How to Make Earrings & Necklaces
Sometimes finding perfectly matching accessories to an outfit or for a specific occasion can be more difficult than putting together the outfit or planning the occasion itself. Even more difficult can be finding accessories that work together, since jewelry isn't always sold in matching "sets." Create your own beaded jewelry. Not only will your handmade jewelry match exactly, but the process is inexpensive enough that you may be able to create matching pieces for several different looks and purposes.
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Things You'll Need
- 2-inch long eyepins, 21 gauge
- Bag of small beads
- Bag of larger beads
- Closed-loop earwire hooks, one pair
- Needlenose pliers
- Crimping pliers (optional)
- Tigertail wire, one roll
- Two crimp beads
- Necklace clasp
- Wire cutters
Instructions
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Earrings
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1
Grab two of your small beads and two large beads. Set the rest of the beads aside.
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2
Thread one of your large beads onto the unrounded ends of each of your eyepins. About three-quarters of an inch from those unrounded ends, bend the eyepins over at an extreme angle, creating a triangle shape; use your pliers if this is hard on your fingers.
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3
Thread each pin through the looped ends of your two closed-loop earwire hooks. Let the pins dangle from the earwires on the bend in the pins.
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4
Thread one of your small beads onto one of your bent eyepins. Do not pull the bead over the angle you just made. Instead, grasp that sharp, unrounded end you just threaded the bead over with the very tip of your pliers. Bend that end over to create a loop.
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5
Continue bending until you've made a small, rounded end that matches the other rounded side of the eyepin. Repeat this process with the other eyepin. Now neither the beads nor the earhooks can be easily removed from the pins, and your earrings are complete.
Necklace
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6
Cut your tigertail wire to your desired necklace length plus about 5 inches. Hold the wire around your neck like a necklace before you cut to make sure the length is right.
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7
Thread a crimp bead through one end of your wire. Thread one end of your clasp through the same end, directly after the crimp bead. Pull that same end of wire back through the crimp bead and crimp it with your pliers to secure the clasp.
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8
Trim off any excess wire that you pulled through the crimp bead.
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9
Thread the rest of your beads onto your wire, using the end that isn't attached to the clasp. Alternate small beads and large beads, or use only small beads or only large beads or make up your own pattern. Stop adding beads when you've got between 2 inches and 3 inches left of wire.
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10
Attach the other end of the clasp to that leftover couple inches of wire, using a crimp bead and the same method you used to attach the other end of the clasp. Trim off any excess wire. Your necklace is now complete.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit wood beads, colored beads image by Greg Pickens from Fotolia.com
