Bead Color Ideas: Candy Cane Twist

Now that December is rolling along at it’s usual speedy pace, I think it’s safe to take a look at some color palette ideas in traditional red, green, and white. This trio represents many of our favorite holiday themes, like ribbon candy, snow, holly berries, and of course, decked out Christmas trees. To add a twist and a challenge, I decided to stretch the palettes out a little bit by using slightly non-traditional colors. Instead of holly red, pine green, and show white, I looked for assorted shades that would still have a festive vibe when used together.

I started with the easiest approach first - opaques. The pepper red seed beads are certainly Christmasy, but would they still be jolly with the addition of matte vanilla and cactus green? I was excited to discover that the palette was not only December-worthy, but delicious as well. I think Pepper Pistachio would look fantastic under the tree.

Next, things got really wild when I replaced white with lovely Picasso ovals in a soft brown, and added some garnet coat ovals for red. I think almost any shade of dark green would look fantastic with this pair, but turquoise lined pale amber added an extra layer of woodsy flair. It’s got both the pine needles and the sap! Whenever I look at this trio, all I can think of is a Log Cabin, with bunches of holly around the edge, and firelight in the windows.

For the final palette, I replaced Santa red with transparent raspberry. I couldn’t resist pairing it up with tasty lime green, which always reminds me of Jell-o. To steer these bright colors away from fruity, I added silver-lined crystal 6/o’s for a dash of sparkle. Now it’s a bowl of Christmas Punch!

Do you have a trio of go-to colors for Christmas beadweaving?

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