My beading Saturday with 4-H!

We all wear many hats, one of mine is to co-lead my daughter's SUPER FUN 4-H group. I'm a huge fan of 4-H, the opportunities it allows for children (and adults), and the community spirit it inherently generates, keep us coming back for more (more about this in another post one day!) 

This Saturday I was in charge of leading our 4-H meeting. I decided to teach the kids a few new beading techniques with the hope that they could build some skills AND crank out some beautiful jewelry and accessories.  With the goal of selling their handcrafts and donating the proceeds to a charity of their choice. (We certainly discussed Haiti.)

Our group has a wide range of ages in it. I taught the older kids (8+) how to make Woven Seed Bead Rings, and the younger ones how to make these super cool lizards. The basic technique is the same, so some of the younger ones started out making lizards and quickly moved up to be able to make the rings. I'll be posting a tutorial showing you how to make these rings. The materials you need are quite minimal, and the results are superb.  Some of the kids even discussed making bracelets with the same technique... we didn't have enough wire on Saturday, but I am rather looking forward to trying this one day soon.

Our group is well on it's way to amassing a good amount of handcrafted goodies to sale later this spring, I can't wait to see what else they come up with... I am SO proud of them!  What did you do this weekend?