How to Make Horsehair Jewelry

Horse hair jewelry has become a very popular style of jewelry in the western world. This is some basic instruction for simple braided bracelet or necklace.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Hair from the longest tail strands of the horse. Clump of hair should be roughly 1/2 inch in thickness.
• End clasps of your choice. These can be found at local bead or jewelry stores.
• Jewelry cord/silk.
• Shampoo
• Fine tooth comb or brush
• Board to work with the hair on.
• Small rubberbands

1. If you are gathering your own hair for this jewelry you will first want to brush out the tail hair very well. Gather the longest hairs from the tail and separate any uneven strands. Cut out a group of strands approximately 1/2 inch to 1 inch depending on how thick you would like your necklace or bracelet to be.

2. Use one of the small rubber bands to tie the hair together. Knotting it is not recommended. When cutting the hair for later use then put several rubber bands down the length of the hair to keep it from separating. When you are ready to use the hair shampoo it to make sure it is nice and shiny. After thorough drying, brush it out again to ensure there are no tangles. Hold one end tight while brushing so that doesn't come apart.

3. Choose the section that looks the most uniform for the piece of jewelry you would like to make. For a bracelet you will want about 14 to 17 inches of hair, for a necklace you will want double the amount. At the top of the section you are using tie the jewelry cord firmly. Just above the cord put one of your rubber bands to ensure the hair is secured well. Cut the hair about 2 to 3 inches above the rubber band. At the other end of the section secure another rubber band and cut 2 to 3 inches again below the rubber band.

4. After the cutting you may want to secure the hair to your board with some simple masking tape to make the hair easier to work with. At this point you can remove the rubber band from the bottom of your strand. Double check to make sure your jewelry cord is still tight at the top of the strand of hair.

5. Separate the strand into three equal sections. You will want to make sure the hair is neatly separated to avoid the fly away look with the item is finished. Begin braiding the hair making sure to keep the braid tight and even looking. You can use several different methods of braiding depending on the look you desire. Every so often double check your cord to make sure it is still tight.

6. When you get to the end of your braid you will want to use a rubber band to test the length of your braid. At this time you can make any desired adjustments to the length. When you have your desired length use another piece of cord to tie the bottom end of your braid.

7. Cutting the ends of the braid off will differ depending on the clasps you have bought. The store that you have bought the clasps from will be able to tell you how much excess you will need at the ends. Make sure that you do not have too much excess as you will not want your cord or unbraided hair to show before the clasp. Also, make sure that your clasp ends are on securely. If at all loose or unreliable looking you may need to buy new ones that fit better. Some glue may also be helpful to keep the clasp secure as long as you use it sparingly.

Tips & Warnings

• When your bracelet or necklace begins to look dingy or dirty cleaning is as simple as some warm water on a damp cloth. You will not want to try to use any soap or shampoo on the finished product. The soap can seep in between the braids and be difficult to wash out completely.
• I have heard of people using coatings on their horse hair jewelry. I do not recommend using any sort of wax or lacquer finishes. These tend to take away from the natural feel and look of the jewelry.