Easy Craft: Painted Wood Bead Necklace

After returning home from a two week vacation I've had quite a bit of laundry to catch up on the past couple of days.  Not to mention Etsy orders and other "re-entry" tasks in general.

My daughter had a friend over yesterday so we decided to do an easy and fun craft.  Yay!  But don't be mistaken, easy doesn't necessarily mean QUICK.  And I didn't want it to be quick.  I wanted those two to sit there and enjoy creating for a while as I caught up on things.   This wooden bead necklace craft was the perfect thing for the girls.

Supplies Needed:

• large wooden beads (I got them at Hobby Lobby for $1.27 per package)
• ribbon
• craft paint
• paint brushes

First they painted their beads a solid color.

Finding a way to hold the beads while painting them is always the tricky part.  We figured out that these little sponge brushes were perfect for the job!

See?

After they were dry we began the embellishing... each bead was a work of art for these two!

I promise this kept them occupied, enthralled, happy, chatty, etc. for a good 1.5 hours.  They loved it.

After the embellishments were dry we strung them onto some white grosgrain ribbon.  I put some painter's tape at the end of their ribbons to make stringing them easier for the girls.

And lastly, you can tie smaller pieces of ribbon between each bead...

or not! 

Both ways are super cute.  And so is Smurfette, don't you think?

Such a fun afternoon of crafting with these two cute girls!  I see a lot of Girls Night Out/Craft Nights for them in the future.  So if you're looking for an inexpensive, easy, yet somewhat time-consuming craft this summer, these two girls give these painted wood bead necklaces two four thumbs-up!

And yes, when I take them out anywhere people always ask if they're twins.  Sometimes I say yes and sometimes I say no. :)

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