How to Make Beaded Sun Catchers

We’ve been using crafts to stay busy at home. Today we made beaded sun catchers!

Translucent beads, string, glue, and a stick are the only materials you need to add a bit of sparkle to a sunny window. You might also choose to use graph paper and plan out a design. Planning combines fine motor skills and spatial reasoning and may prove too tricky for younger kids. We handed our 4-year-old a bowl of beads and let him string them without a plan. That was challenging enough!

a pile of multicolored, translucent pony beads

Required Materials

Optional Materials

blunt needle (helpful for little fingers)
colored pencils, markers, or crayons
graph paper (or print your own)

translucent pony beads arranged by color in the wells of a paint palette

Setup

If you’re designing your decoration beforehand, section off an appropriate area on your paper for your design and ensure you have enough beads to cover it.

For example, our 5″ x 5″ beaded sun catchers are made of 18 beads per column across 15 columns (270 beads). The design fit on one quarter of one page of graph paper.

Pony beads tend to be a bit wider than they are tall. Consider using knitting graph paper, designed with a 4:5 ratio rather than 1:1, if your design is particularly large and complex.

Stringing

Tie a length of string to the dowel for each row, leaving ample room for the beads and the tie-off.

a dowel with strings attached beside a schematic that resembles a God's eye

Slide all strings to the far left except one, the working string. Start on the top right. Moving down the first column, begin stringing beads according to your design.

Once the first column is complete, tie it off. You may need to make a large knot, depending on the size of the hole in the bead.

a dowel with beaded strings attached beside a schematic that resembles a God's eye

Now slide the second string into place and begin adding beads. Again, work from top to bottom.

Once you have finished with all of the columns, you can still make slight adjustments to ensure the image lines up. Tighten or loosen the knots on the dowel until everything is in its proper place.

Finishing

When you’re satisfied with the design, ensure all knots are tight. If needed, secure with glue and let dry completely.

Once it has dried, trim the fringe under the beads as desired. You can cut straight across, in a V (or inverted V), or tightly against the knot just under the beads.

To hang your design, cut a string about twice as long as the length of the design. Tie the string to both ends of the dowel.

Hang your beaded sun catchers in a sunny window and enjoy the view!