Make Awesome Necklaces Quickly and Easily

It doesn't take a lot of work to make a simple and yet beautiful single strand necklace. To make one you will need nylon coated beading wire, a clasp, crimp beads or tubes, beads, scissors, crimp pliers, and glue.

The fun part is to figure out how you want your necklace to look. Pick out at least two different kinds of beads and arrange them in different ways until you find one that really strikes you. Sometimes a very simple design with two different kinds of beads can be stunning. Other times it is fun to put together a design with several different kinds of beads. Have fun with it. Once you have decided your pattern you can begin to put it together.

1)To begin cut your wire about four inches longer then you want your finished necklace to be.

2)Fold the end of the wire over so that about one and a half inches is on one side and the rest of the wire is on the other side.

3)Add your clasp to the wire letting it rest at the fold.

4)Slide a crimp bead or tube down over both ends of the wire and press tight against the clasp.

5)Crimp the crimp bead (if you don't know how to do that then check out How to Crimp a Crimp Bead.

6)String your beads on one at a time in the pattern that you created.

7)Add a crimp bead to the necklace after you have made it the length that you wish it to be.

8)Add the clasp.

9)Fold the wire and run it back through the crimp bead (but not the clasp). Then run it through two or three other beads.

10)Pull everything tight and crimp the crimp bead.

11)Place a drop of glue on each crimp bead for added security.

12)Trim all excess wires.

You are now ready to begin enjoying your necklace. You can wear it, give it, and if you want to you can even sell it.

Maybe a simple strand is too simple for you. You want something more, something with a wider range of possibilities. Well, you can get there as well, without a lot of extra work.

Multi-strand necklaces can offer a lot of different options. For example you can do the multiple strands with the focal beads such as in this example. This necklace isn't much harder then the one above, but it has a much more complicated look.

1)Cut your wires. You will want to cut one wire for each strand of your necklace (up to 10 strands as long as you have big crimp beads). Your wire should be about ten inches longer then the finished piece should be.

2)Fold the wires over, add your clasp, and then slide your crimp bead down all of your wires.

3)Crimp your crimp bead in the same fashion.

4)Bead each strand in a pattern that is pleasing to you.

5)After you have gone aways you can then add your focal beads. This could be one or a few beads that are slid over all of the wires.

6)Continue beading each strand individually adding the focal beads at evenly spaced intervals.

7)When you have beaded your necklace to the correct length add a crimp bead and then your clasp.

8)Fold the wires over and run it back through the crimp bead.

9)Crimp the crimp bead.

10)Add a drop of glue to the crimp beads and trim all wires.

This can provide a wide range of looks and isn't much harder then the original piece.

*Necklace made with seed beads, silver bi cone beads, and glass crackle beads.

If you are looking for one that will impress those that see it, this might be the pattern for you. Here you will need an 6-10 mm round bead. Pearls are one option, but you can use others as well (we used crackle glass beads for this project). You will also need seed beads, nylon coated beading wire, crimp beads, scissors, crimp pliers, and glue.

1)Cut two wires about three times the length of the finished piece.

2)Fold the ends over about one and a half inches and add the clasp to the fold.

3)Slide a crimp bead down all the wires and tighten against the clasp. Crimp it.

4)To the first wire add a round bead. To the second had several seed beads (this will be trial and error at first because it depends on the size of your beads). Try six seed beads and then add more or take some away.

5)Your goal is to have the seed beads wrap around one side of the round bead as your press them down with a seed bead that is added to both wires.

6)Add a second round bead to wire A and more seed beads to wire B. Then add a seed bead to both.

7)As you work this piece press all of the beads down the wire very tightly. This will cause the seed beads to wave around the round beads and will make for a great look.

8)After you have reached the desired length add a crimp bead. Then your clasp.

9)Run the wire back through the crimp bead and pull tight. Crimp it.

10)Finish the piece off by adding glue to the crimp beads and trimming the wires.

This is a piece that looks very complicated, but really isn't hard to do. You also have some great choices to work with. This piece is done with crackle glass for round beads. However, I have used glass pearls and round tiger's eye beads as well. You can use glass, gemstone, pearl, or even acrylic. Have fun with it!

Of course it doesn't have to stop there. There really is no end to where your creativity can go. Here is a Y shaped necklace. You make it the same way as you do the single strand necklace. However, to make the drop or Y portion of the necklace you will want to string the beads for it. Skip the last bead on your drop and then string the nylon coated wire back through the beads of the drop. Then string the remaining beads to finish the other side of the necklace. Quick and easy with a whole new look!