Spray & Pray: Wood Bead Finishing Part 2

Spray those beads!

Note to self: not meant for windy days.

Spray painting is my first suggested route to coating your beads. With practice the coat is even and you can cover a lot of beads in one spread.

And spray again... and then apply clear coat.

I say "one spread" but I really mean on one pass. As recommended you will want to pass the spray paint across the batch again once or twice later in the day. Very little is required by means of materials other than your beads, the cans of spray paint, and spatter surface. The toughest material to acquire (especially in New England!) is the weather ;-)

Con list for Spray & Pray:

• Color selection is limited by what's on the store shelf.
• A little hazardous - so either wait for suitable weather or you'll have to invest in ventilation and/or a spray booth. 
• Mess factor of 7 of 10: the nozzle should ALWAYS point away from you. ;-) Also, put down either a drop-cloth or newspaper... something you're willing to permanently mark with paint.
• To allow for dry time and multiple coats, this can be an afternoon project.

Pro for Spray & Pray:

• Paint coating itself is very fast. Even if you include the con of the drying time, you can get professional results with mere minutes of hands-on time.
• Clean even application.
• Pretty glossy sheen with minimal effort.

My paint tip: After the first spray layer dries (allow about an hour), turn all your beads to apply layer number two. This will ensure an even coat and catch any spots which may have been missed on the first pass.

I highly recommend the Spray and Pray method over others for large finishing projects. Again, try to blast the beads with a can of clear-coat to make them super-glossy and seal them from weather elements.

~Samantha

Dip & Drip: Wood Bead Finishing Part 1

Dipped painted wooden beads.

This is one of the messiest methods of bead painting. Hands down. It's not the prettiest of finishes either.

In theory, you can dip your beads in paint and it will evenly coat the surface. Nope. As you can see by the above picture, the coating can be gloppy and uneven. Boo!

To paint via Dip & Drip, you will need:

• Beads (of course!)
• Plastic sheet or waxed paper to rest your wet beads.
• Plastic zipper sandwich bags.
• Acrylic craft paint.
• Disposable chopsticks for drawing out the wet beads (recommended one pair/color mix).

Here's what I did:

Squirted a bit of acrylic paint into the sandwich baggie. Tossed in the beads and...

smooshed the paint around. I kept checking on the beads to be sure the paint was coating the whole bead. When the beads are completely coated, fish them out using a chopstick and set them onto your drying surface (ie. waxed paper).

The results were not 100% bleak: if you plan to try this out yourself (because the results are boarder-line cool), I recommend using just plain simple craft paints. They're a little more watered down because the thicker artists' acrylics are a bit too clingy and thick. Though the acrylics can be diluted with water, this will leave the beads with more of a stained effect... an uneven stained effect, but a stain look nonetheless. So basic craft paints - gloss or matte (if you opt for matte, remember to seal the beads after to prevent bleed especially if your beads will be used outside).

Pros to this method:

• You can finish a bunch of beads at once.
• It's just plain fun! :-)
• It's inexpensive.
• It's fast.

Cons to Dip and Drip:

• MESS-mess-MESS.
• Uneven finished effect.
• Paint can get trapped in the hole.

I will be re-visiting the Dip & Drip method another time. Coming soon: Spray Painted beads! Suggestions welcome, so feel free to leave them in the comments.

~Samantha

Shimmering

Parachute Cord 550 by Pepperell Braiding Company

Bracelet-ing: The Square Knot

When we first introduced the Parachute Cording to the craft market, we supplied stores with a simple bracelet pattern using the Square Knot. This became the staple of Paracord Bracelets. Below are some examples of the bracelets using Parachute cording in various thicknesses.

Parachute Cord 550 with Titanium buckle.

Parachute Cord 325 with a 10D buckle and skull bead.

Parachute Cord 95 - Pink and Purple with colorful 12mm buckle.

The Square Knot bracelet (a.k.a. the Cobra Stitch) is not limited to parachute cord. Using the pattern instructions anyone can make a variation whether it be adding beads, changing the buckle, or using a different type of cording.

Use macrame cording (2mm Amy) for a delicate look.

For glitz use Tie-Dye Holographic  Rexlace.

The basic Square Knot Bracelet instructions can be found here on the Macarame Super Store as a printable download. 

Change it up and show us what you come up with!

Rabbit! Rabbit!

Rexlace Bunny

May April bring you luck... and Easter candy ;-)

To make the bunny you'll need:

• Two 6 yard pieces of Rexlace plastic lacing
• One 6" - 8" chenille stem (pipe cleaner)
• Two wiggle eyes (medium or large size)
• Extra pipe cleaners (for whiskers) and bunny ears
• Pom-pom for tail
• Glue (white craft glue or hot glue for those responsible/adult supervised crafters)

You will need to master either the Basic Box Stitch or Round Stitch with your plastic lacing before trying this project. Below are diagrams for working around the pipe cleaner.

Working around a pipe cleaner - diagram directions.

Hoppy Happy Spring!