Dragon Fly Ornaments
Published November 01, 2012
Beaded Beauties
It’s December 1st and for many families this is the day the holiday decorations are removed from their storage boxes and brought out to display for another season.
If you are fortunate enough to have a few boxes of beads around the house why not put together a cute dragonfly ornament as a present for someone special? Hang these beaded beauties on this year’s tree or use them to embellish gifts.
Glass and plastic beads work equally well for this idea. When devising a colour scheme it’s best to stick with shades from the same colour family.
Materials
4 Oval Shaped beads
1 large, round bead
4-6 small & medium beads
Beading wire
Wire clippers
Craft glue
Ornament hanging string
Begin by wiring your wings first. Insert the wire through the first oval bead and using your wire clippers make a small loop at the end to secure the bead. Add another oval bead and secure. Repeat with the other two oval beads.
For the body of the dragonfly start by beading your smallest beads first and work your way up to the larger ones for the body. The smallest beads make up the tail. Finish with the larger, round bead as the head. Secure all beads with a small loop using your wire clippers but be sure to leave a large loop at the top of the head bead to attach the hanging wire.
Secure the wings by twisting the first set in between the head bead and the next bead beside it. Repeat with the other wing set.
Decorate the dragonfly by gluing smaller, contrasting beads onto the tips of the wings. I found craft glue to be the best over the glue gun. Look for good quality glues in craft stores such as Michaels and hardware stores.
Cut a piece of ornament string about 6 inches long and tie to the head bead.
These ornaments are beautiful attached to a small gift or hanging on a tree branch beside a mini light.
lunter@shaw.ca
