Flower Petal Ornament Cover

When my bead buddies and I were working on our beaded Christmas tree, we had to make a ton of ornaments. At first, I made a lot of Brick Tree Ornaments and Beaded Ornament Covers. However, as time ran out, I realized I need to create an ornament that was super quick. That’s when I developed by Flower Petal Ornament Cover which is a conglomeration of number of ornaments I’ve made. Just as with the Beaded Ornament Cover, this is designed to go on top of a glass bulb. It fits both the large and smaller bulbs.

To make one, you’ll need:

seed beads (just a few grams of Czech or Japanese or any color you like)
6 bugle beads 2 ½ inches in length*
beading thread and needle
scissors
thin piece of wire

*I happened to have a bunch of these super long bugle beads that someone gave me. They actually were part of my inspiration because I’d been wanting to use them. However, if you don’t have bugle beads this long, then just use more than one to get the length you want.

1. Start by threading your needle and slipping on 36 seed beads.

2. Bring both ends of your thread together, and tie an over hand knot to create a small circle. Thread in the tail when you have completed the ornament.

3. Bring your needle back through a few of the seed beads in your circle. It doesn’t matter which ones.

4. String on 20 seed beads.

5. String on 1 bugle bead and one seed bead.

6. Skipping the last seed bead, bring your needle back up through the bugle bead. At this point, you might have trouble getting the needle through the bugle because the bugle is so much longer than the needle. I used a small piece of wire (about 20 gauge) to help push the needle through the bugle.

7. String on 20 more beads.

8. Skip five beads in your circle, and bring your needle through the sixth bead. (You have made the first petal of your flower.)

9. Now, string on 5 seed beads.

10. Count down 5 beads on your petal, and bring the needle through the 6th bead.

11. String on 14 seed beads.

12. Next, just as you did before, string on 1 bugle and 1 seed bead.

13. Skipping the last seed bead, bring your needle back up through the bugle bead.

14. String on 20 seed beads.

15. Skip five beads in your circle, and bring your needle through the sixth bead.

16. Repeat steps 8 through 15 - four more times.

17. For the last petal (you should have 5 at this point), repeat steps 9 through 13 one time.

18. String on 14 seed beads.

19. Now, attach your last petal to your first petal by bringing your needle up through the 6th bead of the petal your attaching it to.

20. String on 5 seed beads.

21. Finish your last petal by threading your needle back through the bead you started at on the circle.

22. Thread the needle back through the entire circle of beads to help strengthen it, tie a few knots, and trim off excess thread. Also, don’t forget to thread in your tail.

I know these seem like a lot of steps, but that’s only because I’ve tried to break up the steps as much as possible to help you understand better. Once you make one of these, you’ll find how quickly you can make them.

All graphics created by Tammy Powley.