Turquoise Potato Bead Bracelet

Have some potatoes on hand?  This Turquoise Potato Bead Bracelet from Amanda Formaro is a great way to use them up!  Who would have thought that making jewelry beads would be as easy as peeling a potato?  And the turquoise color is always hot and in season!

Materials:

• 1 medium potato
• Potato peeler
• Wooden skewer
• Acrylic sealer spray
• Jewelry cord
• Acrylic paint: turquoise, black, white

Instructions:

1. You will need about a week's drying time for this craft, so plan accordingly.
    
2. Peel the potato and cut it into 1 inch cubes. If you like, you can round the edges or shape them however you like. For this craft, we used simple cubes.
    
3. Now you are ready to begin making your beads.
    
4. Thread the cubes onto a skewer, leaving space between each one. These will need to dry for one week. You can insert the end of the skewer into craft foam, or simply lay them on a plate and place them out of the way. Be sure to twist them once or twice a day, this will ensure that they dry completely.
    
5. Once the potato is dried out, leave them on the skewer to paint. Paint each bead with turquoise paint. Let dry and repeat with a second coat.
    
6. To add the genuine turquoise look, use a scruffy paint brush to add random spots, swipes and dabs of black and white paint. To complete the effect, you can smear the paint with a piece of paper towel. We decided to use the toothbrush method on ours.
    
7. Toothbrush Method:  Put a small amount of black paint onto a paper plate, about the size of a dime. Add a few drop of water, enough to thin the paint. Using an old toothbrush, pick up some of the thinned black paint. Before applying this method to the box, test it on a piece of newspaper. Flick the bristles of the toothbrush by dragging your finger or thumb across them. This causes the paint to spray off the brush onto your "target", in this case, the newspaper. Once you are happy with the result, flick the paint all over the beads. Repeat this process with white paint as well.
    
8. Spray entire surface with acrylic sealer and allow to dry completely. Remove beads from skewer and thread onto necklace or bracelet cord.