Discovering Creativity with Crafts

Discovering Creativity with Crafts

Bead a Better Buddy
From Hot off the Press

Beady Buddies are cute critters made from pony beads, which look great on backpacks, keychains, walls or windows. All of them are woven in the same easy way. Just change the colors and number of beads to produce all these different looks. Follow the colored diagrams to make the projects in this book, then invent Buddies of your own. Note: Buddies are fun to work on with a friend — and a second pair of hands is often helpful when you are working with long lengths of lacing.

Supplies

pony beads: 64 green, 34 mint green,
5 red, 2 black
one 1¼” gold split ring or key ring
4 yards of 1.5mm green satin cord
tacky craft glue

Directions:

Lark’s Head Knot: Use this knot to attach the cord to a ring or lanyard before you begin to weave the design. Fold the cord in half and put the loop through the ring, back to front.

A. Push the tails of the cord through the loop, in front of the ring, bottom to top.

B. Pull the tails down and tighten the knot.

Weaving: Separate the cord ends. String all the beads for the first row onto the left cord end (shown in black).

C.Then push the right cord end (shown in gray) through all the beads in the opposite direction. (Hint: Dip satin cord in varnish or nail polish remover and let it dry to stiffen the cord end—it will be easier to push through the row.) Pull both cord ends to tighten the beads, bringing them up close to the ring. Keep stringing rows of beads following the diagram. Each row of beads will have two cords running through it in opposite directions.

D. Finishing: After the last row is beaded, hold the cord ends together. Tie them in a square knot as shown. Put a dot of tacky craft glue on the knot to keep it from slipping.

A.B.

C.D.

1. Use a lark’s head knot (see instructions above) to attach the cord center to the ring. Follow the diagram to weave the first eleven rows of beads. Legs: String three green, then three mint beads on each cord. Bring the cord back through the last two green beads in the opposite direction. Bring the cord through the first leg bead, then continue to weave the six body rows. Make the back legs in the same way, then continue to weave the tail.

2. Knot the cords together below the tail and secure with glue. String a mint, a green and a mint bead on each cord. Knot one 2” down, the other 3” down, to keep the beads from sliding off. Trim the cords to 9” to 10” long.