Felt Beads

When my parents were here last month we did a craft which turned natural wool into felted beads. My Mom is a very crafty knitter and has knit and felted us all slippers.   When she sent us this craft for Christmas I was very excited to try it but glad with my kids ages that I had an extra pair of adult hands the first time.  It turned out very enjoyable for all ages.

We began with just a few cotton ball sized puffs of dyed wool each and after wetting our hands in soapy water we rolled them into snake shapes. Then cutting those into smaller pieces, we rolled them into round bead shapes. I enjoyed my daughter's oblong shapes too!  It was very interesting to feel the fibers stiffen and shrink in together as they felted.

After letting them dry, we simply strung them onto embroidery floss for necklaces but really there are many options. Older kids might enjoy using the floss to make lanyard type necklaces around the beads. Very Fun!