Festive Fall Bead Pin Craft

This festive fall bead pin craft originated when I wanted to make the napkins on my Thanksgiving table decorative and give a little gift to those attending my feast. Pony beads in fall colors, natural raffia, jute and pin backs are the supplies needed to make this pin.

Festive Fall Pin Craft Supplies

1. Natural raffia
2. Pony beads in three to four fall colors. I used amber, orange
and red-orange colors.
3. Jute or twine
4. Scissors
5. Glue (Glue gun makes this quicker to assemble)
6. Ruler.

Preparation before assembling the festive fall bead pin craft:
1. Cut three pieces of raffia about 5 inches long. Tie a knot in
the end of each raffia leaving about ½ inch after the knot.
2. Cut two pieces of raffia 4 inches long.
3. Sort beads out according to color and put in separate cups.
4. Cut a piece of jute for the bow about 8 inches.
5. Small bits of raffia that can be used to tie the raffia
sections together

I place approximately 8 beads on one raffia strip, 10 on the second strip and 12 on the third strip of raffia. If you are making several festive fall bead pins then this step is great to do in the evening while sitting on the couch and place each strand with beads in baggies according to their bead count and assemble them all at once later.

Getting Started
I twist the end of my raffia to a point and then slide the beads through and down to the knot at the end of the strand. You can create a pattern of stacking one color after another or add variety of repeating certain bead colors before switching to a new color.

The next step after the beads are on is creating the corn husk. The two 4 inch raffia strips are the center section of the fall festival bead pin craft. Place the raffia with 12 beads on the left side of the center while holding the center piece without beads with the one that has beads. Add the 8 bead section on top of the center piece with out beads and then the 10 bead piece of raffia to the right.

Use stray bits of raffia to tie the three beaded pieces and the two center pieces together. Arrange the sections so they hang together resembling corn ears and husks.
When you have them the way you like then take your jute and tie a bow around them and adjust the bow the way you like it. Trim the bow ends to the length you want. Also trim the raffia section below the knot that is holding the beads on to about ¼ inch.
Fray the tops of the raffia above the bow to give it a dried husk look.

Take a glue gun or glue such as E 6000 or jewelry glue and glue the pin back on the back which will also glue the tie and husks together to make it sturdier. I use the pin tack backs but jewelry back brooch style fasteners can be used as well.

This is a fun pin to wear for the fall months and is an inexpensive gift to give to friends or place the festive bead pins on your napkins at Thanksgiving dinners. My guests are always delighted when I tell them they can take the pin home and it is a nice memento to remind them of the wonderful time we spent together.

*Alternatives For the Festive Fall Bead Pin Craft:

Instead of using raffia I have used brown paper bags. You will want to cut a rectangle about 5” long by 3”. Cut a left strip to place beads leaving a wider center then cut two strips to the right of the center.
I would not recommend this for mass production gifts as sometimes getting the beads on the paper is time consuming. Crumble the paper to give it an age look.

Instead of jute, ribbon can be used. I recommend 1/8 inch width ribbon as that works nicely without being too big.

Don’t be afraid to experiment and just have fun!