually have a simple DIY craft included in most of the issues! Imagine my excitement when I saw the cover of the January/February 2024 Better Homes and Garden magazine! Just take a look!
It's all about beaded flowers and . . .
the simple (and sometimes not so simple) techniques on how to make them!
Welcome to our Creative Craft Hop hosted by Sara @Birdz of a Feather! We are so glad you're here! If you're coming over from Donna @Modern on Monticello, welcome! Wasn't Donna's Pom Pom Pillow adorable! Please don't forget to check out all of the stunning creative craft projects listed at the bottom of my post!
Now back to my excitement about Beaded Flowers! When I looked at the cover of the BHG magazine and read the article, I wanted to know more. I discovered that this type of beading is called French Beading, which is really an ancient beading technique. However, nothing in the article mentioned that what they were talking about was actually French Beading!
Anyway, I was excited to try some of the techniques described and make a few beaded flowers! I had acquired lots of seed beads when A C Moore went out of business and was excited to finally be able to use some of them! The only problem I had was the fact that this technique called for size 11/0 beads which were much smaller than the 6/0 beads I had in my stash! But that didn't stop me! In fact, to make these beaded flowers I'm using what I already had on hand including a bead spinner I had forgotten about! I have no idea what I made with it. I guess I was trying to make something since one of the bowls that came with it was full of beads, and the two curved needles included were no where in sight! I'm really glad I found that. I don't want to think about threading all those beads onto wire by hand!
Materials Used:
- Seed Beads 6/0
- Wire - 26 gauge
- Bead Spinner
- Wire Cutter
- Ruler
- Nylon Jaw Pliers
- Needle Nose Pliers
- Wood Skewer Stick
- Stem Wire 16 gauge
- Floral Tape
I decided to make a continuous loop beaded flower - which means making the petals or leaves on the same length of wire. one loop is one petal. So the first thing I needed to do was to string all the beads I thought I would need on 26 gauge wire - while leaving the wire attached to the spool.
It didn't take me long to thread all these beads onto the wire- about 1 and a half yards of beads. It's best to have more beads on the wire than you actually need!
Knot the end of the wire so the beads won't fall off.
To decide how many beads are in a petal, you can either count the beads or use a ruler. I decided it would be easier to use a ruler. I wanted my petals to be four inches. So I left about four inches of wire from the end knot and slid the 4" of beads after measuring toward the 4" space of wire.
Create a loop with the beads, twisting the wire three times to secure.
Leave a small space on the wire and measure out another four inches of beads.
Create another loop, twisting three times again.
Continue leaving a small space between loops and measuring out four inches of beads. forming a loop until . . .
you have the desire number of petals. In this case, five petals. Then cut the wire, leaving a four inch tail. Cross the tail wire over the first wire creating a circle of petals, twisting the two wires together into a tail.
I wanted to make a layered continuous loop flower, which would make the flower look fuller. That meant decreasing the number of beads in each petal for each additional layer. I chose to make three layers of petals. So for the next layer, I measured out three inches of beads for each petal and repeated the steps I used with the first layer. Once the second layer was complete, insert the tail into the middle of the first layer twisting both tails together.
For the third layer, measured out two inches of beads for each of the five petals, leaving a small space between each loop and repeating the same steps as before. Stacking all three finished layers together and twisting the wire tails together to secure.
Complete the look by adding beads to a four inch wire, wrapping the length of beads around a wooden skewer. Then remove to twist the two wire ends together and . . .
inserting the wire ends into the center of the flower layers for a decorative look.
Finish the flower by inserting a stem wire into the back of the flower and wrapping the bead wire around the stem wire.
To make the leaves, use the bead spinner to string a few feet of beads onto wire, then make a small loop so the beads won't fall off.
Count out four beads for the basic row from the spool and slide them toward the end of the wire. Leave a small length of wire above. Make a loop in the wire and twist a few times.
The bottom wire will become the leaf's stem wire which will attach to the flower stem.
Move more beads down the working wire slightly longer that the basic count up from the spool and wrap around until they are beside the basic row toward the top wire.
Wrapping the working wire with beads around the basic wire from back to front.
Repeat bringing up more beads for each row until the desired number of rows for the leaves.
Cut the basic wire a little above the top bead and bend the short piece to the back of the petal.
Close the loop and twisting the wires together. These will become the stem.
Then add the leaf to the flower stem.
Have fun joining addition flowers and leaves to the stem.
Use floral tape to wrap and cover the wires and stem wire.
Here's a different floral look using the same basic techniques!
I hope you are inspired to try making a few beaded flowers! It is truly a fun craft! Up next is Jenna from The Painted Apron sharing her beautiful 3D Flower Art Canvas! Jenna's creativity is amazing! And don't forget to check out all of the stunning creative craft projects listed below.
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