Beady Bits - 20 Fun Beading Tips
By J. Alias

Looking to make beading more fun and less stressful? Try one or more of these tips!

1. Worried about spilling beads? Set up a surface that has low tips so you can avoid spilling them on the floor.
2. Use 3 or 4 feet of thread to prevent tangles.

3. Compliment your beautiful beaded jewelry by using clasps.

4. Stay away from "super" glues. Use a good jeweler's glue, like Hypo Cement.

5. Prevent tarnishing by rubbing car wax on a piece of silver, then allow it to dry and wax it off with a soft cloth.

6. Want to always have something in your tool collection to snap sharp wire ends? Invest in a small metal nail
file.

7. When you thread a needle, put on some chapstick. After licking the thread, you'll automatically coat the end and keep the tiny thread fibers from separating.

8. Using white-out, mark the beads of every other round. The marks you make will help you remember your place. Also, the white fluid will chip off after drying, so you won't have to worry about anything permanent!

9. Peyote-stitch graphs and brick-stitch graphs are the exact same thing.

10. If you make a mistake while sewing seed beads, look away and break the beads by inserting a large needle into the hole. Pick somewhere nearby that spot and start a new spot, weaving where you would like a new bead to be. Hide the threads that are left showing.

11. Accidentally put seed beads in the wrong spot, or used mismatched color thread? User a permanent marker to hide your mistake!

12. When looking to buy silver, keep one thing in mind. If the price advertised SEEMS to good to be true, it usually is. Don't be fooled!

13. Don't want your beads to roll away from you? Use a washcloth or towel as a flat beading surface!

14. When you go bead shopping, ask the cashier or clerk in the store about what kind of beads you've bought. The more information they can give you, the better.

15. Working on some jewelry that requires a lot of stringing of seed beads? Buy a bead spinner and save yourself some time!

16. No matter how many estimations you might make for how many beads you may think you need for a project, always buy a little extra.

17. Pull on beading thread an inch at a time to stretch it out. But don't pull too hard!

18. Want to make sure your thread is strong? Treat it with beeswax!

19. Make sure a beading size chart and small measuring tape are on you at all times.

20. Of all the beading and sewing tools you could use, don't neglect your most important one -- your eyes! Make sure that when you're working with beads, you have as much light as possible.

About the Author:
Would you like to buy unique Kashmiri beads at wholesale prices? Bead 'n Shop is an online beads wholesale store offering handmade beads of high quality.