I made this star of wooden beads last week and some of my friends and instagram followers asked me for the tutorial. I can already promise upfront, it is very easy if I managed to make it! ;-)
I like the star because it is a beautiful handmade gift for our friends who celebrate Hanukkah as well as the ones who celebrate Christmas. A perfect little host gift to bring for any holiday get together!
What you need:
You will need wooden beads (30 beads for one star, I used 20mm and 16mm ones), a needle and thread, that's it. As thread I took a black&white baker's twine which I also use for wrapping my Over The Ocean packages simply because I had it at home.
How to do it (also see picture below, it really helps):
1. Cut a long thread/twine. The first star I had to do twice because I did not have enough twine to finish it. So cut approximately 3 meters (10 feet) of twine, insert it into the needle and knot the two ends together so that you have a double thread.
2. Thread 12 beads and then pull the needle through the double end, creating a closed chain (fig.1). Now pull the twine back through the last bead and pull it tightly.
3. Thread 2 beads and then pull the twine through the next but one bead of the first circle (fig.2). Repeat this step 5 times until you get back to the first bead.
4. Pull the needle through the next but one and the first bead of the 2nd row and thread one bead (fig. 4), this is the first tip of the star. Then pass the twine through the 2nd bead of the 2nd row, the connecting bead of the first row and the following bead of the 2nd row. Now thread a new bead and repeat the steps until the star is complete.
5. After threading the last bead pull the twine up to the next tip lead, cut the needle off, knot the twine and use the loop as a hanger. That's it!
These stars are pretty wall decorations and can also be used as ornaments for a wrapped gift or the christmas tree. For ornaments you might want to use beads that are smaller than 3/4 inch.
While I made the stars my daughter Milla also crafted with wooden beads. She made trivets for her grandmas. It is super easy and the result really pretty.
Milla used 1" beads and threaded them on a leather cord for the trivets. She made three rings which can be used together or individually.
We had the inspiration from AMM blog. Jennifer rubbed the middle ring of beads with olive oil to give them a slightly richer color, which is really beautiful and also a good idea for the stars.
Have fun crafting and enjoy giving!
Wishing you a joyful holiday season,
Birgit
Thanks!