Dec 5, 2008

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!

39 comments:

Shala said...

THAT is a cute idea. The next time I have my neices over I'm going to do this project and make them give me the gift. haha By the way, East of Eden is one of my favorite books. I read it a couple of years ago and think that it's time to read it again!

K said...

I think that this project DEFINITELY will brighten up East of Eden... what a sad story...

as for the beads! :-)
Fun!
Downside to homeschooling- you have to coordinate all of your own Christmas craft gifts... GRIN!

nikkicrumpet said...

Great idea...and I think the people who got this gift would love it! Ya gotta love book bling!

Valerie said...

How crafty! I love doing crafts when I have the time too. I am following up on my SITSmas visitors and wanted to stop by to say hello and thanks for commenting on my blog! I hope you have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

SOO cute! Thanks for the great idea ;)

Claremont First Ward said...

I got scared when I read the title and saw the picture! :) Thank goodness those are for books.

Jo-Jo said...

I know what you will find the next time you try to see what people googled to find your blog! BAHAHAHA!

Jenny and the Princess Peonies said...

Great idea! Stop by my blog - I have a giveaway you may be interested in...

Mom said...

Oh what a great idea and craft. My bookmarks are always falling out. I can't wait to try this, thanks for sharing!

Sandra said...

Completely doable and wonderful...
Now I have something useful and handmade to give my Hubby's nieces.

MaricrisG said...

That is a "sexy" Option for a book! Thanks for sharing the instructional :)

tommie said...

My first thought...."Dang, that might be a wee bit painful...."

Reading on....
"ohh....LOL"

Very cute idea!

jori-o said...

Love your post title!!! And what a great idea for teachers! Thanks bunches for the great tutorial! =)

Anonymous said...

lol, I wonder how many girls went home and told their parents that they made beaded thongs at girl scouts.

great idea, though!!

Sam_I_am said...

that's awesome. I have a Brownie troop and a Cadette, Senior, Ambassador group, so if you've got any other good tips, I'm sure I could find time to read :-)

Jenners said...

Love the title---I'm sure you'll get a lot of people looking for something else! HAHA!

Anonymous said...

I love beads! I jumped on the bead wagon a couple of years ago because I wanted to make my own bracelets. Then I lost interest and I have all of these gorgeous beads left! I love this idea!

Kelsey said...

Thank you for making me laugh just now! I somehow missed the word "book" in the first sentence, so I thought you guys were making thongs for the girls moms in girl scouts! Yeah, you bet I read that again lol. Sorry but when I was in girl scouts we made, well nothing, but still it was never thongs!

I like this idea, it's really cute!

Rhonda said...

dude you ARE one crafty mama! What a great, and CUTE giftidea!

Anonymous said...

WHAT A GREAT IDEA!!!

((when I first read the title I was thinking that it sounds really painful. glad it's a BOOK thong;-))

sassy stephanie said...

What a great craft. And a useful one at that!

Unknown said...

How pretty! And not too difficult to make. :) Lovely. :)

Jen said...

Oh those are cool and sounds super easy to make. Nice one.

Mammatalk said...

Have to admit....I came over here expecting something a liiittle different! :-) Love the bookmark idea! Will do as soon as my gals stop shoving all things small and round up their nose!

Anonymous said...

I know you said the 10 year olds could do it but I'm not sure I could. I'll have my 7 year old teach me.

And why is it called a "thong" again?

Melissa said...

Great idea.... I think I will let my kids try this one out!!

Anonymous said...

You are certainly one crafty Mom!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! I am always looking for a piece of paper to hold my spot, I haven't seen these around my neck of the woods. The beads are beautiful and perfect for my reader friends. Thanks for sharing this one!!!

Mrs Anne said...

They look really cool...!

at first i was like... do wha??? wouldn't that be uncomfortable?! ha! then i saw the word BOOK before thong, and it all made sense! :)

sweet project!

Ronnica said...

Cute idea, though I don't like the name. It's probably best that you weren't actually making beaded thongs for the 10yos...

Anonymous said...

That is really pretty but I was really hoping it was an ACTUAL thong. I've been looking for a beaded one everywhere! :) haha kidding!

Avery Tales said...

Those are great. I was really scratching my head for a second when first reading the title! I love it!

You have a surprise on my blog.

Mandy said...

CUTE!!

Hey! I finally posted the Letter Game post from last week! The week got away from me! Just wanted to let you know.

Honey Mommy said...

What a fun idea for a gift!
I already have beads... I just need to get the stretchy elastic.

AndreaLeigh said...

What a great idea! Thanks for sharing. Thanks for comimg by my blog today; I hope you'll be back!

Heather said...

What an adorable teacher's gift!!

Rhonda said...

That's a great idea! My kids actually have just gotten into the Twilight series and would probably love these!

I have to tell you, though, my first reaction to the beaded thong title was .... OUCH! lol

Tara Bennett said...

What a fantastic idea!!! I'm going to have to go dust off my beads and get to it!

WheresMyAngels said...

So cute!

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