by Adriana Disano

Created on: August 29, 2010

Rosaries are used for many purposes throughout many different religious traditions. When making a beaded rosary, the keys to making your rosary unique are using items of personal power and keeping in mind the prayer you will be using when praying with the rosary.

The first step in creating your beaded rosary is choosing your materials. You may choose to use Swarovski crystal beads, or authentic gemstone beads which are generally more expensive. Consider the personal power you will be adding to the rosary before praying with it. What is the purpose of the rosary? To deepen your relationship with God? To heal an illness with holy power? Keep these factors in mind when choosing your materials.

The best rule in choosing the beads you will use for your beaded rosary is to use beads that you think will deepen your spiritual experience. Bloodstone, for example, is said to represent the blood of Christ upon the green grass of the Earth. Does it allow you to feel that you are deepening your relationship with Christ by using this gemstone? It doesn't even have to be that complicated; you may choose your favorite color, or a representation of your faith. Make sure that your materials will be easy to string together.

The Catholic Prayer of the Rosary requires that you use a certain number of beads of particular sizes to represent Hail Marys. However, rosaries can be useful in all religious traditions for prayer, and whatever brings you closer to God will bring success to your prayer. If you will be performing the Catholic Prayer of the Rosary, you will need 50 small beads and 5 large beads. Pick out beads which have meaning for you accordingly.

You may choose to make beads on your own. If you choose to do this, you will end up creating a truly unique rosary! You may make custom beads using clay, glass, paper, or even flower petals.

When making beads out of polymer clay, roll the correct amount of beads out of the clay between your hands using a circular motion. This should create a spherical shape out of the clay. You may paint the beads before or after boiling the clay. I recommend boiling instead of baking as it allows you to add scent to your beads and allows you to mix the beads while they are boiling, keeping them from sticking to wax paper that you may use while baking.

To add scent to your polymer clay beads, first paint them. You may have already picked out a color of clay that is already appropriate for your rosary; in this case, you do

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