Upper Midwest Bead Society
  • Home
  • About UMBS
  • Membership
  • Calendar
  • Members Only
  • Gallery
    • Members Spotlight
    • Videos >
      • UMBS Youtube
  • Links
  • Blog
  • Support Our Community
    • Support your Local Bead Stores
    • Ukraine Support
  • Bead Retreat
  • Sponsorship Page
  • Peace Chain Project
  • Lets Bead Live Videos
  • Monthly Meeting Videos

*******************************************
Peace Chain

Youtube link
Picture
Please join us in our wishes for World Peace through the TOHO Peace Chain
Project, the project that uses rings made with a single gram of beads to create a
mile-long chain. Bead by Bead, Link by Link, we hope to connect together
through our common love of beads and create something showing our wishes
and hopes for a peaceful world.
The Upper Midwest Bead Society (UMBS), TOHO Beads, The Japanese
Beading Association, TeamTOHO, and Lotus Beads and Jewelry are joining
forces to take the TOHO Peace Chain Project to new lengths by actually
connecting them together and creating the longest beaded Peace Chain in the
world! We hope that you will participate!




Please join us in our wishes for World Peace through the TOHO Peace Chain Project, the project that uses rings made with a single gram of beads to create a mile-long chain.  Bead by Bead, Link by Link, we hope to connect together through our common love of beads and create something showing our wishes and hopes for a peaceful world.

The Upper Midwest Bead Society (UMBS), TOHO Beads, The Japanese Beading Association, TeamTOHO, and Lotus Beads and Jewelry are joining forces to take the TOHO Peace Chain Project to new lengths by actually connecting them together and creating the longest beaded Peace Chain in the world!   We hope that you will participate!

TOHO Beads, manufacturer of premium glass beads, was founded in Hiroshima after WWII to bring color back into the world. The Peace Ring Project was created in 2015 by TeamTOHO, a non-profit organization made up of TOHO Beads and two American wholesale distributors of TOHO Beads.  We created the Peace Ring Project to connect beaders around the world together with our common language and love of beads. Unfortunately, the world is a more challenging place than ever to navigate. We feel we need to go bigger with our project this year to honor 80 years since the end of the War. Will you join us to turn this ring project into a larger chain?

There are many ways you can join our Peace Chain Project
We have a one-year goal.  We would like everyone around the world to gather together friends, family, and new and old acquaintances to join us in this monumental effort by working together to make a one-mile-long beaded Peace Chain with the goal of promoting peace.

1. Use the included Project Information Flyers and Instructions to learn the 3 easy steps in making your Peace Ring. You can also follow the directions on our website: 
https://www.umbs.org/peace-chain-project.html
  • Please feel free to share this set of instructions with anyone whom you think may enjoy them.  Consider coordinating your groups to make beaded rings. 
  • If you don’t have access to TOHO seed beads and need them for you and your group to create rings for this Peace Ring Chain Project to send back to us to connect together with our chain, please contact us at: [email protected], and we will get you the supplies you need.  
  • Please make the beaded rings using any seed beads. Make rings between 1" and 3" in diameter, using Peace Ring stitch, or any stitch you like, Daisy chain, Peyote stitch, Brick stitch, or even just string and tie together pretty colors of seed beads. This is a perfect way for anyone of any beading level to participate. 
  • Please don’t use stretchy string as it tends to dry and crack.  
  • We would like our Peace Chain to last for years! Make beaded rings into a beaded chain by linking them together by securely linking each ring to the previous one as you sew them up.  
  • Link your rings together with other beaded rings created by your friends and family to create longer segments of chain.
  • We hope you will think peaceful thoughts as you enjoy making these rings, thereby infusing the rings themselves with calm and happy feelings. 
2. Connect with us by posting a picture of your Peace Rings or chains on social media (Instagram, Facebook, and/or TikTok) with the hashtag #TOHOPEACERING and/or tag us @TOHO_bead. TOHO beads will share your post internationally and also donate Japanese Yen to a peace charity in Hiroshima for each tag throughout the next year.
3. You can send your segment of the chain to 
Lotus Beads
Attn: Rochelle – Peace Chain Project

