How to create your Wishbeads with the Paper Bracelet Kit

The Wishbeads Paper Bracelet Kit is a do-it-yourself experience, but you don't need to be an expert crafter! The kit includes our signature bead, one red elastic, several sheets of Wishpaper, a Wishbeads pen, Mod Podge® glue, bamboo sticks, scissors, your Wishbeads journal, and instructions.

The kit is perfect as a gift for kids, a an activity for a girl's night craft party, or a scout project. You'll write out your wishes on sheets of paper, roll them up, apply glue to solidify them, and then cut them into individual beads. String them on the elastic and you're ready to wear!

If DIY isn't your jam, check out our Wishbeads bracelets and necklaces instead—no assembly required!

Ready to get started? Let's do it!

You can also download a printable PDF of these instructions here

 

Step 1: Prepare Your Space + Mind

Clear a workspace for yourself and the wishes you’re about to craft, and place the contents of your kit in front of you. Take a moment to clear your mind, too. Turn off your phone, remove any other distractions, and commit to giving your wishes your undivided attention for the next hour.

Step 2: Imagine Your Wish In Gorgeous, Vivid Detail

Picture a moment in the future where your wish has already become reality. See it. Feel it. What are you wearing? What time of year is it? Who is with you? Imagine your wish in as much detail as possible: sights, sounds, scents. For inspiration, download our Wishbeads meditation.

Step 3: Write Your Wish

From top down on the Wishbeads paper, write your wish in the present tense as though it has already been fulfilled: “I am sitting at the desk of my new home office,” or “I’m in a rocking chair in my bedroom, holding my son. I can smell his delicious new-baby scent.” Write until you’ve filled four or five sheets of paper (the more detail, the better!). Write all the way down to the bottom edge of each page so that your writing will be visible in your beads. (Your bracelet will wrap twice around your wrist if you fill four sheets, three times if you fill five.)

Step 4: Train + Roll Your Paper Around The Stick

p>Hold the first sheet of paper with the words facing you. Place the stick at the top of the paper, just below the upper edge on the same side as the words. (Use a sheet of blank Wishbeads paper to practice rolling before you use your written pages.)

Gently bend the top of the paper down over the stick until the bottom edge is snugly tucked underneath it. Roll back and forth until the paper is very tight. Be sure to keep even pressure with your fingertips as you roll the paper about an inch down from the top edge.

Step 5: Glue + Roll

After you’ve rolled the paper about an inch, apply a thin strip of glue just below the stick. Avoid getting glue on the stick so that it will be easy to remove when you finish rolling.

Continue rolling the paper down almost to the end, leaving about an inch of paper at the bottom. (Do not glue all the way to the paper’s edges, as this will glue the paper to the stick.)

Apply another strip of glue an inch from the bottom edge, and complete rolling to seal. Now apply a thin coat of glue all over the paper and smooth it out with your fingers. Slide out the stick so that you are left with a paper tube. The paper tube should be tight and smooth. Repeat this process with each of your remaining paper sheets.

Step 6: Dry + Cut

p>Now that the paper tubes are rolled, glued and smoothed out, they will need to dry for about five minutes before cutting. Once the paper is dry to the touch, use sharp scissors to cut the tubes into individual beads about half an inch long. Please note: The scissors included are sharp and should not be used by children under 8 years old. After cutting, the ends of the beads will be mushed slightly, so roll them gently between your fingers to reshape them into cylinders. Use the stick as needed to restore them into hollow tubes.

Step 7: Bead The Bracelet

Use the red elastic to string your paper beads, adding the signature Wishbead somewhere in the middle. When you have finished, test the bracelet length on your wrist by wrapping it around two or three times (depending on your number of beads) and holding the ends with your fingers. When you are happy with the size, tie the ends in three simple knots. Trim the ends and tuck the knot into one of the beads to complete your bracelet.

Do The Wish Work

Included in your kit is the Wishbeads journal. Each day – for 21 days – you will be given actionable prompts to help you stay inspired to take action toward your wish. In the morning you read the prompt and in the evening you write about what you witnessed. In addition to the journal, you can sign up for daily reminders above. Your next chapter starts now!