Festive Wood Bead Ornaments

Make some simple, yet lovely bead ornaments in just minutes using wood beads and a few basic craft supplies!  They make wonderful Christmas tree decor and gift toppers.  My beads had inspiring word designs too, so they've got a sweet seasonal message as well.

I was inspired by a round bead ornament tutorial from Kippi At Home, but made some design additions and decided to do a vertical version too.  These are so quick & easy to make, they're the perfect holiday project for busy people and no crafting skills needed!

Materials:

- 16mm Wood Beads (I used these word beads from my shop: Blessed and Faith, Hope Love)

- Coordinating solid color beads in 12 or 15mm size.  Mine were 12mm white & gold silicone beads

- Florist wire, baker's twine or satin cord

- 1 inch Jingle bells

- Mini wired greenery or Satin mini leaf trim 

To make these sweet round ornaments I used 8 of my Blessed wood beads and 8 solid color 12mm beads for each one:

I strung them in alternating order along a 14 inch piece of florist wire: 

Once all beads were strung I pulled the tail end back through the first bead so the wire ends crossed inside it:

Then I wrapped each tail around the the main wire on either side of the first bead a few times and trimmed off the excess and tucked the open ends into the neighboring beads:

Next I wrapped the mini wired greenery around to go in between the beads and did the same finishing with the tails.

Last, I cut a 12 inch piece of baker's twine and a jingle bell for each one:

 Folded the twin in half and pulled the folded end through the bell:

 Then wrapped the twine around the ornament and pulled through into a lark's knot and tied the open ends together.

I went with classic white and gold accents, but these wooden beads look great with any color combination:

To do the icicle style ornaments, I used one each of Faith, Hope and Love wood beads and 3 solid red 15mm beads per ornament.  

 I cut a 14 inch length of baker's twine and strung the jingle bell to the center:

Then strung the beads through both tail ends.  Sometimes thicker twine or cord can be tricky to pull through bead holes, so I used some thin wire as a way to needle them through easily:

I knotted the twine just above the top bead and then again a few inches away to make a hanging loop.

Within minutes, some lovely little ornaments are ready to spread messages of inspiration.

Merry Christmas!