Another Beaded Ornament

OK, so can you see that I really like my tri-beads?  This is another little gem I collected teaching.

Mini Beaded Wreath Ornament

You will need:

red pipe cleaner
small round red beads
green tri beads

Pull a green bead down the red pipe cleaner about 2/3 of the way down.  You want to have a nice long strip of pipe cleaner on each end when you finish beading to tie the bow.  You will use an AAAB pattern (3 greens, 1 red...).  If you are working with a younger preschooler who is not strong on patterning independently, try this little tip.

Have them count out three green beads and one red bead and pull them to the bottom of their work tray.  This way, they know that when they have run out of green beads, they need to add the red bead.  Then, have them count out three more greens and a red and start again.  This makes for less stressful patterning and you get some simple counting practice in as well.

You will use about 8 red beads (and 32 green beads) to get a full enough string to make your wreath.

Now, for the bow.  Push the beads into the center so you have even amounts of pipe cleaner on both sides.

Twist the two ends together where the beads end to form the wreath.

Take one end of pipe cleaner and form a loop, this will be one half of the bow.  Twist the loop at the base a few times.

Repeat last step on other side.

If the bow doesn't seem stable enough, twist the two halves of the bow together.

Hang on your tree, or give to a loved one as a gift.