How to make beads from sand?

Such beads from sand are called Bahamian. It is for sure not known whether suchThe beads started to be made in the Bahamas, but it seems logical. After all, it's easiest to make beads from those materials that are at hand: something of what, and sand on Bahamian beaches abound.

To make beads from sand, we need these materials and tools:

• 
  2 cups of sand</ li>
• 
  2 glasses of papier-mache (pulp)
• 
  adhesive (for example, PVA)
• 
  acrylic paints
• 
  clear acrylic lacquer
• 
  vegetable oil
• 
  Gauze or sieve for sand sifting
• 
  glass container
• 
  large sewing needle or thin awl

Sand for making beads you can buy at a hardware store or typeon the beach / in the sandbox. It should be fine-grained and as homogeneous as possible. Sand sift through gauze or sieve and thoroughly washed. Rinse the sand, wrapped in a piece of cloth, a thin layer of poured on a flat surface and dried in the sun.

Pour dry sand and papier-mache into a clean and dry glass container. Lubricate hands with vegetable oil, add a little glue to the mixture and mix a lot of papier-mache and sand until the consistency of the test. If the mixture begins to stick to your hands, you need to rinse them and apply them again with vegetable oil.

Tinting the mixture with acrylic paints. If you want to make beads from beads of differentcolors, you can divide the mixture into several parts and each color it with a separate color. By the way, acrylics dry quickly enough, so do not hesitate adding them to the mixture. You can not add paint, and then paint each bead separately.

From the resulting "test" we make beads of different sizes (you can even experiment with beads of different shapes, but start better with the usual round ones). They need to be decomposed on a flat surface and leave to dry overnight at room temperature. To put on the battery or under a lamp or to cover them it is not necessary. In a place that is too warm, they can crack, and if covered, they will dry too long.

Do not make the beads too thick - they just do not have time to dry out in eight hours. If the house has small children or pets, you need to make sure that the beads are dry beyond their reach - they can swallow them.

The dried beads must be strong enough that you do not accidentally crush them with your fingers. In the middle of each bead make a hole with a thin silk or sewing needle. We cover beads with transparent acrylic lacquer for shine (in principle, you can not do this).

When the beads are dry, you can finally make the beads, strung beads on a string. Here you can "play" with the color, shape and size of the beads: alternate small and large, round and oblong, thread in a certain order beads of all colors of the rainbow.

Such beads with their own hands can be do with the child - the process of their manufacture is simple, and modelingbeads from the plastic mass perfectly develops the fine motor skills of the hands. But with a child too small, it is better not to engage in this kind of needlework: it should be old enough to understand that beads can not be pulled into the mouth. And do not trust the child himself to make punctures in the beads.

As you can see, making beads from sand is quite real and quite easy. A little imagination and quite a bit of effort - and you are ready unusual accessory, which can distinguish you from the crowd.