How to Make a Crimped Crystal Necklace

Women love the feel of a light wire necklace. The beads and crystals on the light wire necklace will appear to be floating around your neck. Crystals and beads that are clustered together in small groups of amber, topaz and green are eye-catching and elegant. Here's how you can make your own one-of-a-kind crimped crystal necklace.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Three 28" strands of gold-plated nylon coated beading wire
• Twelve Number 4 gold-plated crimp tubes
• Sixty-six mixed crystal beads
• One gold-plated tube-style magnetic clasp
• Crimping pliers
• Wire cutters
• Ruler
• Soft lead pencil

1. Unravel your gold-plated wire on a flat surface. Using your ruler, measure a 28" length of gold-plated wire. Mark the wire with a pencil. At the designated mark, use your wire cutters to snip the wire. Three strands of the 28" gold-plated wire are required for this project. After you have made your three wire strands, place your excess wire and wire cutters aside.

2. In one hand, take your three strands of gold-plated wire. Pick up one part of your magnetic clasp. Insert the three strands through the clasp. Once the three strands are inserted through the clasp, use the crimping pliers to secure the three wires. Push hard with the crimping pliers to secure the wires through the clasp. Trim off the excess wire tails with the wire cutters. Put your wire cutters and crimping pliers aside.

3. Lay out your wire flat on the table. Your first cluster of crystal beads will be 2" from the clasp. Use your ruler to measure in 2" from the clasp. Use your soft lead pencil to mark where you will be stringing and setting your first cluster of beads. Each cluster will have six beads of varying sizes and color. There will be two beads per wire.

4. After you have placed two beads to each wire, slide all three wires through a Number 4 crimp tube to the designated mark on the wire. Behind the first cluster of beads, flatten the crimp tube with the crimping pliers. Secure 10 clusters of beads at a space of 2" apart. After each set of clusters, you will be inserting the thee strands of wire through a Number 4 crimp tube and flattening the tube with the crimping pliers.

5. Finish the necklace by threading all three strands through the second part of the clasp. Once the three strands are inserted through the clasp, use the crimping pliers to secure the three wires. Trim off the excess wire tails with the wire cutters. The necklace is now ready to wear.

Tips & Warnings

• The necklace will lie softly around your throat .
• Take care when using the wire cutters and dispose of all loose wires.

[Beadbug]

on 10/5/2008 Your discription is wonderful, Don't you have a picture? I am a visual kind of person and once I see what I like I will be more apt to make it! I have discovered my scanner will work just as well as my camera! Go look, it really did me a world of good