Bead crafting is quickly becoming a popular craft among American children and adults. Many individuals have discovered that they can make some great pieces of jewelry, hair accessories, and many other things when it comes to beading. Some pieces of bead crafting jewelry look so intricate and hard to do that it can often times be discouraging to beginners. However, once you have the right tools and the right beads you can create some unique pieces of beaded jewelry as well. Here are some tips on bead crafting for beginners and some ideas on what to make to get started.

Tip #1: Get the Right Tools

The first step in beginner bead crafting is finding the right tools. Yes it’s true that you probably don’t really need them right away, but they can make your life as a bead worker much easier. Here are a few of the basic tools you might want to consider purchasing before you start making your beaded crafts:

· Pliers. There are three basic pliers that will come in handy when making beaded jewelry; flat nosed pliers, crimping pliers, and needle nosed pliers. The flat nosed pliers will help with picking small things up as well as getting them onto your string or wire. The crimping pliers will help you close beads or make them tighter if you’re trying to get others to stay in place, and help you crimp the wire as well. Needle nosed pliers will help with picking up small beads and getting them onto the small wires and strings.

· A Bead Mat. A bead mat will help keep your beads from rolling off or all over the table or whatever type of surface you are working at.

· Wire cutters. It’s fairly obvious why you would want these right; to cut the wire you are working with. You can cut wire with scissors but wire cutters do a much better job than scissors.

Tip #2: Start Out Simple

Rome wasn’t built in a day right, so don’t try and conquer the world of creating beaded jewelry in one day. Start out with some simple projects; ones that you are a little more confident that you can start and finish. Some beaded craft projects come in kits with very clear instructions, while others you sort of have to know what you’re doing. By starting out small you will gain more confidence in tackling the larger pieces of jewelry you want to make later on.

This recycled Light Bulb Santa is a craft that is sure to brighten someone's day. This is a great Christmas ornament for kids to make and give as gifts.

What you will need:
Burnt out light bulb
Acrylic (craft) paint in white, red, flesh, black, and pink
Gold cord or ribbon
Hot glue
Black marker
Newspaper or paper towel
Paintbrush
Instructions for the project: Paint an oval for Santa's face with the flesh-colored acrylic paint in the center of the round part of the light bulb. Paint the entire remaining round portion of the light bulb with white acrylic paint. Paint the neck of bulb red, and the top (socket) of "hat" white. Allow the paint to dry completely.
Using the black acrylic paint, carefully dot on two eyes. Wait a few minutes for the marker to dry and then draw on a smile. Dip a clean paintbrush into pink acrylic paint, be sure to dab off excess paint onto newspaper or paper towel. Gently blotch on some pink cheeks. You can then touch up Santa's beard and hat brim with more white paint. To hang the ornament hot glue a loop of gold cord or ribbon to the back of the bulb. Craft glue is not recommended as it does not adhere as well as hot glue does.

Here’s a creative way to use those old CD’s you have just sitting around. This ornament can also showcase holiday photos or small original drawings done by your kids.

What you will need:

•Old CD
•Felt
•Photo or magazine picture
•Glue
•Ribbon

Instructions for the project: Begin by tracing around the CD onto a piece of felt. Cut out the felt circle. Cut a 10-inch piece of the ribbon. Tie the ribbon into a loop. Put a small dab of glue onto the back of the CD towards the outside edge. Press the ribbon loop carefully into the glue to make the hanger. Spread the glue over the entire back of the CD. Center the felt circle on the glue and gently press. This should cover the writing and ribbon ends, and it will be the back of your ornament. Crop the photo or cut around the figure in the picture you are using. You can cut it into a rectangle shape, circle, or whatever you want. For a fancy edge, consider using pinking sheers! Trace the outside shape of your picture onto a piece of felt. Cut out the shape, making it about 1/2-inch wider than the outside edge of your picture. Glue the photo onto the piece of felt positioned so you can see the felt on all sides. Then you can glue this onto the center of the CD, making sure you cover the hole completely. Now your new ornament is ready to hang.

Coloring is one of the best activities for early childhood development. Having your toddler or preschooler color will help them develop the needed motor skills that will help prepare them for the writing skills that they will need once they reach school. And while the tried and true crayons and coloring book are always fun, there are a multitude of other coloring activities that can be done to achieve the same goal. Here is a brief description of different kinds of coloring activities to promote motor skills development-

•Alternative Finger Painting-This will give your child a lesson in texture and design while still promoting the development of motor skills.

What you will need:

Flour
Plastic gloves (avoid latex gloves to prevent allergic reactions).
Tempera paint
Heavy paper or oak tag

Instructions for the project: Fill the gloves with flour until they are full. Knot the opening of the gloves and be sure to seal the contents tight. Have the child feel the glove and discuss the texture. Have the kids dip each “hand” into the paint. The kids will use the “hand” as a brush and print on the paper. For a variation try filling the gloves with different items (beans, rice) for different textures.

•Baggie Paints-This activity allows kids to have a unique coloring experience while still working on developing motor skills by manipulating their bag of color.

What you will need:

Sealing storage bag, large
Finger or tempera paint
Shaving cream
Smock or old shirt
Covered area

Instructions for the project: Fill each of the bags one third full of shave cream. Have each child choose a paint color. Add a small amount of the paint to the bag and seal. Have the child knead the bag while observing the textures and color changes.

I am writing an column for Surfnetkids.com about homemade polymers, and I realized that the longer I researched, the more names I stumbled upon for the homemade goop. Here's the list so far: goo, goop, gak, slime, flubber, oobleck.

Do you know of any others? Let me know by commenting below.

Mother's Day is over, and that means that Father's Day is just around the corner. And we have started a series of Father's Day gift ideas: gifts that can be handmade by little fingers (along with some grownup help.) Enjoy, and keep coming back because will have more ideas over the next week or two.

To celebrate Play Doh's 50th anniversary, Hasbro has released a Play Doh Perfume. It is available online from Demeter Fragrance and it should be available in Sephora stores by this summer.

Enjoy!