Now, when I first published the photos of my Beehive beaded box, I had a lot of requests for a pattern.
I’m sorry to disappoint you all, but I’m not going to be publishing the pattern for this project. However, I do have good news…
So, rather than do nothing, I have come up with a cunning plan. You can make your own beehive beaded box if you wish. Let me tell you how…
Components of the Beehive Beaded Box
So, what goes into making a beehive beaded box? Have a little look at the photo above…
We have the box itself. So, that is of course component one. That comprises a structure with six drawers around the base, then a top section that lifts off to reveal one set of storage space. Within this stop section is a second storage box with a hinged lid.
- Then, we have the decoration. This comprises:
- The butterfly
- Bees to act as drawer and lid handles
- A selection of beaded flowers that I stitched separately and then add to the box
That’s it! When you break it down, this gives you a set of elements from which you can pick and choose in order to create your own beehive beaded box.
How to make your own beehive
Now, let’s take each element one by one. I have now published a pattern for each. So, this means you can pick and choose which you want in order to create your own version.
Get the beaded box pattern here>>
The Beaded Box
This was always going to be the most difficult element for me to deal with. My original beehive took weeks to make and it contains several hundred grams of size 10 Delica beads. It measures about 6″ wide by 6″ high.
That is one huge investment, both financially (that’s a lot of money to be spending on beads for one project) and in terms of time. So, realistically, how many people will want to do this?
I don’t have an answer to that! But I did come up with a helpful solution for everyone who wants to make this style of beaded box. I have just created and written a pattern for a scaled down version.
It still has exactly the same components: the six drawers, top section that conceals storage space, and then an extra box in that section, with a hinged lid.
Get the beaded box pattern here>>
The only difference is it’s a little smaller. So, this one measures about 3″ across the base and is about 2.5″ high. And it needs just 80g of size 10 Delicas, rather than the hundreds that I used on the beehive!
How would such a box be useful? Well, it’s actually a perfect pill box!
A little aside…
My current treatment for CFS…
(which is working brilliantly by the way!… it’s taking a long time to heal, but my body really is healing now and I’m so much better than I was this time last year. So, I’m dreaming about where I could be this time next year!)
…involves me taking a lot of tablets each day. It’s easy to forget or miss a dose. So, I can now see why pill boxes (you know, the seven day type) were invented! Let’s face it… this pretty pill box is going to be far more fun to use than a boring old set of plastic boxes with lids!
I’ve also seen those pill boxes used as bead storage. So, if you don’t need to be monitoring tablets, how about storing little packs of beads in the drawers and boxes?
Get the beaded box pattern here>>
Back to the beaded box…
So, let’s say you still want that beehive. No problem. I wanted to make a different design, so that’s why I created this colourful meadow of flowers. But you could use the honey colours for the box base and make it more like a beehive if you want.
Then, as you can see, you can still decorate it with larger flowers. Maybe you add some bees. And why not also a butterfly?
Let me tell you how to do all that…
(Oh, and don’t forget, you can grab the pattern here>>)
Adding your own decoration
So, now you’ve got the box pattern, you just need to decide what (if any) additional decoration you want to add…
Get the Queen bee pattern here>>
If you want to add some bees to your flower meadow, that will work. I suggest you use size 15 beads to make your bees.
Get the beaded butterfly pattern here>>
Then there’s the option of the butterfly… Again, you’ll want to use size 15s rather than the size 11 that I originally used. But this little visitor would look lovely and cheery in your flower meadow!
Finally, how about some flowers? I used a couple of Dahlias on my pill box and I think they add the perfect finishing touch! I was able to just stitch the central pearl straight onto my box. So, that was really simple to do.
More Flower Options
I now have patterns available for all the different flowers on my beehive beaded box. (Well, all except one – that was a freeform design, so I’m not going to be able to document that in a pattern!)
Get the Tee Beads Flower pattern here>>
The Tee beads flower is pretty prominent on the box. If you want to use this on the pill box meadow design, then there’s really only one place it will fit. I think you would have to attach it to the lid of the top box. But it would make a fun topper/lid handle for sure!
Get the Superduo Flower Pattern here>>
Then, my Superduo flower would be another option for topping the lid. It will also fit on the side of the pill box. Just take care that you don’t obstruct any drawers or the top section. This flower doesn’t have quite the flexibility of the Dahlias. But it will look great!
Get the Peyote stitch Daffodil pattern here>>
Last, but not least, the other pattern you could use is my Peyote Stitch Daffodil. That is certainly small enough and perfect to sit on any of the pill box sides.
So, which will you choose? Maybe colouring is going to dictate your choices. So, if you need any helpful advice on putting together colour schemes, try this link>> (It will open in a new window, so you won’t lose your place here!…Then you can come back and start putting your beehive together).
Over to you…
So, just grab whichever pattern(s) you need. Remember, the pill box on its own is lovely. The ornamentation is entirely up to you!
Then, when you’ve made your own version, send me a photo. I’d love to see what you all do. I’ll add your versions to the beaded box gallery to inspire others too!
