The holiday season is fast approaching and I was asked for a simple yet beautiful beading project perfect for the holidays.
The angel pendent can be used used as an ornament, necklace charm or a pair of earrings.
You will need the following:
Round nosed pliers
Wire cutters
Headpins
A large triangle or tearshaped bead or finding for the skirt
A pair of wings or a bow shaped finding for the wings
A round bead (preferably swarowski crystal) for the head
A bead cap or spacer bead for the halo
To make the Angel
Take the headpin and string on the skirt, then the wings, then the head and then the halo. Taking the round nosed pliers create a loop at the top and then wrap the wire around the base of the loop. Use your cutters to trim off the excess wire. You can then attach an earring wire and make it into an earring, string it onto a necklace to make a charm or loop a string to the top to make it a christmas tree ornament.
Beads (preferably round beads similar in size to each other, we recommend 8mm beads)
Wire cutters
Round nose pliers
To make your bracelet:
This is one of the easiest projects to make and perfect for the beginner beader.
Decide how many strands you want your bracelet to be. If you decide you want the bracelet to be two stands, cut off two loops of the memory wire, however, add about two inches of wire to your measurement before cutting.
Using a beading board, lay out your design. Measure your wire along the beading board and then lay out your design making it two inches shorter than the length of your wire.
Using your round nose pliers make a loop using one inch of the wire at one of the ends of the memory wire. The video will show how to do this in greater detail.
String your beads onto the wire using the end of the wire that does not have a loop on it. Once you have strung all the beads onto your wire, using the remaining wire make another loop at the end of the wire using your round nose pliers.
A few days ago I received a call from a bridesmaid wanting to book a jewelry making bachelorette party. She told me that the bride wanted the current top bracelet trend because the bride was very stylish. I told her I would get back to her and went to do my research. From what I’ve seen, the top bracelet trend for fall 2009 is a charm bracelet. From charms, to glass beads, to pearls and crystals, this trend can be adapted for any occasion. The next day I happened to be at an art/jewelry show. Sure enough, there were charm bracelets everywhere. I felt so inspired that I went home and made one. I met with the bridesmaid to show her my sample and she was thrilled and said that was the perfect project for the bachelorette party. If you would like to make one too, this is how to do it.
To make a charm bracelet you need the following:
A length of sterling chain about the side of your wrist minus the size of your clasp
6 mm split rings (anywhere from 5-9, one for every bead/charm)
5-9 charms or beads
1 sterling silver toggle clasp
Bent nosed tweezers
Needle nosed pliers
Using the pliers, open one end of the chain, thread one end of the clasp and close the chain loop. Do the same for the other side.
Fold your bracelet in half so that you see where the centre point is. Lay your bracelet down and put your centre charm or bead below the centre link. Then design the rest of your bracelet, make sure you space the charms evenly. If the spacing is not even and you are left with an extra chain loop, arrange the charms so that the extra loop is next to the clasp, not between the charms.
Using the tweezers, gently open the ring and slide the chain through (the video shows how to do this). Continue doing this until all of the split rings have been attached.
Then attach the charms to the split rings. Open up the split ring the same way you did earlier, slide the charm on, and close. Continue doing so until they have all been done. If you are using beads, thread the bead onto a headpin with the head at the bottom, using the pliers create a bend on the other end of the wire, thread on the split ring and then wrap the wire around the base of the bead.
I hope you enjoy your new bracelet as much as I am enjoying mine.
Using the flat nose and chain nose pliers, separate the links in the chain from each other.You will need approximately eight separated links.Then, take one of the glass pearls and thread onto the eye pin, measure and cut off the excess wire on the side with no loop and then create a loop using the needle nose pliers.Make sure the loops on either side of the glass pearl are the same size.Continue doing this for the remaining glass pearls.
Now it is time to start assembling your necklace.Take a jump ring, open it up and thread one of the loops on the pearl onto the jump ring.Next thread one of the chain links onto the jump ring and close the jump ring.Now put a jump ring onto the loop on the other side of the glass pearl, add a link and close the jump ring.Continue doing this until the necklace is the length that you require.
At this point you can either add a chunky toggle clasp or the organza ribbon. I prefer using the organza ribbon because necklaces with ribbon on them are one of the top trends for fall 2009. Trim the edges of the organza ribbon into a v shape so the ribbon does not fray.Take the piece of ribbon and fold it in half (the ribbon should be the desired length when folded), then thread the ribbon onto the link at the end of the necklace using a larks head knot.Do the same on the other side.When you wear the necklace tie the ends into a bow.The bow gives it a beautiful feminine touch and contrasts the chain link, you can also adjust the length of the necklace when wearing it, based on how big of a bow you tie.
