Beads are most easily pierced before firing, although they can be drilled afterward. To pierce a bead, use a skewer or needle. Hold the bead between your fingers and poke a hole almost all the way through it, not allowing the needle to come out the other side. Then withdraw the needle and poke it through from the other side. (This avoids creating an unsightly lump of clay around the edges of the pierced hole.)

If your bead’s hole is too small for the cord you want to string it on, you can use a needle file to ream out and enlarge the hole.