Aug 3, 2013

DIY Simple Necklace Tutorial

I woke up early this morning and was playing around with my jewelry stash.  I should have been sleeping in, it is Saturday after all but this body of mine is aging and sleeping in is just something it doesn't do anymore.  Sad!  However, the benefit of it all is I had a quiet house to work in and lots of creativity swirling in my brain.  As a result I made this and a few others like it and was having fun just creating.  I liked it but knew I had done something good when Miss M came into the room and said "Oh, I'm stealing that!"  I guess if she likes it, it means it's good enough to do a tutorial on, right?

So, want to make your own?  Here's how. 

It's super simple.

Here's what you need:

1- Head pin with a loop on the end
5- small beads in the color of your choice
2- piece of chain, 9 inches long each
4 - little jump rings
1- medium sized jump ring
1- Lobster claw clasp

Plus, you will also need Needle nose pliers and wire cutters

Step 1:  Put your beads on your head pin.  

Quick Tip:  I chose 5 beads, you can chose any number you'd like but just keep in mind that odd numbers tend to look better.  So, go with 3, 5 or 7 for the best end result.

Step 2:  Using your pliers, make a 90 degree bend just past the last bead.  You should have something that looks like the photo above.

Step 3:  After you make your bend, pinch your long piece near the bend, and wrap the wire around one tip of your needle nose pliers.  (sorry, the photo doesn't show this very well) 

Step 4:  Using your wire cutters, cut off the excess wire and then using your needle nose pliers again, clean up, and close the loop.

When you are done, you should have something like is shown above with two loops on each end. 

Step 5:  Next, it's time attach your chain.  First, attach a small jump ring to the loop on one end of your bead bar.  Before you close your jump ring, thread it through the last loop on one of your chain pieces.  This will connect your chain to your bead bar.  When you get one end done, repeat the steps and do the other end.  Make sure that your jump rings are closed tightly.

When you have both ends attached to your chain it will look like the photo above.

Step 6:  We're almost done.  Now you just have to add the findings to the other end of your chain so it turns it into a necklace.  To do this, attach your small jump rings to the end of your chain pieces.  Then on one jump ring, attach the larger jump ring and on the other, attach your lobster claw.  

When you are done, your necklace closure will look like the photo above.

Step 7:  Put it on and wear it proudly - so cute!  And, honestly, it's really, really simple to make which makes it all that much more fun!  

You can make them with any color, or style, of beads.  I tend to like them all one color and I prefer the more stone like beads, but you can make them with multiple colors and you can even use seed beads or pearls.  Lots of variations here.

And, here's a fun one if you are LDS and have girls in the Young Women's program.

You can make a Value theme necklace using all the Young Women colors.  In fact, you could have the girls make them themselves for an activity night.  They are easy and pretty low cost to make so it would make a great activity.