How to make a Christmas Necklace Tutorial
Edited by JPwithLove Brought to you by Shadow Jewels
This sweet necklace cna be made with any kind of beads, chain and connector. The possible combinations are endless and easy to make. Stringing the beads on metal pins makes a very sturdy rosary style necklace that will last a lifetime. For this necklace I am using some vintage West German 8 mm pressed glass bead and brass findings.
Difficulty level: Beginner / easy
What do you need for this project?
Tools and supplies
round nose pliers
flat or chain nose pliers
shears or wire cutters
jump ring tool (looks like a ring)
seven 8mm beads more if you use smaller beads
ten 4mm jump rings
about 12 inches of chain
7 eye pins
clasp
One bird connector
one lobster clasp
one 7 or 8 mm jump ring for clasp
Use round nose pliers to make a loops
Place a bead on one of the eye pins. Using your shears or wire cutters, clip off the end of the pin leaving about 1/4 inch sticking out
Using the flat nose pliers, bend the sticking out part of the pin are right angles, getting as close as possible to the bead.
Grasp the beaded pin by the eye(loop) with your left hand. Using the round nose pliers in your right hand, twist your wrist to curl the sticking out part of the pin to make an eye.
This is not difficult, but it takes practice. Make several before you start, so you feel comfortable doing it.
You can cut the pin to remove the bead and start over if needed.
Your goal is to make an eye that looks like the first one - same size, same orientation and closed completely. Use the flat nose pliers to straighten and tighten your eye loop. Repeat until you all 7 beads are on their pins.
Now we are going to hook all of the beads together in a rosary style chain using the 4mm jump rings
Using your left hand, hold a jump ring firmly with your flat nose pliers. Using the jump ring tool on your right hand twist your wrist to open jump ring. Add 2 or your beaded pins. Twist your wrist to close the jump ring, making sure the ends line up tightly.
Twist back and forth to line up the ends of the jump ring if you need to.
Continue this process until all of your beaded pins are hooked together in a chain.
Using a ruler, measure your beaded chain. You should have about 5 or 6 inches. If your beads are small, you will need more of them to make a chain this long, or less beads if they are larger.
Now the hard part - you need to do the math . I want my necklace to be 18 inches long. Subtract the length of your beaded chain from 18, and that tells me i need 12 inches of chain, or 6 inches on each side.
Hook the bird connector to one end of your beaded chain with jump ring.
Hook the chain piese to each side of your beaded lenght using the jump rings.
Measure the chain and cut necessary length for each side of the necklace.
The chain I am using has links that open using the jump ring tool. If your chain has soldered links, cut it with the shears.
Attach the lobster clasp to one end of the necklace with a jump ring.Attach the 7 mm jump ring to the other end.
And You're done !!!
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This tutorial was brought to you by
Shadow Jewels. Shadow design wonderful Shabby chic and Victorian style jewelry using vintage rhinestone, lampwork glass, crystal beads and Genuine gemstone briolettes.
