November and December are hectic months for beaders! Some make little gifts to give away at parties and gatherings, some create new Christmas tree ornaments, and others are busy selling their creations at holiday craft events. No matter what we choose to do, we are busy beading!
Choosing a holiday bead pattern. What to consider?
Bead projects for holidays might be very different. I consider five aspects when I pick my Holiday beading project:
Cost of materials
Are you making just one project or you are planning to give away or sell many during one holiday season? The cost of materials means a lot to those who produce beaded jewelry or decorations in numbers.
Availability of Materials
Did you start getting ready for the season early enough? September-October maybe? Then you have time to order supplies from one or several different vendors. If it is December, and you decided to make a couple of gifts, you have to rely on your stash mostly.
Time Consuming
How much time do you have on hand? Sometimes I plan to bead for a whole weekend, but life gets in a way and I have to postpone a project. If it is a holiday project, it might not be finished in time. I think it is always a good idea to estimate how much time you will need to complete it.
Design Intricacy
Some intricate designs are not necessarily difficult, but demand a lot of attention and focus. The best way to complete them is to dedicate several hours in a row for beading. If it is not possible, it is better to choose an easier pattern. Many people who don’t bead, might appreciate your craftsmanship and hard work even if you present a beautiful but simpler design.
Difficulty Level
With so much going on around you, do you feel comfortable learning a new stitch or deal with complicated instructions? Then pick something challenging. Otherwise, go for easy to follow instructions. Being frustrated with a tutorial and having lots of other tasks on your list is a perfect recipe to get stressed during holidays.
Beaded Christmas Tree Ornaments and Holiday Bead Patterns
How many of you promised themselves to make at least one beaded Christmas ornament a year? Well, I did! And I kept this promise for the whole two years! The third year my excuse was: I like intricate designs, but when the holidays come, I never have enough time to focus on such projects. And then I created a Crystallina pattern to solve this problem!
Today I would love to share several great patterns and tutorials for all kinds of beaders.
Most of them are free. Some are for sale. All of these links are not sponsored (I don’t get paid for promoting them), so I just share what I would like to make or patterns I tried. I hope you find a good bead project to keep you out of stress during the holiday season.
Christmas Tree Ornaments
If you have some time try this Christmas Ornament ball cover video tutorial.
Christmas Tree pattern is one I would love to make in the future. A miniature Christmas tree in every room would be nice for a house of a beader, don’t you think?
LIke miniature Christmas trees? Try a quick tutorial for a small ornament decoration!
Presciosa Free Ornament pattern looks stunning with shiny Twin Beads!
Mini Beaded Christmas Wreath might be a quick project for some.
My free pattern for Holiday Earrings is quite popular among peyote stitch lovers.
We’ve got Christmas Covered pattern was one of my first! My guests always unimpressed with this particular ornament on my Christmas tree. I wrote about it here.
This lovely and affordable Christmas Ornament pattern is just different from everything else I listed.
Christmas and Holiday Jewelry
The bell earring tutorial from Beading4Perfectionists is very attractive!
Easy odd-count Peyote stitch earrings tutorial would help you make a great gift to anyone who loves new earrings for holidays.
Another free Peyote stitch pattern for a bracelet!
My Crystallina pattern is one of the quickest projects I tried. It is easy to make a lot of Crystallinas in no time. Check the Crystallina bead pattern gallery and pick your favorite colors!
Happy beading!
