How to Make a Gemstone and Silver Necklace

Heyyy guys,

I haven't written a blog post in a while.  I was pretty busy: got married, changed careers, experimented with red-blond hair for a while. Two of the three weren't mistakes.  

But now I am back, brunette, and here to teach you how to make a really pretty fluorite heart and sterling silver necklace for not a lot of money.  All supplies were purchased on Etsy from JW Beads and RiverSong Beads about a year ago, so prices may have changed in the meantime. If you're a beginner and don't want to invest in silver and semiprecious beads to make a necklace that you may mess up, then you can find glass beads and silver-colored wire for a lot less money.

Supplies and Equipment:

Start with:

• 9 fluorite heart beads, 6mm size 
• Price: paid $10 for 65 beads, so about $1.40 
• 16-18" of silver chain
• Price: paid $10 for 5 feet so about $3
• 12" of half-hard 22 gauge silver wire
• Price: paid $9.60 for 5 feet so about $1.92
• one spring-lock clasp
• Price: $0.75 

Total price for this necklace: $7.07

For Equipment: You will need one pair of needle-nose pliers (left) and wire cutters (right)

Step one: use the wire cutters to cut off two pieces of 22 gauge hard silver wire about 0.5" long

 

Use your needle-nose pliers to twist one half of the wire into a loop, making sure not to fully close it. Then repeat on the other side to make an S shape.

Loop your S into the spring-lock clasp, as shown below. Then using the pliers, press the loop connected to the clasp closed.  Connect the other part of the S to the end-link of your chain and press the loop closed. Now your S should look like an 8.

Take the second piece of wire and fold into an S, then close on one side.  The the other side and attach to the last link on the other end of the chain.  Use the pliers to close it into an 8.  Now you have a necklace chain! Feel free to play around clasping and unclasping the chain. Or not, because of course you're not that immature.

OK, now you are going to set up your 0.7" pieces of wire to fit your beads. Spiral 5 pieces of the wire with the spiraled bottom (left). These are going to be the end heart in each chain.  Create loops on the end of the other 4 pieces just a little bit smaller than the loops on the 8s you did.  

Now line up the beads in the design that you want. I chose a drop-style necklace so that 

the focal point is a line of three hearts, with two rows of two hearts on either side, and then one drop heart at each end.  Cut 9 pieces of silver in 0.5" lengths (left pile) and 9 pieces in 0.7" lengths (right pile) 

Slide the hearts on and close the loops. Then admire your handiwork. Don't you feel great about yourself?  You deserve a spoonful of Nutella. I will wait.

Repeat for all of the beads and then line up again.  All of your 0.7" pieces of silver should be gone now, leaving just your 0.5" pieces.  You are going to use these to make the same connecting S pieces that you did for the chain.

Link them together like below, and then turn the S pieces into 8s.  Connect each line of hearts carefully to your chain.  Make sure to count the links on each side of center so that your necklace is symmetrical. I spaced each drop-chain of beads 12 links from one another.

When you are all done connecting, it's time to celebrate - you just made a gorgeous necklace! Drink some champagne, quit your day job. Steal a boat.

DIY Freshwater Pearl Earrings

As you may or may not know (or care), I am getting married next year!  So a lot of my DIY projects coming up will be wedding related, but you don't have to be getting married to find them useful.  For example, today's DIY project is how to make freshwater pearl earrings.  I'm going to be making these for my bridesmaids, but they'd be cute on a date, or out with friends, as well.  If pearls aren't your thing, sub in any kind of fun bead on the end to make it work with  your style.

The Project

So, I like these earrings for a few different reasons.  The first is, it's a simple style.  Because this is the first DIY jewelry post I'm throwing at you all, I figured that an easier project would be good to start you out with.  Simple also is good for me, because I'm going to be making three pairs, and six earrings can be tedious if you choose something intricate.  

The Materials

Unlike my last post, this project does require an investment, but the great thing about it is that you will have supplies left over for future projects.  

I spent about $34 total on supplies, but I'll be able to make more than just these earrings, plus I chose higher end materials like freshwater pearls and sterling silver wire.  For a more budget friendly approach, try it with a metal alloy and glass pearls. I'm providing links to the products I bought for your reference (no, they are not affiliated with me). 

• 22 gauge full hard sterling silver wire that cost about $12 for 5 feet on etsy
• A 7" strand of freshwater pearls from Joann that I bought on sale for $2.50 
• An 8 pack of sterling silver earring hooks from Joann on sale for $5.50
• A set of 5 jewelry pliers from amazon for $14 (you really only need two pairs, if you can get them cheaper)

So, as you see, it's a steep investment, but I'll have leftover pearls, one extra pair of earring hooks, and leftover wire for future projects.  The most expensive part of the project were the pliers which I already owned, but included so you could estimate how much it would cost for a beginner. 

Step One

If you're feeling brave and ready to try, here's how to begin:

Take your wire cutter from the package of pliers, and snip off about 0.5" of your wire.  

Step Two

You want to use your needle nose pliers to grip one end of your wire, and the roll the nose until you have a loop touching the center of the wire.  Do the same thing to the other end, but leave a small gap between the edge of the loop, and the wire, so that it looks like an open 8.

Step Three

Link the open part of your wire loop with the earring hook, then use your pliers to press the loop together.  Add another 8 to the first one, and repeat until you have six linked onto one other in a chain.

Step Four

Once you have all six links done, cut a longer piece of wire; this is going to hold your pearl.  Twist the bottom into a smaller loop than usual - you won't need to fit a piece of wire through it, it's just to keep the bead in place.  Once your pearl is on the wire, twist the top into a loop just like you did for the links of your chain,  Connect it to the bottom link, and close with your pliers.

Step Five

Now you have the back part of your earring complete, and it's time for the front - you're over halfway there!
Add three links to your earring hook, and make sure that you add the top link so that it will be in front of the first chain, when you are wearing the earring.  Add the final pearl to the bottom of the three links like you did.  Congratulations, you did your first earring!  Now just do it all over again, and you've got a fab and classy pair of pearl dangles that would go great with a LBD...or a bridesmaid dress, as it happens :)

Happy crafting, fashionistas :)