Craft Gossip

Independent craft blog since 2007

Fun to String Beads!

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alex ceramic beads

hearthsong craft

This wonderful craft kit is sure to keep your little one’s hands busy for hours! It’s called Paper Bead Fun from Hearthsong. These are large (3/4″ diameter) paper mache beads in bright solid colors Your child can decorated them however they wish with the five color markers that are included in the kit. After they have decorated the beads, they can then string them and create funky cool jewelry. This craft is recommended for children ages 5 and up because the beads could be a choking hazard.

 

If you are shopping around for an older child try Paint Ceramic Beads by Alex Toys. It is an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winner. It comes with two large heart ceramic pendants, 16 square ceramic beads, 10 other shaped ceramic beads, seed beads, paints, brushes and cord. Because you do need to bake the pieces once you have painted them, adult supervision is required.

 

And Mom, if she makes something for you, please wear it with pride. We want to encourage our children to be creative and to enjoy themselves, even if that means wearing a chunky bracelet with smiley faces all over it. 🙂

 

Read These Next

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Cross Stitch Ice Cream and Frozen Treats

Summer is the time for sweet treats, whether eating them or stitching them. This collection of patterns is full of designs that are good enough to eat. Almost. 

This year of ice creams from Simone Balman Art is lots of fun, and you could also stitch up these treats individually if you’d rather. The full piece is 210 by 300 stitches, though it’s not full coverage. It uses 25 colors and comes out to 13.6 by 20.1 inches, or 34.5 by 51.2 cm, as shown on 14 count fabric. 

These mini Popsicles from Mariana Gonclaves ART as super sweet and quick to stitch. These would also be a fun border to another summer project. The full design is 43 by 46 stitches, which is 3.1 by 3.3 inches, or 7.8 by 8.3 cm, on 14 count fabric. 

Sam X Stitch has this fun sweet treat sampler, which again would be fun to stitch as individual pieces (maybe on napkins?). In all it calls for 18 colors and measures 153 by 153 stitches. That comes out to 10.93 inches or 27.75 cm on 14 count fabric. 

Another great sampler is this one with ice cream and other sweet treats from Cute Patterns by Maria. At 119 by 132 stitches total, working the full pattern would be about 8.6 by 9.4 inches, or 22 by 24 cm on 14 count fabric, and it uses 33 colors. You can also stitch individual designs, which range in height from 35 to 45 stitches, and in width from 11 to 28. 

This collection of four sundae patterns from Stichrovia would be fun to make for a kitchen or a teen’s room. Each pattern is around 40 by 50 stitches, so they should fit in a four or five inch hoop if worked on 14 count fabric. 

Or stitch up one of the treats from Stitch Chart Studio‘s collection of seven ice cream cross stitch patterns. These range in size and in number of colors needed, but most would fit in a five or six in hoop (and one in a four inch hoop).