Beaded Ornamental Corn – A Fun Fall Craft!

November 1, 2023Rebecca Richardson

Growing up, everyone in my family had a specific job on Thanksgiving day. Mine was always creating something festive for the table centerpiece. Some years, I would collect foliage from outside; others, I would prepare ahead of time and take home pumpkins and gourds from the grocery store. It wasn’t until many years later that I discovered the ultimate autumnal craft that both looks great as a centerpiece AND doubles as a little gift of gratitude – beaded ornamental corn!

Autumn is the perfect season to learn a new craft. While the weather outside becomes colder and darker, we have even more opportunities to brighten our spaces inside and fuel our creativity. While listening to ICAN radio this month, try this relatively simple craft using the directions below:

What you’ll need (for one corn):

4 pipe cleaners of the same color
Approximately 120 pony beads consisting of 3-5 different colors

How to make the beaded corn:

Step 1: Create the framework

Take your four pipe cleaners and line them up horizontally. Then, grab the middle of the pipe cleaner bundle with both hands and tightly twist. Finally, fan out each pipe cleaner strand as evenly as you can into the shape of a star – there will be eight strands total.

Step 2: Add the beads

This is the fun part! Add 15 of your selected beads to each of the eight pipe cleaner strands in whatever pattern you want. Be sure to keep the strands lying on a flat surface so the beads don’t fall off when you move onto a new strand.
Maybe try a different variation of your bead colors on each strand and see how many different combinations you can make!

If you need inspiration, here are some examples of ornamental corn (hint: imperfection is the name of the game!):

Step 3: Shape your corn

Once all eight pipe cleaner strands are covered in beads, carefully pull each strand up by the tip and gather. Then, tightly twist the ends together once or twice and fan out to look like a corn husk.