I found a necklace on Anthropologie’s site the other day and knew I could make something similar. I really loved it, but it was pretty expensive! I had all of the material that I needed and decided to give it a go.
Here it the piece that inspired me ($32):
Image from anthropologie.com
And here is mine…
I am so happy with how it turned out! I made it in two days, it takes a little longer to do projects when you are trying to play Boggle at the same time!:) Over all it was really easy and fun to make! One nice thing about this project is that it does not require a whole lot of jewelry making experience. Hopefully the instructions make sense, feel free to ask questions.
You will need:
- A length of jewelry chain (desired necklace length/hoop width)
- Two jump rings (small metal hoops)
- A closure set (lobster, barrel…)
- Seed beads (as many or few as desired)
- Strong thread
- A needle that your seed beads can fit over
- Scissors
- Needle nosed pliers (to open and close jump rings)
- Wire cutters (to trim chain to desired length)
Trim the chain to the size necklace that you want and attach the closure set to the ends using the jump rings. You should now have a plain chain necklace that you will add seed bead strands too.
Decide how long you want the strands to be and cut a length of thread more than twice that size (you will be doubling it over and knotting with it). Thread a bead onto both ends of this thread, and knot it like this:
Now thread both ends onto the needle to make picking up the seed beads easier. Stack as many seed beads on as you need to get your desired strand length, then slide the thread off the needle. Tie the two ends of the thread together in a double or triple knot to create a “stopping point” for when you tie it onto the chain… you’ll see what I mean.:)
Thread one end onto the bottom center hoop of the chain, find this by holding the closed chain at the clasp and dangling the chain. Don’t worry if it’s not the exact middle. Now knot it in a triple knot (or quadruple if you’re paranoid like me) and trim the ends.
Continue making strands and adding them to both sides of the center strand going up as far as you like, and alternating sides to keep it even. Make sure you attach them on the bottom of every other link so they lie
flat, or you could accidentally attach them on random links and have a more “free” look… ahem.:)
That’s it!
Total cost: under $12, well… actually free, I already had the supplies.;)
Savings: over $20 ($32)
