A Stunning DIY Bead Garland Comes Together From An Old Egg Carton

The list of common household items you can repurpose into unique DIY home decor sometimes seems endless. And it's hard not to appreciate just how easy it can be to keep items in your home and out of the trash — while adorning the home to boot. Egg cartons are no exception. While these ubiquitous cardboard containers are generally recyclable, why not make the most of the money you paid for those eggs by repurposing the packaging into something pretty? Tear the egg carton into pieces, blend the pieces with craft glue and water, and shape beads. Once they're dry and hard, you can use them to create a garland.

A single egg carton (containing a dozen eggs) and half a 7.6-ounce bottle of school glue make about 14 beads, each a little under 1 inch wide with a hole punched through the center. A pack of 6 bottles of Elmer's Liquid School Glue costs close to $14; otherwise, any other brand of school glue should work. You'll need an old blender you don't mind getting covered in glue and cardboard scraps; something waterproof to put your torn-up egg carton in, like a large glass jar or a high-sided bowl; and a sieve and cheesecloth bag or piece of cheesecloth. You'll also need something to pierce a hole in each bead — for example, a knitting needle, a bamboo chopstick, or a thick BBQ skewer — and a crafting surface the glue won't stick to, like this Foepoge Extra Large Non Stick Clear Silicone Mat, which goes for about $17.

Ready to create dreamy hanging decor with this easy egg carton DIY? First, use your hands to tear the egg carton (or cartons, if you're using a few) into pieces a little larger than a postage stamp. Pop them into the waterproof container you chose for soaking the cardboard and pour water in until it covers all the pieces. Once the cardboard is soggy, pour everything into your blender and blend until the mixture is very smooth.

Line a sieve with a cheesecloth and pour the pulp through. Squeeze the cloth to remove excess water until the pulp feels dry to the touch. Pour the pulp out into a bowl and add about 4 fluid ounces of school glue. Mix thoroughly with your hands until the glue and pulp are fully combined.

To form the beads, take about a tablespoon full of glue-covered pulp from the bowl and roll it around in your hands until it forms a ball. Dip your index finger in a little bit of fresh glue and use it to smooth the outside of the ball. Pick up your hole-making implement of choice and, holding the ball securely between your thumb and finger, poke it through the center of the ball. Remove the plug of pulp pushed out by the stick and reshape the bead as needed. Leave it on your non-stick mat to dry and repeat until you've made around 14 similarly sized beads.

Thread the beads onto a length of natural twine, alternating each ball with a triangular bunting flag, and hang them across a window or a wall. You could also create a simple garland with just the beads, add a tassel at each end, and lay the strand over a bowl or basket, drape it over a book, or tie it around the neck of a vase in a classy layered mantle, shelf, or tabletop vignette. A single strand of beads looped around a mirror makes a pretty wall feature. If you're an experienced DIYer (and have the patience to make lots of egg carton beads), craft a beaded chandelier by looping concentric strands of beads from a wooden hoop and hanging it from the ceiling with a black chain.

Use a plain colored egg carton and add powdered pigment to the egg carton scraps before you blend them to a pulp. (Use gloves to form them, unless you want rainbow-hued hands.) Red and green dyed beads would make a unique garland for a Christmas tree. You could even paint the odd bead gold for a pop of luxury. Use pastel dye hues for Easter themed beads, and alternate them with craft cutouts like these Sfoni Colorful Wooden Rabbit Ornaments for $11. Similarly, DIY a boho Halloween garland for your mantle with orange and black-dyed paper mache beads, black twine, and fall leaves, faux pumpkins, or cutouts of witches riding broomsticks, spiderwebs, and skeletons.