How To Make Jewelry With Odds And Ends

Some people feel that every single bead and pendant in a crafting project must look perfect, but I am not one of those people. A few months ago I bought a crystal pendant with several beads at JoAnn Fabrics on the bargain aisle. The bargain aisle is a great find in crafting stores, and this pendant was on sale simply because it was broken into two pieces. The pendant was way too pretty to throw away, so I used some jewelry glue to put in back together. Once dried you can see a slight crack on the pendant, but I think it adds to the appeal of this beautiful piece. I decided to use the crystal beads that came along with the pendant and a few crystal acrylic beads to create a beautiful piece of jewelry. Read this how to see the pattern I created for this Victorian inspired piece of jewelry.

Cut off approximately eighteen inches of beading wire for the necklace. Add the glass pendant to the center of the beading wire and put two fake pearls on each side. Before placing the pendant on the beading wire I glued it back together with jewelry glue because it was too beautiful of a piece to throw away. I believe the small crack in the pendant adds to the beauty of this necklace, which shows not everything has to look perfect.

The package with broken purple glass pendant came with several very pretty beads. These beads have a slightly Victorian look, so I decided to use these beads and other beads to create an era inspired necklace. For this step, I added to large black beads to each side of the necklace.

In this step, I added a clear glass crystal bead to each side of the necklace. I especially love how these clear beads reflect the purple color of the pendant.

Add a metal accent bead to each side of the necklace. These metal accent beads came with the package containing the purple glass pendant. Improvise when making your own pattern because I just create my necklaces as the inspiration comes to me.

Add another purple glass crystal bead to each side of the necklace. Next, add a clear crystal bead to each side of the necklace. I love how the clear crystal beads pick up the purple tones. After this add a fake pearl to each side of the necklace. Of course, you can vary the pattern to suit your own taste and style.

For the next step in this project, I decided to add acrylic crystal beads, which have the look of glass. I love these large beads that also reflect a myriad pinks and purples.

Add the barrel clasp to the necklace by using the jewelry pliers. I experimented on this necklace by knotting the beading wire to the clasp on one side. On the other side, I used a crimp bead to attach the barrel clasp to the beading wire. Personally, I am not as excited about using crimp beads and prefer knotting the beading wire, but I am practicing my techniques because one day I may decide to start selling jewelry.

For now I only wear this jewelry myself, so know one will notice if the clasp is not attached 100% beautifully. The beading wire is securely attached to by clasp, which is all I care about for the necklace. I have been using a strong, but a cheaper beading wire for these necklaces I make myself. However, if I was making these necklaces for others I would use a more expensive memory beading wire because many people are picky about the flexibility of beading wire. Personally, I like the beading wire I am using because it is very durable and made in the United States, even though it is not memory wire.

Below I will show how to make a matching bracelet with the leftover acrylic crystal beads.