Suncatchers are a fun, simple craft you can do yourself or with young children. They consist of stringing beads onto a thin, clear string such as fishing wire in a decorative line with a large crystal at the end.
So, what are the best beads for suncatchers? The best beads for suncatchers are varied in size, shape, and color. They allow for unique prisms of rainbow light to reflect around the room.
The goal of a suncatcher is to “catch” rays of sunlight and reflect them around the room in rainbow prism shapes. Read on to find out the best beads to help you achieve the brilliant suncatcher of your dreams.
What Are Suncatchers?
Suncatchers are a nice decorative accent to a sunroom, greenhouse, or any room in your home where you want to bring in a little extra light.
To make a suncatcher, you take fishing wire or thin, clear jewelry wire and string on a variety of different beads. These beads can be clear, colorful, or a combination of both.
Usually, at the bottom of a suncatcher, you’ll add one larger, crystal bead that catches a lot of light and helps weigh down the string to hang nicely in the window.
Suncatchers are popular for people who have limited sunlight, such as those who live in apartments with a small number of windows. Putting a suncatcher up in the window can help distribute some more light to the room in fun, rainbow shapes.
Cat owners can put up suncatchers as a fun, hands-free toy for their cats. When a cat sees a sunspot on the wall, they’ll go nuts trying to catch it!
They’re also great decorative additions in a window with plants. The rainbow reflections bring a fun, colorful addition to all the greenery.
If you want to make a suncatcher but have no idea where to start, take a look at the video below from AJ Peterson on YouTube.
How To Choose The Best Beads For Suncatchers
The best beads for suncatchers come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors, and do a great job of projecting rainbow prisms of light from the sun.
Let’s dive into more detail on why these features matter with beads for suncatchers.
Size
Although you can certainly use one particular size of bead for a suncatcher, this will often lead to a suncatcher seeming boring and stiff.
Suncatchers should be whimsical, full of different beads to make them interesting and dynamic additions to the room.
The best suncatcher beads are ones that vary in size. They’re all typically small – less than an inch in size – but they can range a lot within that inch.
The bottom crystal of a suncatcher should always be bigger than the other beads, too. This big change in size is important to help the weight of the suncatcher hang correctly.
Shape
While there are some common shapes to suncatcher beads, such as round or teardrop, the best suncatcher beads offer an even wider variety in shape.
Aside from round or teardrop, it’s nice to include octagon and oval beads, or even branch out into beads in fun shapes such as hearts, stars, and butterflies.
It’s the diversity of the beads that really catch the eye. Not only will different shaped beads help catch and reflect the sunlight better, but they’ll also be a lot more fun to look at even when the sun isn’t shining.
Color
Among the multiple different shapes and sizes of your suncatcher beads, you should also have a variety of colors.
Some of the best suncatcher beads are clear in color, because these reflect the sunlight as it is, but it’s a great idea to incorporate colored beads as well.
Colorful beads such as red, green, and blue can add more dynamics to your suncatcher that make them even more bright, iridescent, and colorful. But even though clear beads might sound boring, most of them are anything but. You can try pure clear beads or clear beads with AB coating.
AB coating is Aurora Borealis coating, which is a reference to the Northern Lights. Clear beads with an AB coating makes them have a rainbow, iridescent appearance.
Both pure clear beads and clear beads with AB coating help to reflect the sun’s rays with brilliant, bright, and colorful sunspots.
Prisms Of Light
Suncatchers are beloved for their ability to reflect light around the room in beautiful prisms and shapes. If your suncatcher beads don’t reflect light well, then they’re not the right beads for a suncatcher.
The best beads for suncatchers take sunlight and reflect it brilliantly around the room in beautiful prisms of light.
Larger crystals, like the ones that go on the bottom of the suncatcher, will reflect a lot more prisms than smaller beads. These usually expand in a wider area of the room when compared to the small beads along the body of the suncatcher.
But the small beads are important too! While you may not see as many sunspots from them, they’re important for adding their own sparkle and light.
The Best Beads For Suncatchers
If you’re ready to make your own suncatcher, check out the best beads for suncatchers below.
Rank | Product | Key Features |
---|---|---|
1. | MerryNine Clear Crystal Ball Prism | Clear, 20 pieces, 0.8”, round shape, great for bottom crystal |
2. | H&D Clear Crystal Chandelier Lamp Lighting Drop Pendants | Clear, 20 pieces, 0.8”, round shape, great for bottom crystal |
3. | H&D HYALINE & DORA Colorful Lamp Prisms Parts | Clear, AB coating, 18 pieces, vary in size from 2.6-3.9”, vary in shapes, great for bottom crystal |
4. | HYBEADS Wholesale Drilled Drop Crystal AB Beads | Clear, AB coating, 100 pieces, 0.23 x 0.47”, teardrop shape, great for bottom crystal |
5. | AB Teardrop Crystal Beads - LONGWIN Waterdrop Faceted Glass Beads | Clear, AB coating, 36 pieces, 0.43 x 0.7”, teardrop shape, great for bottom crystal |
6. | Chakra Natural Stone Beads AB Crystal Beads Charms | Clear, AB coating, 120 pieces, vary in size from 0.31-0.47”, great for along the line |
7. | Teardrop Glass Beads for Suncatcher, Lucky Goddness | Colorful, 200 pieces, 0.31 x 0.43”, teardrop shape, great for along the line, 10 colors |
8. | Glass Octagon Beads - LONGWIN Colorful Crystal Chandelier Parts | Colorful, 100 pieces, 0.55”, octagon shape, great for along the line, 10 colors |
9. | Bingcute Wholesale Briolette Crystal Glass Beads | Colorful, 300 pieces, 0.31”, round shape, great for along the line, 10 colors |
10. | QUEFE Glass Beads | Colorful, 400 pieces, 0.31”, full round and flat round shapes, great for along the line, 20 colors |
11. | Glass Teardrop Beads - LONGWIN Crystal Oval Shaped Faceted Beads | Colorful, 90 pieces, 0.31 x 0.7”, teardrop shape, great for along the line or bottom crystal, 9 colors |
Clear Beads
1. MerryNine Clear Crystal Ball Prism
If you’re on the hunt for clear beads, your first option is a pack of 20 clear, crystal, round-shaped beads.
