How to Make a Glass Bead Necklace
Glass beads are a fashionable approach when designing a beaded necklace. Depending on your budget, bead options are numerous. Contrast size or finish. Interchange large and small beads. Use smaller glass beads to offset a large glass pendant. Hand-blown furnace glass beads add a colorful mix. Fiber optic beads reflect light. Pressed glass adds color and texture. Smooth glass beads complement frosted glass beads. A glass bead necklace can be as diverse as your creativity allows.
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Things You'll Need
- • 140 seed beads (1.5mm glass beads)
- • 72 e-beads (4mm glass beads)
- • 4 oval beads (rice beads)
- • 5 frosted glass beads
- • wire nippers
- • flat nose pliers
- • 2 silver crimp beads
- • silver barrel clasp
- • beading needle, optional
Instructions
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How to Make a Glass Bead Necklace
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Choose glass beads that contrast either in color, size or nature of glass. Lay beads out on a piece of felt or towel to prevent beads from rolling off the table surface. Create a pleasing combination alternating one e-bead, then two seed beads. Lay bead pattern in a downward arch to resemble an actual necklace. Halfway through the pattern, add a focal bead(s). Continue adding beads as before to complete the design.
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2
Place one crimp bead ½ inches from the end of the beading wire. Slide on the barrel clasp. Take the wire and go through the ring of the barrel clasp to make a loop. Push it back through the crimp bead. Slightly tighten the loop. Press the crimp bead carefully with flat nose pliers to keep the wire from shifting from the clasp.
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3
Start adding beads onto the wire. Keep them in the order of your design. Use a bead needle for greater control over the smaller seed beads. Continue stringing beads until you've used the amount needed to complete your design.
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4
Once all the beads are strung on the beading wire, place last crimp bead on the beading wire. String the jump ring of the barrel clasp. Loop the wire and place it back through the crimp bead. Crimp as before with the flat nose pliers. Cut off any exposed wire. Your necklace is complete!
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Tips & Warnings
Get creative! Draw attention to a single glass bead. Select a window bead or a donut glass bead. Mix and match cane glass beads.
Most glass beads are hand blown. Be careful of sharp edges called stringers which appear near the hole. Use a bead reamer to smooth out the rough edges. Glass beads can break or shatter and the splinters can cut worse than a paper cut.
Resources
- Photo Credit Dawn R. Levesque
