I have carved my own beads out of horn and such and I use string a lot...Now I should go through my jewelry and check that stuff out see if I can add any to my hair

anything you can put on a dread or string on can be a decoration. I have some bits & pieces of old jewelry that i string in. Some people can get crazy creative with it, have fun! You can use polymer clay to make your own beads, or learn to wire wrap & make those. Jellyfish Joy (Facebook or Etsy) makes glass beads & he does custom orders so you could give him a size & an idea & he could whip it up for ya.

a bead is 1 of 2 things
1 something with a hole in it
2 a hole with something around it

so to make a bead f9nd something and drill a hole in it..or
find a hole and wrap somethung around it
clay makes a good hole holder
wood stone or bone is a good place to add a hole