Beading tiny creatures is one of those activities that you cant get enough of once you start. The techniques may be simple, but the process -- choosing beads, stringing them, and watching animals take shape -- is mesmerizing. To make the colorful companions shown here, just follow our instructions on the next page for the back-and-forth beading method.

Tool and Supplies
Nail clippers, for snipping fine wire or cord
Jump rings or key rings, for turning your work into jewelry
Needlenose pliers, for bending wire (optional)
Wire cutters, for snipping thick wire
Seed or bugle beads in desired sizes
Wire

Beading How-To
Preparing your work surface
Sit in a nice bright spot, near a window or a lamp. Cover a tray or table with felt or fabric to stop beads from rolling, and keep beads separated by color in shallow dishes or jar lids.

Picking up beads
Beads can be hard to pick up with fingers. Before you know it, they're bouncing all over the floor. To avoid this, lift beads by poking the end of your wire or tip of your needle into the hole, then use your fingers to slide the bead up the wire.

Choosing your beads
The most common beads are round seed beads and long bugle beads. These are available in different sizes at crafts stores and bead shops, online, and from mail-order catalogs.

Choosing your stringing material
We like coated wire, which comes in many colors. It's strong and flexible, so you can string beads along it without a needle. Keep your bead size in mind when choosing a stringing material -- whatever you choose must be able to pass through the bead's hole twice.

Adding a jump ring
To make a hanging charm, start with a jump ring.

1. Bend your wire in half. Place the wire's loop behind the ring.

2. Pass the loose ends of the wire first through ring, then through loop.

3. Pull ends down in front of ring to tighten. If first row has one bead, follow template. If it has more, thread them on alternating sides of the ring; proceed using the template, threading second row to the right of ring. To add a ring on the side, pass wire through before starting a row.