Wood beads are the latest farmhouse style trend and I have jumped on board! I have been making bead garlands for my vendor spaces (which I will blog about soon!) I prefer to dye the beads for different color accents and use different sizes and shapes. For Easter, I started making wood bead carrots and they are so simple!

Wood Bead Carrot Tutorial

For each carrot you will need:

(2) 25mm wood beads
(2) 20mm wood beads
(1) 16mm wood bead
(1) 14mm wood bead
(1) 12 mm wood bead
3-5 pieces natural raffia
18” 2-3mm jute twine
12” ribbon
darning needle or painter’s tape
scissors
Rit dye- Sunshine Orange, Lemon Yellow, and Kelly Green

Preparing the beads:

Boil 2 cups of water and add 1 Tbsp Sunshine Orange Rit dye. Soak the beads until they reach the desired hue. (Note: the color will darken and become more vibrant as the beads dry!)

Preparing the raffia:

Bring 3 cups of water and add 1 Tbsp Kelly Green Rit dye and ½ Tbsp Lemon Yellow Rit dye. Add the raffia to the dye bath and soak until it reaches the desired hue. Spread raffia out to air dry thoroughly.

Assembling the carrots:

1. Line up the ends of the raffia on one side. Wrap the raffia around your hand to form a loop, about 4-5” across.

2. Put the twine through the loop and tie the center of the twine tightly using a square knot on the bottom of the loop.

3. Thread both ends of the twine through the darning needle OR align both ends together and wrap very tightly in painter’s tape, then trim the end on an angle.

4. Thread the beads onto the twine from largest to smallest- two 25mm beads, two 20mm beads, one 16mm bead, one 14mm bead, and one 12mm bead.

5. If using painter’s tape, cut the ends of the twine just above the tape. Tie the twine in a knot at the bottom of the carrot to keep the beads in place. Trim the ends to the desired length to create “roots.”