It took me a little while to complete this project, but I’m so pleased with the outcome, the other day I wore it in an updo and I got so many compliments about it! It’s so fun and summery and you can change the beads to really make it your own, even change the pattern and go wild! Originally I had designed it to have two bands on the top, but while I was beading I realised how cute it looked with a little detail on the top. I must pre-warn you that some designs can look like a thong or a g-string on your head so beware of that when making your own!
How to make the DIY beaded headband
1. You will need : Beads of your choice, (I chose big, medium, small (but not too small cause that’s a time killer!), crimping beads, elastic, nylon wire, cutters and crimping pliers.
2. Prepare the horizontal lines. My head is 56cm in diameter so I made mine at the length of 50cm plus some extra cm to be sure to be sure. I then beaded the elastic with the small beads at a length of 12cm. You can see the pattern I used in the photo below.
3. Tie the elastic shut.
4. Using the crimping beads and crimping pliers attach the lines of beads on to the elastic band. This YouTube tutorial is a great explanation of using crimping beads.
5. Now onto the top line. Work out the right length needed for the nylon wire, you need the length of the top of your head, a little extra incase and 5 cm extra for the front detail. Loop over the nylon wire onto the middle of the bottom horizontal line and attach with a crimping bead. This means you will have a long piece of wire, and a short piece of about 5cm long. Slide the small beads onto both wires, for about 1 cm, jump the middle horizontal line of beads, slide again 1cm of small beads onto the wires.
6. Secure the two wires at the top of the detail with a crimping bead. Cut off any extra nylon wire so you are again left with one wire on each side.
7. After about 3cm, join the two wires together hooking the beads onto both wires. At the end of the line, hook the line of beads onto the elastic, as in step 4. Optionally, you can secure any joints with super glue, or jewelry glue.
And voilà! That’s it. It’s fairly easy! If you have any questions feel free to ask in the comments below!
Take care and have a great weekend,