Mood Beads

These mood beads change color with the temperature of the surrounding air!

I was at a craft show this weekend and I saw these strange beads that changed into all sorts of wild colors this weekend for the first time. It turns out they’re called “mood beads” and they’re still relatively rare to find!

I’ve written about Sol Beads that change color based on how much sunlight they’re exposed to, but these beads are a little different. Remember the mood rings of the sixties? These beads take the same basic idea and update it for modern times. They’re promoted as “thermo-sensitive liquid crystal beads that change color as you wear them” which means that they change color as the temperature changes. But instead of just being embedded in a chunky ring, these mood beads come in all sorts of shapes and sizes! There are traditional barrel beads of different sizes and shapes, but there are also pendants and small rings and a number of other little accessory items.

Mood Beads aren’t just beads anymore!

There are a number of stores selling mood jewelry online, but the online bead store with the biggest selection of these mood beads appears to be BeadaBead.com. They have all the regular mood beads, they have some mood pendants, mood bead base supplies and even some jewelry items already made. Mood beads have been around since 2005, but I’m surprised that I haven’t seen these little guys before!

In addition to having the largest selection of mood beads I could find, BeadaBead also has some fun facts and information about moon beads, including a fun color chart of meaning and even a little bit of an explanation of how they work. I’m was also amazed to read this on their website:

Mood jewelry / rings was invented by Joshua Reynolds, who also is know for his invention the Thighmaster. Joshua is heir to the R.J. Reynolds tobacco fortune the makers of Marlboro Cigarettes.

I thought this was pretty cool so I looked up mood rings on Wikipedia and found that there is actually some controversy around mood rings and that they were really invented by someone named Marvin Wernick. Now you have your little bit of bead jewelry trivia for the next party you attend!

These mood beads really aren’t that much more expensive than regular beads, but I don’t think I’d make a whole necklace or bracelet out of them. I think they would probably serve better to be spaced out amongst a number of other beads which might also offset some of the amazing colors they display! I could easily see using the pendants alone on a wire or surrounded by a few simple adornments.

If any of you use mood rings in any of your jewelry items, I’d love to see and display them here!