Honeysuckle Beads

At Spring Bird we are steeped with an invasive honeysuckle, with which we are probably going to be at war forever.

But, aside from constructing dead hedges with the fallen soldiers, we are constantly trying to invent other purposes for it.

Last year, I turned it into beads – for mobiles and jewelry, but I really think they look the best clustered in a bowl.

If you are encountering beautiful sticks in your yard or on your walks, you might consider transforming them into beads. 

Here is how I did it:

I began by removing the bark using a carving knife.

Be careful around the knots. You can kind of ignore them since they won’t make nice beads.

Then, I woodburned patterns and designs into the cleaned stick.

Woodburning works best the dryer your stick is.

After woodburning, I chopped the stick into 1″ or so chunks using a miter saw.

I then sanded them to smooth out any rough edges.

Honeysuckle has this curious quality that it comes with a hole already in it. I cleaned up the holes by inserting an awl into each one.

If you don’t have natural holes in your stick, you can use a drill and drill each bead! Fun!

A pretty bowl full of them!

Thread a needle with sturdy string using a needle that will pass through the hole in your bead.

You can string together a series of tendrils to make a mobile.

Hang your mobile outside.

Or, use an elastic bead tring to make bracelets and necklaces.

Another pretty beads in a bowl moment!