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DIY | Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers

Paint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.com

I don’t make party decorations all that often, but when I found this bag of white beads in the discount bin at at my local craft store, I just had to snap them up and decorate them somehow. Nail Polish and wooden skewers are some of my favourite crafting materials so it seemed only natural that the three items should come together so perfectly!

These drink stirrers are playful and colorful and perfect for a summer party. Honestly, the glossy beads are so pretty, I wanted to use them to decorate everything. Luckily, as long as the beads fit snugly onto the skewers you wont have to glue them together, which means you can re-purpose the pretty beads when you are done! Hooray!

Paint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.com Paint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.com

MATERIALS:
Wooden Skewers
Small wooden beads (2mm thread) –3 per skewer
Nail Polish
-in at least 3 shades of one colour

1. Start by filling a jar or cup with rice and set aside.

2. Thread a beat onto the flat end of a wooden skewer to hold the bead in place. Using nail polish in the colour of your choice paint the bead until entirely covered. Opaque polishes are best for this as they won’t streak as much as the sheer kind. Stand the skewer in the jar of rice to dry.

3. Repeat Step 2 for as many beads as you are using. You will want three beads per stirrer. Each stirrer should have two fully painted beads – one in a lighter shade and one darker. (I made mine in all different colours but if you have a colour theme keep the beads in those shades.)

The third bead you can polka-dot with the tip of the nail polish brush – be sure the brush is not too heavily loaded with polish or else the spots will run. I wasn’t too concerned if the dots were perfect, but if you are you can use the end of another skewer to stamp onto the bead instead.

Paint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.comPaint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.com

4. Allow all the beads to dry completely overnight. Any beads that require a second coat of colour can be painted once the first coat is touch dry.

5. Once the beads are fully dry remove them from the skewers and sort into threes as detailed above. Any skewers with polish on them can be put aside for future craft projects, the rest can be used in the next step.

6. Thread three beads onto each skewer –darkest first, followed by the lighter bead and topped with the spotted bead. The beads should fit snugly onto the skewer, if you find they slip - try a different skewer as each will be a slightly different thickness. This may take a little patience to find the right bead/skewer combination. I find it better to leave the beads un-glued so that I can remove them after use and thread them onto fresh skewers.If you want to secure the beads permanently, carefully place a drop of super glue into the first bead as you thread it, making sure that the glue does not come into contact with the end that will be going into your drinks.

7. Done! Thread slices of lemon or fruit on the skewer (or leave plain) and pop them into your drinks for an extra fun and colourful touch to your table!

Paint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.comPaint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.comPaint your own Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers | www.highwallsblog.com

9 Comments
  • honestly, b.

    June 4, 2014 at 12:00 am Reply

    Okay these are so fun! What a great idea. I love that white beads inspired you to make this—so creative! Great instructions. Will be a great detail at an outdoor summer party :)

  • chelsea jacobs

    June 4, 2014 at 5:21 am Reply

    Such a creative idea!

  • […] the beaded drink stirrers we made a couple weeks ago, we’re going to use the same premise to make a pretty tea leaf […]

  • Jeanine

    July 14, 2014 at 1:01 pm Reply

    These are truly wee works of art! Perfect colors and patterns ;)

  • Nikki @ Tikkido

    July 15, 2014 at 7:07 am Reply

    Whimsical, beautiful, and easy-what a great project!

  • […] If you’ve been following us lately, you’ve already read of some cool crafts for summer parties but these drink stirrers were not on the list. To make them you’ll need wooden skewers, small wooden beads – 3 per skewer and nail polish - in at least 3 shades of one color. Start by filling a jar or cup with rice and set aside. Thread a beat onto the flat end of a wooden skewer to hold the bead in place. Using nail polish in the color of your choice paint the bead until entirely covered. Opaque polishes are best for this as they won’t streak as much as the sheer kind. Stand the skewer in the jar of rice to dry. Continue reading the tutorial here. […]

  • Amelia Madelaine

    July 16, 2014 at 2:33 pm Reply

    Such a cute idea! These look great :)

  • […] 1. Decorative Bead Drink Stirrers, High Walls […]

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