Joan Tayler explains her process for BFBs(big fat beads) in this useful step through. She uses grommets but all sorts of decorative eyelets work great for this as well and you can find them in the scrapbooking sections of craft stores and in hardware stores as grommets. This tutorial uses Sculpey Ultralight to make large, lightweight beads and these days you could use Sculpey’s Soufflé clay as well for the same effect.
I would probably do these all in one go – make the bead base, wrap it (or cover it in cane), core it with a straw or tube, pop the eyelets in and bake it. Pop the eyelets off, add a little glue, pop back in. I’m impatient though.