(Crafting your Heritage) Easy, DIY Worry Beads

Happy Monday!

 

I'm sure I must have mentioned this in the past, but if not, I'm half Greek. Actually, everyone thinks that I'm Italian because of my last name (hello...it's called getting married). (FYI, my other half is French Canadian, although I look absolutely nothing like that part of my family. In fact, growing up, people frequently didn't realize my mother and I were even related.)

 

Anyway, as a nod to our heritage we always had worry beads in our home. I remember when I was younger, I would grab them and say, "I'm so worried...I'm so worried." Seriously, though, I am chock full of anxiety.

 

So, those same worry beads that were in my childhood home are now in my own home and last week my boys picked them up and started rubbing and moving the beads around. (You know, using them as they are meant to be.) And, I started thinking about getting one in a fun color (ours are both stained wood), so I looked online and found some that were seriously amazing.  But, I'm the crafty type, so I figured I would just make it myself...it's just twine and beads, folks. And you don't have to be Greek. Bonus, they are equally as adorable for home décor as they are to calm your nerves.



 


Here's what you'll need to make your very own set of worry beads:  Wood beads (one should be larger than the rest), clamp and drill (although if you can find predrilled beads that is definately the way to go), paint, stain or glaze and a lint free cloth to apply it with, disposable plate and spoon if you are mixing your own glaze, scissors, and cording.




Start out by carefully drilling any holes as needed. Once that is complete, stain, paint or glaze beads. I chose to glaze mine with an absolutely awesome product by General Finishes. They sell a clear glaze that you can alter to any color you want just by adding in a bit of paint. Opens up a whole knew world I tell you! When you use it on bare wood it creates this gorgeous, time worn stained appearance. I love it!

All I did was mix four parts of the clear glaze to one part of GF paint in Corinth Blue on a disposable plate. I simply wiped the glaze onto the beads and then immediately buffed it off with a clean cloth.




Once I finished I strung the beads on the cording making sure to give it enough slack between each bead, but not so much that they were sliding everywhere. Next, thread both ends of the cording through the larger bead. At this point you could add a tassel or finish it up with a couple of smaller beads (which is what I decided to do). Don't forget to end with a knot!




I think this adds a subtle bit of color and happy reminder of my heritage to our master bedroom makeover.







What about all of you, my friends? What bits of your heritage do you bring into your own home?







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