Click here for a printable version

Each bead in every piece of BeadforLife jewelry is hand cut, rolled, and totally unique. The process of taking a recycled poster or magazine page and making it into a beautiful, glossy piece of jewelry is one that takes time, hard work, attention to detail and a great deal of skill. We followed Grace, one of our most experienced Beaders through the steps.

1. First Grace chooses her paper, scrutinizing each page for colors and patterns that will make beautiful beads. She thinks about what shape and size bead she would like to make and traces and cuts the pattern to create either
short and round beads or slim and
long ones.

2. Each piece of paper is a long thin triangle. Grace then begins rolling each piece, starting with the blunt, thick end of each triangle. She deftly rolls it tightly in her fingers. She is very attentive to the symmetry of the rolling so that the bead is perfectly curved.

3. When she finishes each bead, she puts a small dab of glue at the end to hold the bead together. In this photo you will see that Grace has rolled the bead around a needle to keep the hole in the middle of the bead a consistent size.

4. Finally Grace has finished one bead. She will now varnish each bead, pair it with small glass beads, and string it into a necklace, bracelet, or pair of earrings. Although each bead takes only 30 seconds to roll, the whole process of making each item may take 2 weeks from start to finish.