These beads are larger in size than most at 0.8”, meaning they’d be great for your bottom crystal.
They’re pure clear beads with no AB coating, so they won’t look like much in the shade. However, once they’re put in the spotlight, you’ll see brilliant rainbow reflections.
2. H&D Clear Crystal Chandelier Lamp Lighting Drops Pendants
Those looking for a little more variety in shape for their bottom crystals will be happy with this pack of 12 clear beads from H&D Store.
They’re also much larger in size than our first listing. These crystals range in size from 1.4-2.3” long.
The shapes offered in this pack include teardrop, round, pendant, oval, and others.
These beads are pure clear with no AB coating, so they’ll reflect sunlight in its pure form and create dynamic rainbow prisms around your room.
3. H&D HYALINE & DORA Colorful Lamp Prisms Parts
Another great set of crystal beads with variety is this one from H&D HYALINE & DORA Store.
This set of 18 clear crystals is our first set with the colorful AB coating, giving these an iridescent look even out of the sun.
These are the biggest beads on our list, ranging from 2.6-3.9” long.
Each of these beads has a smaller bead already connected on top with a metal hoop, giving you a statement piece to add to the end of your suncatchers.
4. HYBEADS Wholesale Drilled Drop Crystal AB Beads
If you’re looking for a higher quantity of clear beads, then look no further than these crystals from HYBEADS.
In this pack, you get 100 clear crystal beads with AB coating that are about 0.23 x 0.47” in size.
While they may be smaller than the other clear beads we’ve listed so far, you also get a lot more of them.
You can incorporate them throughout the suncatcher dangling a little sideways, or you can use them at the bottom of your suncatcher for a smaller end piece.
5. 36pcs AB Teardrop Crystal Beads – LONGWIN Waterdrop Faceted Glass Beads
Another beautiful option for your clear crystal beads are these teardrop shaped beads with AB coating.
You get 36 pieces that are all around 0.43 x 0.7” in size, or you can get the pack of 72 beads in the smaller size of 0.27 x 0.55”.
No matter what size you get, you’ll fall in love with the gorgeous colors of the AB coating on these clear beads, as well as the sleek and beautiful thin teardrop shape.
These work best as the bottom crystal on your suncatcher.
6. Chakra Natural Stone Beads AB Crystal Beads Charms
Our final recommended product for clear beads is this 120 pack from the Hicarer Store.
While these may seem more intended for children’s jewelry than suncatchers, we think they’d make a great addition to any suncatcher.
Their smaller size means they’ll work great along the line of your suncatcher rather than at the end.
The fun shapes include hearts, stars, butterflies, diamonds, triangles, flowers, and more.
These are the perfect clear beads to use when creating suncatchers with children. Just be sure to pay attention to the age restriction on the packaging to prevent choking.
Colorful Beads
7. Teardrop Glass Beads for Suncatcher, Lucky Goddnes
Switching gears to colorful beads, our first selection includes 200 beads in 10 different colors.
These beads are 0.31 x 0.43” and come in all the traditional colors you’d want to incorporate, such as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and more.
Rather than the clear beads listed above, these colorful beads have a space running through the middle of the bead where you can string them on standing straight up, rather than looping the string through a small hole at the top.
If you want more color variety, you can get the 15 color pack of beads from the same company that comes with 450 pieces.
8. Glass Octagon Beads – LONGWIN Colorful Crystal Chandelier Parts
We love this pack of 100 glass octagon beads in 10 different colors because of the versatility.
These beads have two small holes, each on two opposite edges of the octagon shape.
You can either pull the string through both holes to hang the octagon beads standing up, or only pull the string through one hole and stack them lying down.
Either way creates a fun, different dynamic to your suncatcher than the traditional beads you pull straight through.
You’ll find common colors such as red, blue, and green, with some other colors like brown and amber.
9. Bingcute Wholesale Briolette Crystal Glass Beads
The Bingcute pack of 300 beads is another great option for colorful suncatcher beads.
These are round-shaped beads that are 0.55” in size, but can be bought smaller or larger.
They come in 10 different colors, each one multi-faceted to project lots of sunspots around the room.
In contrast to some of the other color varieties on this list, these are intended to emulate different birthstones such as emerald, sapphire, amethyst, and topaz.
The gem-like colors are a nice addition to any suncatcher.
10. QUEFE Glass Beads
This set of beads is also 0.55” in size, but you get 400 of them in 20 different colors. That’s a lot of variety!
Half of these beads are crystal-like with translucent colors and multi-faceted sides. The other half are more perfectly rounded beads with a smooth surface that have a 2-color combination in the bead design.
We love this pack because you just can’t beat the variety. If you want a suncatcher that catches people’s eyes in and out of the sun, then this set of beads is perfect for you.
11. Lot 90pcs Glass Teardrop Beads – LONGWIN 8×18 Crystal Oval Shaped Faceted Beads
The last set of beads is special because the colors are so different from many of the other packs.
Instead of your traditional rainbow colors, these teardrop-shaped beads come in colors such as brown, ruby, grey, and more.
These colors are more subdued compared to the bright colors of the other colorful packs, making them a great choice for those who like a little more softness to their suncatchers.
They’re 0.31 x 0.7” and would work great along the line of the suncatcher or as the bottom, larger crystal.
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