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Friday, February 25, 2011

Jewelry Making - Beading Part 2

My third daughter opted to make a necklace as she has blue eyes and liked the blue glass heart beads and the matching bead sets I found. So, the other night, we pulled out the jewelry making supplies and together, we sorted through the containers of beads finding any beads we liked that matched the heart and coordinating beads.


We found lots of different types of beads in similar colors and some were crystals, some were glass beads, some were plastic and then we pulled out the silver look spacers. The bead palette is a wonderful invention. It is felt feeling to the touch and keeps the beads from rolling around and the measurements on it let you know how long the necklace will hang. You can take one of your favorite necklaces and place it on the palette to see how long you like your necklaces to be. Then, cut your thread, string, wire or whatever you are using to thread the bead on to an inch or so longer so you have length to attach the claps.


Once you have pulled out any beads you think you may want to use and place them in the center of the palette, you can start the creative juices flowing. The palette makes it so easy to move things around and really see what you like where. If you are doing dangles from the center, the three lines make it easy to adjust to that and see how the finished product will look.


When I make a necklace, I always create a bracelet and earrings even if the girls don't have their ears pierced yet. That way, we don't have to go back later and "find" all the stuff we used. That also makes me use my beads wisely keeping some for the earrings and a few for the bracelets.


The earrings are easy to make using posts or if you want them fluid and dangly, you can use thin wire or string. You can get most jewelry supplies now at Wal-Mart but a few years ago, it didn't have them. I actually bought all the blue beads at Wal-Mart along with the blue glass heart.


I used stretch nylon cord for her necklace so she could just pull them on rather than having to deal with a latch. I finished them up after she went to bed and stuck them in her room with a note telling her how much I loved her so she would see them when she woke up. She wore them today and found a shirt that matched perfectly. They both brought out her blue eyes and she said she got comments on both at school today.


If you don't want to invest in all the supplies, pick out some beads you like and come visit and we'll have a girls night and enjoy creating together.

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