How to make a Bangle Bracelet

Materials:
20 gauge wire (appx 12 inches)
2 tube beads
1 focal beads
12-14 other beads depending on size of beads and width of your arm
1 clasp

Tools:
Round nosed pliers
Chain nosed pliers
Side cutters


With the weather so hot out, it's a great time to stay indoors and
make some beautiful jewellery to match all your summer dresses.

Lay out your design. Make a wire wrapped loop in your wire by making a
90 degree bend in your wire about 2 inches from one end of the wire,
then taking the 2 inch piece in your hand, wrap it around the base of
the bend to make a loop. Then using the chain nosed pliers wrap the
wire around several times (see video). Trip off the left over wire
using your side cutters. Now string your beads onto the wire
following the design that you laid out. Once you are finished
stringing the beads, make another 90 degree bend on the remaining end of the bracelet. Slip the clasp onto the wire and then wrap the wire around the base several times to make another loop.

Beaded Wire Looped Necklace

Materials:
24 gage wire
6 large beads
14 small beads
1 lobster clasp
1 jump ring
2 crimp beads

Tools:
Flat nosed pliers


Take one of your large beads and thread onto your wire, move bead
about 4 inches in from one end of the wire, that will be your starting
point. Take one end of your wire (the working wire) and pull back
through the bead (see video). Pull the wire tight to hold the bead in
place. Now thread one of the small beads, move it along the wire
until it is the desired distance from your large bead (approximately
one inch) and do what you did with the large bead, feed the working
wire back through and pull tight to hold the bead in place. Continue
doing this for the remainder of your necklace, spacing all the beads
about 1 inch apart, doing the pattern of two small beads, one large
bead, two small beads, etc. Attach the clasp to one end of the wire
using the crimp bead. Attach the jump ring to the other end of the
wire using the remaining crimp bead.

Make a Beaded Bookmark for Father's Day

This is a great beading project for Father's Day.

Tools:
Scissors

Materials:
1 foot of ribbon or leather cord
8 beads (3 small and 5 big)
Clear nail polish

Measure out 1 foot of ribbon or leather cord. If you are using ribbon, fold each end in half and using the scissors, cut off the end of the ribbon diagonally to form a "v" shape (see video). On one end make a knot about 3 inches from the end, string the three small beads, and make another knot. On the other end make a knot 4 inches from the end, string the 5 larger beads, and make a final knot. Dab a little bit of nail polish along the ends of the ribbon to keep the ribbon from fraying.

Happy Father's Day!

Mother's Day Crystal Bead Bracelet

I was asked to attend at a Mother's Day event this year to teach mothers and daughters to make bracelets. This is a simple yet beautiful bracelet that every mother and daughter would love to wear.

Tools:
Round nose pliers

Materials:
12 - 14 headpins
12 - 14 6 mm beads (I like something sparkly, like a 6mm crystal bead)
1 jump ring
1 lobster clasp

Open up the jump ring and attach to the clasp. Next, put a bead onto a headpin and then using the pliers make a loop on the other side of the pin. Continue doing this for all 14 pins and beads. Then, take one of the beaded headpins that you just created and link onto the jump ring that is connected to the clasp, close the jump ring. Then take another beaded headpin and hook it just before the bead in the previous pin (see video). Use pliers to close the loop of the pin that you have just added on. Repeat the last two steps using up all of your beaded headpins until the bracelet is long enough to fit around your entire wrist. To close the bracelet, just attach the lobster clasp to the loop that you made on the last beaded headpin on your bracelet (see video). If you want to make a necklace, do the exact same thing, just use 30 headpins and 30 beads.