How to Make Costume Jewelry with Beads

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How to Make Costume Jewelry with Beads

Making your own costume jewelry is very satisfying - almost meditational as you perform a soothing repetitive task.


Its easy to make costume jewelry with beads and a few everyday tools.


First you have to have SOME idea of what the end result will be ... although most beading projects develop a life of their own and end up as something entirely different !

So choose what you'd like to make - a ring,bracelet,ear rings or a necklace ... oh oh we need beads for that !

Here are some sources :

Where to start ?

A local jewelry class is a great investment

Learn how to make simple rings and bracelets before going on to necklaces.

The website About.com has excellent beginners pages and many designs and design links.

Look at designs on the web and make something similar.
Amazon have some excellent project books and I use those myself - then I change them around and add things to them for unique pieces..

As to sources,
Well I stick to eBay myself - here's why :

Thailand and China and India are the cheapest sources.
But they all suffer from the same problem -
the combination of postal charges and the items themselves. Not to say the unreliabilty of some vendors - at least with eBay and Paypal you have some kind of protection.Prices vary wildly from vendor to vendor and from the various ebay sites. Your local ebay is a good starting point (at least the postage charges should be cheaper).

Its really common for Chinese vendors to charge tiny prices and then charge exceptional amounts for postage.(BEWARE OF THIS PRACTICE)
Air mail should be under $15 from China for a smallish package.
EMS is the most reliable service I've found and charges for that vary from vendor to vendor.
In India to get really good prices you have to buy big quantities. Similarly in Thailand..
Usually you get the best deals on beads in small stores and stores in shopping centres.

If you are visiting these countries to buy then get used to haggling - a LOT ! Often you should aim for a final price of about 10% of the asking price.
When buying in the Far East (inside a shop only !) flash the money at the vendor - they hate to see it leave their store !
To begin with only use semi-precious stones as buying precious stones is something you should not learn from books !
Semi-precious stones are really cheap in the Far East - even carved ones are cheap (so is labour),Don't forget that even semi-precious stones are still just rocks !
And they are HEAVY ...
Consider mailing cheaper stones back to yourself as air freight charges can be costly.
Use silver and gold wire to make things with as this gives a more professional finish.
If you want to make more slinky items then use tigertail or stretchy nylon/plastic to thread onto.

Your BEST resource though is your local beading store (mine is 80 Kilometres away !)

They may be a bit more expensive than eBay (or if they buy in bulk they may even be cheaper).

They will have a wide range of beads in stock and these will give you lots of ideas.
They can also help when things go wrong (and the nice thing about beading is that if things do go wrong you just start again with the same beads...)

Jewelry Making Videos

How to Make Beaded Jewelery : Using Leather to Make Beaded Jewelry
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35 ratings | 62,618 views
curated content from YouTube

Project books from Amazon

Starters and more advanced books

These are really good starter books.
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How to Make Jewelry with Beads

Beginner Jewelry Design - Turquoise and Coral
by Stariguy | video info

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Making Jewelry

Couple works pottery art in retirement
?I got interested in the field and began making jewelry as well as some larger pieces,? she said. ?Working with glass is a lot simpler than pottery. It's a subset of the art, working with colors more than shaping the raw material,? Mary said.
The jewelry maker: Area woman creates pieces for celebrities
One year ago, Geiss started making jewelry for celebrities. It has been a lifelong dream to do this according to Geiss. ?I have always wanted to get my jewelry out there for celebrities to wear,? Geiss said. ? I thought to myself how could I do that?
Teen discovers talent for design
Danielle took the beads and found she had a knack for making jewelry. She brought some of her creations to school and was amazed at the reaction she received. ?Everyone we encountered was shown this beautiful piece of jewelry and was told Danielle was ...
Making jewelry brings mother-daughter closer
PANAMA CITY ? Mother's Day weekend is spent in as many ways as there are mothers and for some local residents, the important part is not what they are doing, just that they're doing it together. Susan and Faith Sanders found their new project, ...

Beading Photos

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Beading Blogs

Find out how other people do it !
You've Got To Be Beading Brings DIY Downtown
By Bree Shirvell You've Got To Be Beading Owner Beth Garbo talks about one of her favorite products. I'ma little ashamed to admit I had never been inside You've Got To Be Beading until earlier this week. In the seven years the do-it-yourself shop has ...
Making beaded watchbands fulfills Grand Rapids woman's lifelong pursuit of ...
comLora Conley buys castoff watches at garage sales, replaces the batteries and creates beaded stretch bands that give these watches a new look. She uses beads that she takes from necklaces. GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- Lora Conley has been making things most ...
Samples Are the Best Deals at Tracy Reese's Midtown Sale
When we stopped by for a preview yesterday, the racks were full of fabulous dresses with florals, ruffles, beading, and embellishments. The sale features items from the designer's main line, Tracy Reese, along with her Plenty and Frock labels, ...
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By Richard Cobbett from PC Plus Issue 320 May 27th 2012 The cold sweat beading on the brow. The panic rising from the stomach. The shaking hand that scrolls the mouse in a vain attempt to locate that incredibly important, but absent file.

Beading kits - a great way to start -

What do you also need ?

Pliers (preferably round nosed and a pair of flat or chain nosed pliers will help) and a pair of wire cutters (I use big nail clippers and throw them away when they get blunt !)
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How-To and Resource videos

How to Make Beaded Jewelery : Using Pearls for Making Beaded Jewelry
by expertvillage | video info

138 ratings | 186,361 views
curated content from YouTube

New YouTube vids

How to Make Beaded Jewelry : Bead Design: Jewelry Making Basics
by expertvillage | video info

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automatically generated by YouTube

Well that was nice but I need some pretty beads now ...

How about Lampwork beads - they can be very special ..

Lampwork beads vary in price from pennies to $100s each !
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Swarovski beads make your jewelry really sparkle

(some shopping channels use these as simulated diamonds !)

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Silver finding would be nice to hang things from ...

make sure they are not NICKEL as many people are allergic to nickel

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Lets save money and buy wholesale !

Buying ebay wholesale items saves you lots of money

Usually to buy wholesale you have to have accounts,letterheads,govt numbers etc etc - buy here and cut out all that stuff ...
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Exotic beads for different jewelry

make your jewelry memorable

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Join Ebay UK

THere are even MORE beads on Ebay UK !

Lapis Lazli for a terrific Blue !

Since Egyptian times this has been one of the most popular beads

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Cabochons for a brilliant effect

Larger stones to make pendants or decorate jewellery etc

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Silver Wire

For wire-wrapping or making into jewelry you need lots of this

Silver wire is probably the most used wire (buy some cheaper copper wire - lots - to practice with) You can also make jewelry or chains with it.
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Gold Filled Wire

Gold filled wire has a slightly harder centre (usually copper)

This gives the effect of real gold (which the outside is !) and enables you to handle it more easily and make lovely things from it. You can wire wrap with gold filled wire and also silver wire for lovely combinations
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Finishing Touches

Presentation is the finishing touch to your jewelry

Buy some ring and jewelry boxes to make them look even better ( build the price in though !)
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Beading from Amazon

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