Simple DIY: Wooden Bead Curtain Tiebacks

I recently embarked on a little DIY project that I couldn’t resist sharing with you, as it literally took me five minutes to do!

I’d been meaning to make or buy new tiebacks for the linen curtains in our front drawing room and was seeing lots of lovely, Scandi style, DIY home accessories all over Pinterest, such as pot trivets and decorative garlands, beautifully handcrafted from natural wood beads.  Their rustic finish lends such warmth to a room.

Anyway, one of the accessories I spotted was a set of wooden bead curtain tiebacks in an Etsy shop, but I couldn’t justify paying for something that I felt should be really straightforward to make!  So, one trip to my local Søstrene Grene store later, and I was ready to make my own.

For those of you not yet acquainted with Søstrene Grene, it is a Swedish homewares and lifestyle store that hit our shores just last year, but already I am hooked!  Like its Nordic neighbours IKEA and Flying Tiger, Søstrene Grene offers a great range of simple, functional, cleverly designed, and, yes, gorgeous knick knacks, furnishings and accessories for the home that you just cannot foresee life without as soon as you enter through its doors.  It’s that Scandinavian one way traffic thing around the shop – gets me EVERY time.

One area of the store I love in particular (and it’s an area that IKEA and Flying Tiger don’t perhaps fare so well in), is the arts and crafts section.  Cue reams of ribbons, beads (yes, you see where I’m going with this!) and coloured card, all perfectly displayed and fantastically low priced.  It really is a card maker, crafter or artist’s dream!  So, needless to say, it’s where I bought my materials for my simple DIY, all for around a tenner.

Here’s how I did it…

For one pair of tiebacks you’ll need:

10 x small wooden beads (approx 17mm ø)

4 x medium wooden beads (approx 22mm ø)

2 x large wooden beads (approx 30mm ø)

2 x 40-60cm lengths of natural leather (or strong twine would also work). Check what length is best for your particular curtain.

Note: make sure the leather will thread easily through the bead holes! Mine was 2mm thick.

 

 

Taking a length of leather, you literally thread the beads on in the following order: 3 small beads, 1 medium, 1 small, 1 medium, 1 small, 1 large bead, 1 small, 1 medium, 1 small, 1 medium, and finally, 3 small beads at the end.

If you wished, you could buy additional small beads to thread onto the ends so that the entire tieback on display is beaded, however the above pattern worked fine for my own curtain.

To finish off, tie a loop at either end of the tieback and hang onto your curtain hook.

And, ta-dah! That’s it!

Pretty, aren’t they?

 

 

 

They really finish off the curtains and I’m delighted with them.  Now, I think I’d quite like to buy some more beads for other mini projects… I’m thinking simple Christmas tree decorations, or a wooden bead garland, perhaps?

Let me know if you try it for yourself!

 

K x

 

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