How about a beaded doll tutorial?

A Bead Doll Tutorial

I made this little bead doll in 2008 while I was recuperating from my breast cancer/mastectomy. Don't look too close, I'm still in my Jammies. Of course, this was after I was able to get out of bed and move my arms again.

I remember the cute beaded doll necklaces that were the rage when I was a little girl in elementary school back in the 60's. I wish I still had mine. They sold at M.E.Moses for $1.00 to $2.00. I was going to try to make one like that but I found one similar to this in the gift shop at the hospital and bought it so I could try to make it. Mine isn't as perfect as theirs but it was fun making it and kept me busy since I was stuck in the house and not very mobile.

Tools you will need.

Needle nose pliers,

wire cutters,

flexible but stiff enough to hold it's shape wire,

various size beads,

charm. 

Optional: bead stringer spinner. 

Cut 3 lengths of wire about 12" each depending on the size of doll

you want to make and depending on the beads.

With the needle nose pliers, wrap about 3 times around the tip

of one end. this will be the feet and hold the beads on the wire.

Choose the beads you want to use for the legs and feet.

A teardrop works well for the feet.

Long beads for the legs. Have fun with it.

Repeat for both legs. When at the right length,

Slide a larger bead onto both wires for the hips.

It will need to have a larger hole to fit both wires through.

Add another bead for the upper body.

Take a second wire, find the center and wrap around the body wire for the arms.

Thread beads on each for the hands and arms.

 

Another teardrop for the hands then pull back through all the arms beads back to the center.

Add a charm to one of the hands if you like.

Handbag, picture frame, heart, etc.

This is how it looks up to now.

The last bead on the arm only goes through the wire once to create an end.

Use small enough wire that flexible enough to pull back through.

Pull it tight against the body.

You will now have 4 wires at the top.

Choose a larger bead for the head and put all 4 wires through the hole.

On some I added another wire for 6 strands of hair.

String seed beads on each wire. 

Clip the ends to desired length.

 Wrap the ends around the needle nose pliers about 3 times.

Clip close to spiral.

You can also string the beads with a bead spinner.

Pour some seed beads into the bowl.

Place the end of the wire into the bowl and spin.

The beads will slide up the wire.

Finish off each end.

 Squeeze the circles together if needed.

You are now ready to curl the hair.

I used a thin metal rod to wrap the beaded wire around.

Spread out as desired.

 Glue a pin back on the doll. You can make a loop for a necklace.

Have fun with it. Be creative.

 

Lot's of design possibilities.

 Some others dolls I made.

Hope you enjoy making the bead dolls and have some fun designing.

I would love to see your creations.

Please leave a comment with a link to share your design.

Obsessions+ Vacation, Photography, and Fun

Wow, it's been too long since I have blogged. So much for my New Year's resolution. But I'm back.

We had an awesome Spring Break vacation with Autumn and the grand kids. We went to Fairfield Bay in Arkansas. I got a little carsick on the way so no more playing with my new Kindle Fire anniversary present while on the road. I know better but we hadn't had a chance to get acquainted yet. Our anniversary was March 9th and we left March 10th. Spent a lot of time on vacation playing games on it. Okay, too much time but it was still new.

I went crazy taking pictures of barns.

 I pinned a barn on Pinterest a while back and it had so many shares,

 my love of a good barn pic has become a bit of an obsession.

Long shots, close shots, lots of shots. And all of these were taken from the car going 50-70 mph. Mike was not a fan of pulling over on a mountain road with no shoulder and since we were going up and down hills and around scary curves, he wouldn't slow down afraid he couldn't get back up the hill. Talk about fun. I had the window down most of the time and Autumn was freezing in the back seat behind me. Sorry Autumn. (Not really.)

So now I am falling in love with photography all over again. And barns. Mike and I took lots of weddings and portrait pics in our younger days (as in, before kids). Made some extra money on the side and now with digital, it's an even better time to obsess. No expensive film and developing. Except, now I want an even better camera and lens. So, not so much cheaper. Obsess much?

Back to vacation, we were talked into buying a timeshare a while back so we have to use it to justify using our life savings. Well, not really our life savings but a good chunk of it. We had an awesome little cabin/quadplex right on the golf course. The 9th hole to be exact with the clubhouse right on the other side of the green. I never went over there but Mike walked over and checked it out. And he didn't even bring his clubs. Too much luggage with all six of us and the bags in one van.

The bread was for the birds.

This is the front.

The sliding glass door on the left was Mike's and my master bedroom

 and the door on the right went into the foyer

 and then into the living area and the girls bedroom.

We had really cool spa tub. A first for us. I was in Heaven.

It was big enough for all six of us.

We didn't test that but the girls enjoyed it, too.

We went to the Blanchard Springs Caverns at Mountain View. They have really nice personnel in the shops. They make their own necklaces to sell and they were beautiful. The guide and all the others were great, too. I didn't think I would be able go in the cave and walk the 1/2 mile (arthritis issues) but I took a chance and made it all the way through. I was very proud of myself. And it wasn't claustrophic at all. (Another fear) I did stress a little because it was so big and Paige is not an easy child to control at times. Drop offs, etc.

We started out high and went down steep slopes.

 Thank goodness there were handrails.

Want to know what it sounds like for a two year to scream inside a large cavern?

No you don't.

