Are you feeling the pressure to come up with activities to keep the kids busy this summer? These DIY oven baked clay beads are a terrific summertime boredom buster, and is the perfect activity for a hot day when you want to stay indoors. The days have been scorching hot here in Florida, so my daughter and I have been doing a lot of crafts since school let out.
We made these homemade beads one afternoon when my nieces were over.
How to Make Oven Baked Clay Beads
Make a simple dough from basic kitchen ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup salt
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 – 1 cup hot water
In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour and salt. Next, add the oil and hot water, and work it with your hands until it is pliable… and continu to kneed for 10-15 minutes until it is smooth and not sticky. This is when you’ll want to put the kids to work.
We planned to paint some of our beads, so we left a large chunk of our dough in it’s natural color. But some of it we colored with food coloring. To do this, simply add a few drops of food coloring to your dough, knead and work it in until you’ve achieved the color you want.
Back to making the beads… Once your dough is prepared, use your hands to roll the dough into desired shapes. For the tube shaped beads, take a small piece of dough and using a rolling pin, roll it out onto a piece of parchment paper. Next, carefully roll the flattened piece of dough around a wooden skewer.
For the round beads, simply roll a piece of dough into a ball and poke a wooden skewer through the center. The kids actually got pretty good at this.
Once all of your unpainted beads are shaped, place them on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet into the oven on 200 degrees for about 1 1/2 hour. They will be hard to the touch when done.
Lastly paint your beads. Allow them to dry completely. Then string them up using stretchy cord, to make bracelets and necklaces. All you have to do is tie the ends in a knot.
Beautiful hand painted beads…
These oven baked clay beads are so much fun to make!
This bracelet below is one we made using natural beads and dough that we colored with red and blue food coloring. I think it turned our very pretty!
So, what’s in your summer fun arsenal?
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Jeannette says
June 4, 2013 at 2:47 PMOh my goodness! Those are so cute and look like so much fun! What a great idea!
Chelsea Day says
June 4, 2013 at 3:15 PMOh My Word I am in love with this idea. My kids will be over the moon to make these. Thank so much for sharing. Going to bookmark this for late in the week! 🙂
Kelly says
June 4, 2013 at 3:59 PMThis is such a great craft idea. I’m going to have to buy flour for this lol.
Jen Medeiros says
June 4, 2013 at 4:12 PMThose bracelets look really cute!
Penelope (NYC Blogger) says
June 4, 2013 at 4:44 PMThose are cool!
Vanessa: thequeenofswag says
June 4, 2013 at 7:50 PMLooks like such a fun and easy craft to make. We will definitely be trying it!
Liz says
June 4, 2013 at 11:05 PMOh, the possibilities for colors AND shapes. I like this idea quite a bit!
Emily says
June 5, 2013 at 12:12 AMHow cool! My 9 year old little sister would absolutely love this!
Kelly says
June 5, 2013 at 12:54 AMWhat a fun idea!
TerriAnn says
June 5, 2013 at 2:36 AMOoh, what a fun project! I’m not sure about oven-baked beads… I need to focus on making any oven-baked food first 😛
Ronni Keller says
June 5, 2013 at 5:22 AMOh how cute!!! I saw a pic go by my FB timeline real quick yesterday and thought it was cereal!!! LOL Glad I came to check it out! The kiddos last day of school is today (help me) and this will be awesome to add to our summer craft list!
Tammi says
June 5, 2013 at 7:28 AMThat is a really great idea, and a good craft for my oldest to do. Thanks!
Tesa says
June 5, 2013 at 7:49 AMMy kids would love this! I’m putting together a list of fun activities to keep us busy this summer, I’ll have to add this to the list.
Anne - Mommy Has to Work says
June 5, 2013 at 9:12 AMI’d love to do this with my daughter this summer.
Maryann says
June 5, 2013 at 12:25 PMthat is a cool thing for crafty kids.
Marcie W. says
June 5, 2013 at 4:28 PMThis looks like a fun activity and is wonderful for sensory play.
Tammy says
June 5, 2013 at 6:30 PMWhat a fun way to spend a day! I really do like the bracelet perfect for the 4th of July 🙂 We’ll be moving this summer, so it will be filled with packing and unpacking, I’m sure our daughter is thrilled with that LOL!
Jenn- The Rebel Chick says
June 5, 2013 at 7:31 PMThese look better then the store bought beads that you pay way too much for!
Mellisa says
June 6, 2013 at 11:49 AMHow fun is this! My daughter would love making and decorating her own beads.
Emily says
June 7, 2013 at 2:12 AMSo pretty! I wish my son had any interest in crafting…
Ty says
June 7, 2013 at 2:41 AMMy daughter would totally love this.
BusyWorkingMama says
June 7, 2013 at 3:12 PMHow fun! I love this idea for a DIY kids project.
Danielle says
June 9, 2013 at 12:51 PMWhat a great idea! I like the idea of bracelets with big beads. We can use it when dressing up for our tea parties 🙂
My daughter has a play date coming up and I think we found something great to do.
Great site! I’ll be back to visit!!!
-Danielle
Follow me: @DanielleASB
Blog: chatteroutloud.com
Toni says
June 9, 2013 at 4:50 PMHow fun would this be. My daughter would love this, she is into crafts and jewelry so this is a perfect combo.
Bonnie says
June 10, 2013 at 12:29 PMLove it! I can’t wait to show this craft to my granddaughters, I think we will be creating over the summer months.
Gena says
June 12, 2013 at 11:32 PMPretty cool! Even my boys would love this!
manda says
June 16, 2013 at 8:16 AMoh wow. these look so easy and yes, i am feeling the pressure of coming up with fun things to do this summer! thank you for helping out!
Shannon says
April 25, 2014 at 1:27 AMThese are super fun. I love handmade beads. Have you ever made paper beads? I love making those.
mykidsguide says
April 25, 2014 at 8:15 AMThey are so so cute and yes I always feel pressure during the summer to come up with ideas!! Thanks for visiting our weekly party. Pinned and shared
Catherine says
April 25, 2014 at 3:06 PMWhat a fabulous idea – these look really fun for kids of all ages to make 🙂
Cindy B says
June 26, 2014 at 9:49 AMI love this idea, although my kids are adults now and I’m not yet a grandmother. I DO, however, have plenty of grand nieces and nephews!
linda moore says
July 4, 2014 at 9:09 AMOMG! this is so easy and will keep the kids busy for hours…thank you for the post!
Nicole Dz says
July 13, 2014 at 1:05 AMThis would be a great craft to do with my daughter. She loves her dress up beaded necklaces and bracelets, but I like that these are handmade to your own design. Love this!
Cami says
August 9, 2014 at 8:43 AMWhat a great idea! I never thought to make my own beads!