Minimal Monday: Beaded Cocktail Pick Tutorial

I’m popping in today to start the busy week with a quick tutorial on making the pretty little jeweled cocktail picks I used for my Drunken Cranberry Meatballs in THIS POST.  I had a lot of fun making them, and I even made a couple of extra sets to give as host and hostess gifts.   You can make these with any random assortment of beads you have around the house, or pick up some at a craft store.  I actually went a little glam and used semi precious beads I had leftover from a jewelry making phase I went through a while back.  But gaudy plastic beads will work just as well for this.  They give a dressed up look to your appetizer platter.

I used them the other day with with bite sized mini cheese balls.  Roll out tiny scoops of goat cheese and then coat with crushed walnuts or pistachios.  The picks add a special touch, even if you’re just serving cubes of cheddar.

This idea is so easy you don’t really need a tutorial, but here goes:

Gather your supplies:

• toothpicks
• assorted beads
• glue, you can use household glue, or a stronger superglue type.  The stronger the glue the more sturdy your picks will be so I recommend superglue.  But if you are working with children, plain old white glue will be fine.
• a container of grains like rice or quinoa for supporting the drying picks

Make your picks

• Dip the tip of a toothpick into the glue.
• Add a bead to the end.  Glue a smaller bead on top of the base bead.
• Stand the toothpick upright in a container of rice or grain so it will remain vertical while it dries.

I’ve seen picks like this sell for lots of money in fancy little cheese and wine stores, and they’re not nearly as pretty as these.   Hope you have fun!