This weekend I had a quick trip away and came home so inspired! While I was shopping, I came across the cutest rainbow abacus for $75! I’ll actually be helping a friend with their nursery shortly, so I thought it’d be fun to try to make my own! Here’s my tutorial for how to make a DIY rainbow abacus. And I promise, it’ll be more affordable than $75 😉
how to make a DIY rainbow abacus
First of all, I’m going to show you the inspiration image of the rainbow abacus I found while shopping. It’s so cute!
Let’s start with the video tutorial so you get an overview on what I did. Then, I’ll dive in with more details below:
If the video doesn’t work here, you can watch it on YouTube here. I’d be over the moon happy if you subscribed to my YouTube channel! Videos are actually released on YouTube first (usually the night before they’re published on the blog). Thank you!SUPPLIES
- 4 Gold Craft Hoops– 14″, 12″, 10″ and 8″
- Wood Beads- 24 of the 1″ size and 24 of the 3/4″ size
- Paint in the color of your choice. I used Beloved Pink, Lamplit, Spring Reflection, and Watery
- 2×4 board cut to 16″ long
- Gorilla glue
step 1
Start by cutting the gold craft hoops with a Dremel (make sure it has a metal cutting head on it). I marked the half way point and then slowly sawed them in half. This puts off a lot of sparks so make sure to wear goggles and gloves!
Also, cut a 2×4 to 16″ long. This’ll be the base. Make sure to sand it really well! This’ll be a toddler’s toy so you want it as smooth as humanly possible!
step 2
Next, it’s time to paint the beads! For this, I strung the beads on yarn I had on hand and then suspended it. This made it so I could paint the beads well and not get paint on the abacus. I did two coats of paint on all the beads. The bathroom was a great spot to paint in as well!
step 3
And now, it’s time to drill the holes for the half circle hoops to go in. I drilled down 3/4″ and carefully marked where each hole should go first. It was slow precise work, but it turned out so nice!
step 4
Finally, if your small beads are too little to go around the hoop, drill the inside out with a 3/16″ drill bit.
Lastly, put the beads on the hoops and glue them onto the wood base. I used gorilla glue for this and it is holding strong!
AFTER

Ta da! Here’s how the abacus turned out! I’ll be honest, when I was assembling it, I was disappointed with myself that I didn’t make pink and yellow the outside arch- I should have painted it differently so the rainbow would go pink, yellow, green and blue. Oh well! I still adore it!
Don played with it for a minute and had fun! Hopefully our friend’s baby will love it too! I like that it can be cute room decor that also works as a toy or leanring center as kids!
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