Craft your own beaded thong!

A beaded book thong that is!  At our last Girl Scout meeting I had my troop make these adorable beaded book thongs for their moms.

They would make great little gifts for your kids to give to friends, teachers or family members.  The girls in my troop are 10 and the majority of them could accomplish the task without any help.

So here is what you need to make your own beaded book thong:

Buy any type of strecthy elastic jewelry string, then pick out some cool beads.  

We used the thicker silver elastic because I think it adds a little more bling, but since it is thick it makes it harder to find beads with holes big enough to fit on the elastic.  

You will need about 16 to 18 inches of elastic.  I use extra incase the end gets frayed you can cut it off (that applies to the silver stuff).  

Start by placing your first bead in the middle of the elastic.  Tie knots on either side of the center bead to hold it in place.  Try to make the knot as close as possible to keep the bead from sliding all over.  If the kids can't get the knot snug this is a case of close works.  As I told the girls, the knots stretches away from the beads once it goes on the book.

Next use a few more beads or findings in a design of your choosing on both sides of the middle bead.  Use knots to keep the beads separated.  Or you could just make one long line of beads.  Again.....your choice!

However, only string beads on about 6 inches of the string.  If you go too much further then the beads will end up inside of the book. 

Finish by tying the elastic in a circle (like a necklace).  It is now ready to slip over a book.

The measurements I use work well for the larger sized paper backs.  You can adjust the size depending on what type of book you want to make it for, but this size seems to work well for most books.

The finished circle will be about 7 inches across (if that makes sense?).

Have fun and happy crafting!