How to Make a Puffy Heart Necklace
Creating a custom heart necklace for your sweetheart is the perfect way to say I love you, and making one for yourself is a great way to show off your creative and artistic talents. Handmade gifts have a lot of meaning attached to them because they take time and effort. A puffy heart necklace can be a gift for Valentine's day, a birthday or any other occasion.
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Things You'll Need
- Bead board Ruler Beading wire, such as Soft Flex wire Wire cutter Clasps Crimp beads Crimping pliers Heart beads
Instructions
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1
Lay the bead board on a flat surface. Place the heart-shaped bead you want in the center, and begin placing the rest of the beads along the outside track of the board. Work your way up either side to the appropriate length. For women, a good necklace length is 16 to 18 inches. A 16-inch necklace will sit at approximately at the hollow of the neck. An 18-inch one will sit slightly below this point.
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2
Use the ruler to measure a piece of beading wire 3 inches longer than the desired length of the necklace. Cut the wire with the wire cutter. It is better to cut more wire than you think you need. You can remove the excess, but you cannot add more. If the necklace is too short, you will have to start over.
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3
Loop one end of the wire through the hole in the clasp. Place the other end of the wire through the crimp bead, and slide it down to the clasp. Insert the end of the wire that is sticking out of the clasp through the crimp bead. About 1/2 inch of wire should stick out from the crimp bead, and there should be a little wiggle room between the clasp and the crimp bead.
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4
Hold the crimp bead near the clasp, and place the crimp bead in the first slot of the crimping pliers. This slot will have a ridge sticking out of the pliers above the bead. This ridge will create a crease in the bead when the pliers crimp down. The indentations, or slots, on the pliers should be at the bottom when holding them. Crimp down. Now rotate the bead so that the crease in the crimp bead faces the opening of the pliers, and move the bead into the next slot. This would be the slot that is closest to the opening on the crimping pliers. Crimp once more. You can also crimp flat with normal pliers, rotate and crimp into a fold.
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5
Begin to string the beads onto the wire. Start at the top of one side of the beads on the board, and continue to place them on the wire in the same order they were placed on the board. Make sure to string them over the loose end of wire at the crimp bead. When you come to the end, add another crimp bead. Place the other end of the clasp onto the wire, and loop it through the crimp bead. Pull the loose end tight, but leave a little wiggle room between the clasp and crimp bead. Use the pliers to crimp the bead as you did in Step 4. Cut the extra wire as close as possible to the beads with the wire cutters.
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Tips & Warnings
Experiment on the bead board with different beads and designs.
Make sure you have enough wire before you begin to string. Design on the board first and do not string until the beads are exactly as you want them.
Resources
- Photo Credit Judith Williams
