Not too long ago I shared directions for decorating your pencils using ribbon… When I made those, I also made these bead wrap for pencils. This is another easy way to personalized and decorate your pencil for school or even office use.
All you need are a few craft supplies and about 15 minutes to make these bead-wrapped pencils. This would be a fun back-to-school project or could be a great classroom or youth group project.
Supplies Needed to Make A Beaded Pencil Wrap:
- Pencil
- 26 Gauge Craft Wire
(affiliate link)
- E Beads
— approx 4mm or 6/0 (affiliate link)
- Alphabet Beads
(affiliate link)
Tools Needed:
- Old Scissors or Wire Cutters
The hardest part of this entire project might simply be trying to figure out what message you want to spell out in beads. Of course, the simplest thing to spell out might be your name, or you can express yourself by using a short phrase, like my “I (heart) Friday.” The affiliate links I provide above are to beads that are similar to those that I used, but not the exact same beads.
You might also want to figure out what color e beads you want to use, and how many. Lay them out and see what kind of color combinations you prefer. I decided to go with a rainbow design.
Next, you need to cut a piece of wire. Make sure you use old scissors or a wire cutter. I cut a piece of wire that was about 8-inches long mainly because I figured that would be more than enough room. I think a good rule of thumb here is to cut your wire about twice as long as you think your design will be just o make sure you have plenty of room.
Bend down one of the ends of the wire. This is the make sure the beads stay on as you slide them onto the other end of the wire.
Now can can start stringing your beads onto the wire. Pay special attention to how you slide on the alphabet beads to make sure the letters face the correct way (I didn’t and had to take mine apart after if was all done)!
Once you have all of your beads in place, bend up the other end of the wire just enough to hold the beads in place — don’t trim it yet! You will trim it after you wrap it around your pencil because the beads are going to need a little room to shift.
Unbend the other end of the wire enough so you can push it into the eraser of the pencil. Now, carefully wrap the wire around the pencil, adjusting the beads as needed. Once you get the beads all wrapped around your pencil, fold up the end tight and them trim off any extra wire!
Enjoy!
Disclosure: As noted above, this post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure policy for details.