This is a natural phenomenon that is inside the cave and looks like a battleship.
I think it's pretty cool.

Fortunately we didn't have to go back up.

A bus picked us up at the end and drove us back up the mountain to the beginning.

Mike had fun taking pics of Paige while we shopped.

We ate at a quaint little diner in Mountain View

and bought some souvenirs in the little shops.

During the trip, we saw a puppet show,

fed the fish at the Marina,

went to Walmart more times than I can count,

bought a lot of stuff,

spent way too much money,

hung out at the cabin,

watched movies,

made a lot of bows,

cooked and ate good meals and had an all around great time.

On the way home I took more pictures and did not get car sick once.

I call that a Success.

Photo of the Day: Handicap Hand

Note to Self: Do NOT use a metal toilet paper holder as a handicap bar.

It breaks apart and tears skin.

Looks like I hit someone. I didn't, I promise.

So this is my handicapped hand.

Sunday night just before the kid's play I made a quick trip to the potty.

I didn't go in the handicap stall, the door was shut and I was in a hurry.

I held on to the tp holder but it didn't hold me.

It slipped apart and the metal piece jabbed into my hand.

The cut on the side (not shown) doesn't look quite a bad and bruised punture wound on top.

So I went to the doctor today for my 3 month checkup and I casually show my hand to him.

He was concerned it might be infected so I came out with a tetanus shot

(only had the one with diptheria and pertussis so no hooping cough for me)

and a new antibiotic to take 3 times a day, in case it's infected.

Sounds pretty intense to me. I think he was a little worried.

Then I remembered later, it is on the right hand, attached to the right arm which

I'm not supposed to even get BP taken on since I'm short a few lymph nodes.

Hmmm.

Guess it was a good idea to show him although my arm might argue with that.

So far it isn't sore though.

I learned years ago it hurts less if you relax your arm.

or hurts more if you tense up.

Works both ways.

The doc also told me to diet and exercise. I begged for diet pills but he's a no go on those.

At least my bloodwork was good.

So I'll be back to trying to lose weight with diet and exercise.

Too bad there's not a shot for that.

Ministry in Action

Our Soul Patrol kids at church are performing a play called A Love Ministry tomorrow night, February 12th, and I can't wait. We just got back from dress rehearsal and these children are awesome. We had some no shows but we've been working on it for so long the others kids filled in the parts pretty easily. Praying they all make it to the performance. I have some pretty awesome kids in this group. I'm sure it will work out. God won't let us fail when we are doing it for Him.

I wrote the play so it's a double dose of excitement here. To see the kids perform my work and the pleasure of working with them. They may not believe it the way I yell (in love) but I absolutely love working with them. They are so fun and exuberant (which is why I have to get loud) but I just want to hug them all. I really do love you guys. I mean it.

The weather man is predicting snow flurries. Seriously? We've had beautiful weather, barely even had to wear a coat this winter and just as we finally settle down to do our play, snow? Not happening. Again, God is watching over us. You hear that, devil?

I'm already thinking of what we can do next. This play has puppets, singings, Godzilla, break dancing, solo's and acting all from kids ages 5 to 12. How can we top that? We may have to take it on the road. Nursing homes, here we come.

Pinterest, Play, and Plans

I have been wondering around the Internet tonight. I have joined the Pinterest epidemic and still have yet to totally understand how people I don't know find my pins to repin. I don't mind, am even flattered a bit but where are the directions to this thing. I'm not totally addicted yet but I'm sure I will be soon. So far, I'm just having fun searching for pins to become so popular my inbox is overflowing with repins. My most popular yet is Red Barn with 44 repins. Cracks me up. It is a neat pic of a red barn though.

I've been looking at "organizing" pins and blogs. Funny how so many have the same pins. Like the world wide web isn't as big as we think it is. Still working on organizing our craft room. The tables are up but we still have some tweaking to add. Pictures will be coming soon. Right now I'm working on some sort of a CD holder for my stamps. Maybe a box. It'll be interesting to find out how I finally settle on something functional yet neat.

This weekend the kids at church, The Soul Patrol, will be performing a play I wrote for them and singing some really cute songs. I can't wait. One, for them to perform and two, for it to be over. We have been working so hard and long on it that they have it down pat (I hope). It is so cute and the kids are awesome. They seem to love it. The play is a fictional story about a group of kids doing ministry in a Soul Patrol . Praying all goes well and no one gets sick. Erin missed tonight with strep throat so meds should be kicking in before Sunday.

My own daughter and grandson in Kansas have strep so guess it's going around the country. My son-in-law in Kansas had an accident last night but praise the Lord he wasn't hurt and the truck still runs. Of course, that was after two tow trucks had to pull him off the guard rail. He hit some black ice and no one else was involved. Lacey sent pictures of snow, but I didn't even think about the road having an ice layer. Guess James didn't either.

So that's about it for Wednesday. I need to get to bed. Still not independently wealthy, so 6:30 am and work will be here sooner than I'd like. We always told our kids, find what you love and make a career out of it. I finally found a job that I love, okay really like. Let's just say it's the only one that I have stuck it out eleven years and plan to retire from someday. But what I really love is writing and crafting and I have yet make the money doing that as I make at my desk job. So, writing and crafting will be my fun ministry and hobby and Walmart will provide the money to fund my habit.

Find your talent, use your gifts, and God will bless you as you minister to others. Ministry In Action.