How to make a cement bead garland and how to use it in your decor

If you love home decor garlands, I have a very easy tutorial for you. Here is a simple DIY project to make a cement bead garland that looks great and is so easy to use in your decorations.

 

 

Hello my lovelies. I have the most satisfying, stress relieving and easy craft project for you today. Every once in a while, life just gets too hectic and complicated and I need a little me-time to just relax and ground myself. No better stress therapy than dabbling in my craft room and focusing my ever busy mind on complicated questions like where is the white craft paint?; what can I use to add a bit of oomph to this project?; or is this finished or does it need a little something something extra?

This project was born all they way down under in Australia.

When I was traveling the Ozzie country with my sister a couple of years ago we did quite a bit of home decor ‘shopping’. My sister is as much a decorating and crafting aficionado as I am so we loved to explore the home fashion of Australia.

In one of the best shops ever I spotted these home decor garlands that looked like they were made of stone or cement. They looked so lovely and rustic and versatile. I reaaaaallly liked them!

I didn’t like their price tag.

Nor did I like the idea of shlepping stone heavy cement bead garlands half way across the world in my suitcase. 

So I settled for the next best thing and shot a picture of them….

I more or less forgot about them until I saw these stone-look garlands pop up everywhere, on Instagram, in shops over here in the low country, on blogs (like this wonderful version of the uber-talented CraftberryBush). And then everything fell into place when I spotted this craft clay with a stone look in our version of the dollar store. I bought three packages and kept them ready to use on a day where I would need some craft therapy.

And when that day came I gathered my supplies.

 

 

You don’t need much. Just a couple of packages of air drying clay (the stone look is a bonus but not necessary), twine in varying thickness and some molds to add a bit of extra.

And then you just start claying and making a nice big mess.

 

 

I love the fact that imperfect is the look you are going for here. Stones need to look rough and worn so no need to smooth anything out. Just roll imperfect beads, and if anything add a little extra texture with the dry end of a brush. I used large size knitting needles to make the holes. I strung the beads also on knitting needles to let them air dry. A cookie stamp and a cookie cutters were used to make some extra accessories for my garland. 

 

After at least 24 hours of drying time the next session of crafting therapy can commence.

 

The imperfectly painting of the beads.

 

Since my beads where already gray I just dabbled on some white paint to give them even more of the stone look. If you are using white clay you will have to add some gray of course and maybe some white on top of that. 

I just love projects where imperfection is the goal. It is so freeing so just let go of the thinking and planning and just do…

 

 

I strung the cement beads onto thick jute twine to make the garland. For some added interest I then wrapped smaller twine around the thick jute twine and added knots in front of the garlands so they would stay in place. 

And then it was decorator play time.

 

 

A home decor garland like this doesn’t need a whole lot. Just drape it ever so ‘randomly’ around some pillar candle sticks and you have created a nice little vignette instantly.

Or use it as wall decor. A cement bead garland like this looks great just hanging on the wall as a back drop for a little side table decoration.

 

 

I think my favorite little vignette I created with my home decor garland is the next one. It’s like a combination of the former two. It is draped over a square hurricane candle holder and adds both vertical as horizontal interest to the little set-up.

 

 

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Oh, I know I am going to get so much use out of this cement bead garland. I hope you love it as much as I do and that you will make your own.

Let me know if you found my tutorial useful, or if you would have liked to have seen more in-between steps.

 

 

 

Made with love! Definitely! Dabbling with clay and paint, sitting there and quietly wrapping jute twine around jute twine. No complicated steps. No challenges or problems that needed solutions. Just me, with busy hands and a quiet mind up in my cozy attic craft room. Best anti-stress therapy ever!

 

 

What do you do when you need to quiet your mind? Got some anti-stress, life-gets-to-busy-relief tips to share?

And will you make a cement bead garland too?