Threading beads

Ever wondered how to thread beads onto a string/cord/ribbon that's too big to thread through a needle, but not stiff enough to push through the beads by hand? After spending ages trying to poke ribbon through tiny beads this morning I decided there must be an easier way!

And there is! Armed with a collection of possible helpful items I returned to my necklace. Larger needles - no good because they wouldn't fit through the beads. Blunt pokey objects - ran out of patience. Needle threaders - perfect once I'd taken the end off!

So, if you ever need to thread beads onto ribbon (or other such stringing materials that don't fit through needles) here's my no.1 tip:

Get yourself a needle threader and take the end bit off so you're left with the wire (or just use a little piece of strong thin wire I guess!). Put the ribbon in the middle of the folded piece of wire, trapping it a bit like a needle. Poke both ends of the wire through the bead, and give it a good pull. It's quite fiddly, so I used pliers to hold the wire.

It worked a treat, and I had my ribbon necklace strung in no time :-)