368 North Garden

Bloomington, MN 55425

We will connect your segments of chain to ours throughout the year to create 1 mile of chain.  This chain will stretch all the way around the Mall of America!
4. We invite you to come from all over the world to the Mall of America on August 6th, 2026, to bring segments of your Peace Chain with you and join us to commemorate the Day of Peace for a "Grand Connection." During this event, we will connect all of the remaining Peace Chain segments together.
5. For more information, follow our Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/umbsmn.  
Toho Peace Ring Facebook
If you have questions, please contact us at
[email protected] or by messaging the Upper Midwest Bead Society on Facebook or Instagram.

We look forward to working with you all towards our common goal of world peace.

UMBS Peace Chain Committee

Rochelle Peterson

Jan Carlson

Paulette Mazurek

​Hannah Rosner

[email protected]

Commemorate the Day of Peace in Japan by creating TOHO Peace Rings with Rochelle Jay and start making a Peace chain to connect together in August 2026 at the Mall of America!
Let's Bead Live is a free zoom and UMBS Facebook Live event for everyone. Tell your friends and share the link to join us for a very special day to honor the day of Peace in Japan. We are in our 10th year of the Peace Ring Project and it's getting bigger every year! We are proud to announce the Peace Chain project and we need your help to create a 1 mile long beaded chain to be connected around the Mall of America in August 2026. 
Peace Chain
​Bead by Bead, Link by Link, connect together through beading 1 gram of beads at a time. Let's create a mile long peace chain to help connect together all that is good in the world.  The chain is being created to help commemorate the Day of Peace in Japan and have a "Grand Connection" of beaders from around the world to attempt to set a world record of 1 mile long beaded chain, to create the longest Peace chain in the world.
The Grand Connection will be August 6th 2026 at the Mall of America in Bloomington MN.   This is an important Date in Japanese Culture and one that carries significant meaning for both countries.  The word bead has its roots meaning " to pray".  As we sew the peace ring may much positive energy be released for peace in the world.

You may contact Rochelle to ask for Aikos to make the rings with At [email protected]
Get a head start and watch Rochelle to learn the stitch on the link provided below:
 

BobbybeadyoutubeTutorial


​Below are the patterns needed to make peace rings.

Picture
Picture
Picture
Below is the patterns needed to make peace rings.
peace_ring.png
File Size: 298 kb
File Type: png
Download File

peace_ring_-_grande_connection_2026_w_org__1_.png
File Size: 1016 kb
File Type: png
Download File

peace_ring_instructionupdated.pdf
File Size: 559 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

peace_ring_project_-_corrected__1_.png
File Size: 2371 kb
File Type: png
Download File

peace_ring_bead_kit_pattern.pdf
File Size: 321 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Send your completed Peace Chains to:
Lotus Beads
Mall of America
368 North Garden
​Bloomington MN 55425

Featured Beth Arendt UMBS Member and beader of Peace Rings!  

Picture

Jan Carlson, Member, Peace Chain (Current One) 

Picture

Home

About

Calendar

Membership

Links

Gallery
Having trouble with this site?  Contact the Web Coordinator.
Copyright © 2008-2021 Upper Midwest Bead Society.  All rights reserved.
  • Home
  • About UMBS
  • Membership
  • Calendar
  • Members Only
  • Gallery
    • Members Spotlight
    • Videos >
      • UMBS Youtube
  • Links
  • Blog
  • Support Our Community
    • Support your Local Bead Stores
    • Ukraine Support
  • Bead Retreat
  • Sponsorship Page
  • Peace Chain Project
  • Lets Bead Live Videos
  • Monthly Meeting Videos