Dough Bead Jewelry Art – Part 1

Making the Dough Beads!

We know art plays a wholly essential role in the development of our children’s minds and hearts. Did you know making art stimulates both the left side of the brain, our logical thinking and analytical side, and the right side, which is responsible for intuition, creativity and emotional perception? It also improves children’s ability to communicate and problem solve and enhances their self esteem and self reflective skills. Plus making art is a whole lot of fun. This is what we are all about!

We love making art at Super Kickers and we so miss being able to make art with you all in person! Our fantastic art teacher Coach Tammy has come up with a cool multi-step art project for you to do at home. 

Have fun with our Dough Bead Jewelry Art Project!!  

STEP 1:

Gather the following ingredients and materials: 

STEP 2:

Mix equal amounts of flour and salt in your mixing bowl.  You can decide how much you wish to use. Have the same amount of water ready and slowly pour it into the dry mix until you have a ball of dough that is pliable and of a soft consistency. (You may not need the full amount of water to create the proper consistency)

STEP 3:

Take a piece of your dough, roll it into a long tube, and cut the tube into smaller pieces with your spatula or butter knife. These are your beads! You can make any shapes you like and any size you like.  Roll your dough into small individual balls and leave them round or square them off.  Or, you can make one big piece into the shape of a donut, diamond or heart.  Use your imagination!

STEP 4:

Once you have cut and shaped your beads, take a skewer or straw and gently poke a hole through the dough.  This opening will be where you put the string through in the final steps of creating the Dough Bead Jewelry.  So, try to be sure the hole you make is large enough for the string you will be using.  

STEP 5:

Place your dough beads on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or tin foil.  There are 2 options for drying your beads.  The faster way is to cook your beads in a 250 degree oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the beads are dry (but not brown in color).  Watch them carefully as the cooking time can vary based on how thick your beads are and how moist your dough was.  If you notice that they are browning on the edges, take them out right away.  You can also leave your beads out uncovered to air dry, but that will take 24 – 48 hours.  

Once your beads have hardened, you are ready for the second part of the project!  Click here to go to the next blog post for the final step-by-step instructions.

We hope this is a fun project for you to try during quarantine, or anytime really!  You can also join us for a Live Art Class with Coach Tammy every Friday afternoon here:

Let us know how you did on this first part of the project!  Leave a message below or share a photo of your beads on our social media pages.

See you on part 2!