Boho Beads and Charms with Lindy’s Sprays

Hi friends! Preeti Datta (Dutt Preety) on the Lindy’s blog today to show you step by step how to create Boho/Gypsy beads and Charms using Lindy’s Gang Sprays.

Firstly, I hope everyone is well and safe. Sending love & sunshine your way. Like many other creative souls, my mojo has been low lately, so, to keep my spirits up, I have been watching online tutorials and browsing the internet for crafty inspiration. I found many tutorials on making Boho/Gypsy Beads. I was inspired and decided to experiment & make my own set of beads and charms.

I used my beautiful Lindy’s sprays and the Jewellery making supplies I had in my stash. The same process can be done using Lindy’s Magicals or Squirts as well. This is a super easy, colorful and fun project which you could even do with the family. It is a good way to make something cute & small using some colorful paper & fabric scraps that we all have lying around. I have used many different colours of Lindy’s gorgeous sprays to show multiple examples, you can use your own favourite colours, as few or as many as you like. These charms can be customized and made as fancy or simple as you want. Another idea is to use Lindy’s awesome embossing powders to further jazz up some of these beads. I have converted my Boho/Gypsy Beads into Charms, you could even use these beads for making jewellery.

Basic Process

To begin, colour some fabric pieces using your favourite Lindy’s Sprays. I have used gauze or cheesecloth here (use whatever fabric you have in your stash like cotton fabric, laces, sari ribbon, seam binding ribbons etc). Wet the gauze with water and then spray it with Lindy’s Sprays. Uniform colouring is not needed here, leave some areas of the gauze white and try to spray some of the gauze pieces with two or more shades of the colour, this helps the beads look unique and interesting.

This is what the colored pieces of gauze look like once dried. Use your favourite Lindy’s Spray colours. You can make the beads vintage or subtle using neutral colours as well. I wanted bright and happy Bohemian beads, hence, I used bright colours here.

Next, color white threads using your favorite Lindy’s Sprays. I have used white Crotchet Thread here because it is thicker. Use whatever white thread or cord you have in your stash. Spray it with water and then spray it with Lindy’s Sprays. Uneven coloring is desirable, so, if some spots remain white, that is good.

This is what the colourised threads look like. I used a bunch of different colours so that I could mix and match later on depending on what looks good on the beads.

Next, color some textbook papers with your favorite Lindy’s Sprays. Any textbook paper will do. You can even use your paper scraps from earlier projects.

This is what the colored textbook papers look like. I prepared multiple pages using different colours so that I had more colour options while wrapping the beads. Use as many or as few colours as you want.

Next, we start to make the beads. First, cut up a drinking straw into the length you would like the bead to be. Then, wrap the colored gauze and colored papers around it. I vary the length of the straw pieces, so that I can get beads of different lengths. Any strong glue will do the job of sticking the gauze and paper to the piece of straw. While wrapping, you can use only gauze or only paper or both paper and gauze. While wrapping, you can keep the shape cylindrical or make it fatter at the centre and taper it towards the ends. Also, you can vary the thickness of the beads by wrapping more layers of the gauze/paper. I have tried to show all different looks in the samples at the end.

Next, wrap the beads using the colourised pieces of thread. Any strong glue will hold the wrapped threads to the bead. Use as many colours of thread on one bead as you like. At the end of this step, our basic Boho beads are ready. We can use these beautiful colourful beads as is. The next steps are to jazz them up and convert them into charms.

Now, we will decorate our basic Boho beads to bling them up. I have used jewellery wire, mini beads, pearl chains and metallic chains here to show you different examples of what can be used to wrap around the beads. To twist and cut the wires, I have used Jewellery pliers. But you don’t need any Jewellery making supplies, use whatever you have in your stash like sequins, crystals, half pearls, enamel dots, glitter etc sticking these using gel medium should work. At the end of this step, our Boho Beads are ready.

Finally, to convert our Boho beads into charms we will use some basic Jewellery making supplies and techniques. This is the most fun part because you can mix and match colours & types of beads to create interesting charms. Start by taking an eye pin of the desired length, add beads,1 boho bead and bead caps to it and twist the top of it into a loop using Jewellery Pliers. Then, attach danglers to the bottom of the charm, using jump rings. For the dangers, you can use mini charms or beads or prepare DIY Thread Tassels using the colourised threads we prepared earlier.

Here are some photos of the finished Boho Beads and Charms…

Lindy’s Products

• Flat Fabio Sprays: Tears on my Pillow Tangerine, Urban Amethyst, Rizzio’s Rowdy Red, Poppin’ Pink, Caribbean Blue, Pineapple Paradise
• Starburst Sprays: Rusty Lantern Lime, Prima Donna Purple, Mission Bells Brown, Cocklebells Coral, Time Travel Teal, Afternoon Delight Denim, Canna Lilly Burnt Orange, Drop Dead Gorgeous Green

Other Products 

• Straws, Gauze, White Crotchet Thread, Tonic’s Tacky Glue, Beads, Jewellery Wires, Jewellery Pliers, Metallic Chains, Pearl Chains, Charms, Eye Pins and Jump Rings.

Thanks a lot for your precious time
Stay Blessed!
Preeti