Fashion Desk

You may have started making stuff with beads when you were a child. For some people, it may have grown into a part time hobby, and for some it became a part time job selling items made from beads. However, the use of beads has been around for thousands of years. In the beginning, there weren’t as many colours or options of course. The beads would have been more man-made, but most of the reasons for using the beads are still the same today as it was years ago.

Beads UK Beginnings

Nearly every culture has used beads at one point or another during history. Some of the earlier uses were for trading with each other and other cultures, as well as for decorating anything that would look better adorned with beads. In historical times, the primary product used in beads is bone, wood, glass, and gems. Even beads in the UK were started like this. Even before the production with materials, seeds and nuts may have been used in the same fashion as more modern beads. It was quite common in tribal communities to put beads throughout their hair and to wear in jewelry as it is today.

Painting and Artwork on Beads

It became very traditional and part of each culture as well, to paint beads and mark them with different symbols. Often people would enjoy collecting a variety of beads; some became more valuable than others, which contributed to their trading power. In the UK, there weren’t as many tribal traditions, but cultural for the area. Over the course of the years, the use of beads has now become more of craft in making items with the beads, versus painting them. Often the painting might still be done by hand, but in a factory where they are mass produced for large quantities to resell. Now you know a little more about how and why beadwork started.