Did you know you can make beads for necklaces and bracelets out of potatoes? The result is really quite lovely and truly unique.

1 Medium potato
Potato peeler
Wooden skewer
Acrylic sealer spray
Jewelry cord
Acrylic paint: turquoise, black and white

Getting Ready

You will need about a week's drying time for this craft, so plan accordingly.

Peel the potato and cut it into 1 inch cubes. If you like, you can round the edges or shape them however you like. For this craft, we used simple cubes.

Now you are ready to begin making your beads...

What You Do

Thread the cubes onto a skewer, leaving space between each one. These will need to dry for one week. You can insert the end of the skewer into craft foam, or simply lay them on a plate and place them out of the way. Be sure to twist them once or twice a day, this will ensure that they dry completely.

Once the potato is dried out, leave them on the skewer to paint. Paint each bead with turquoise paint. Let dry and repeat with a second coat.

To add the genuine turquoise look, use a scruffy paint brush to add random spots, swipes and dabs of black and white paint. To complete the effect, you can smear the paint with a piece of paper towel. We decided to use the toothbrush method on ours.

Toothbrush Method:

Put a small amount of black paint onto a paper plate, about the size of a dime. Add a few drop of water, enough to thin the paint. Using an old toothbrush, pick up some of the thinned black paint. Before applying this method to the box, test it on a piece of newspaper. Flick the bristles of the toothbrush by dragging your finger or thumb across them. This causes the paint to spray off the brush onto your "target", in this case, the newspaper. Once you are happy with the result, flick the paint all over the beads. Repeat this process with white paint as well.

Spray entire surface with acrylic sealer and allow to dry completely. Remove beads from skewer and thread onto necklace or bracelet cord.

This craft preprinted courtesy of Amanda Formaro of CraftsByAmanda.com.