noodle beads

Lately it seems like a lot of my art and craft inspiration revolves around a taking care of a toddler and instead of wishing my process (and time) were different, I have been choosing to embrace this chapter in my creative life! 

Recently a "lets play with noodles" project with Lucy ended in a TON of inspiration for me. I was suddenly inspired to transform pasta into beads. Yes I know its been done thousands of times in kids crafts but I wanted to make noodle beads for grown ups. My goal- try to make them NOT look like pasta!

I knew right away that I would be using spray paint to "prime" my noodles.

Tip- whenever I spray paint something (objects) I like to use a piece of painted canvas- I have found that things don't stick to the canvas like they would to other surfaces (like cardboard, paper or plastic) plus you can use all that color as a layer in a canvas painting!

Then I got busy altering the surface of the noodles!

1. I used permanent markers and paint pens to add lines, dot and designs. 2. I used acrylic paint to add large areas of color. 3. Using all purpose craft glue, I wrapped the noodles with colorful twine, floss and yarn. 4. I covered the surface of the noodles with fabric and then added a layer of gel medium to seal. 5. I wrapped the noodles with wire.

The result are unique and colorful beads! While they are not perfect I love that they have a or boho and tribal look which fits my taste when creating  beaded jewelry.

While the spray paint seals the pasta, you can go a step further and dip them in gel medium or polyurethane gloss.

I used my noodle beads paired with colorful seed beads to create colorful bangles and necklaces!