DIY Network

Outdoor Jewelry Dress up your home's exterior with giant beads you make yourself. From "B. Original" episode DBOR-140

Make your mark with giant beads.

It's as true for your home as it is for your wardrobe: Your look just isn't complete without great accessories. And bold, beautiful beads make the perfect jewelry for your home's exterior.

B. Original host Michele Beschen shows how to create your own oversized beads from fish floats to make your home one of a kind. So pull up those pink flamingos and get the plastic Santa off the roof—it's time to B. Original with your outdoor décor!

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Here are some other ways Michele Beschen accessorizes with outdoor jewelry:

Beaded ankle bracelets snake along the ground...

while necklaces wind through tree branches.

You also can drape beaded garlands from a deck, hang them from the eaves or even wind them around a post.

Materials:

fish floats
acrylic or plastic paint
primer (if you're using regular acrylic paint)
large piece of foam
long, wooden skewers or dowels
nylon rope
spray polyurethane

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Figure C

Note: You can find fish floats at sporting goods stores or the sporting goods departments of discount stores. Get different sizes and shapes so you have a variety of bead styles (figure A).

• Insert skewers or dowels in the piece of foam (figure B). You'll use these skewers to hold your beads while you paint.

• Clean off the floats with rubbing alcohol and place them on the skewers.

• Check your paint. If you are using regular acrylic paints, prime the floats. If you are using a paint suitable for plastics, you don't need to prime.

• Paint your floats. Once your base color is dry, have fun adding details and designs.

• Once everything is dry, seal your floats with a couple of coats of polyurethane.

• Thread your finished beads onto nylon rope or, if you want a more rigid look, wooden dowels. If you're using nylon rope, melt the cut end of the rope to keep it from unraveling and to help you thread the beads more easily (figure C).

• Just as you'd do with regular beads, alternate shapes and designs for a great look.

B. Original when you string and display your yard jewelry, and your home will be the best-dressed on the block!