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 Crochet and Lace Scarf

Hello lovelies,

It seems like winter is never going to end, ever ever ever.  Next week it's going to plunge once again into unseasonably cold temperatures, so I thought I would beat the weather and stay warm with a crochet infinity scarf.  My camera was in the process of dying a slow, sad death as I did this project, so please excuse the poor quality photos - I now have a beautiful new camera so stay tuned for fabulous photos on my next post.

What you'll need for this project: yarn, a crochet hook, and lace. I used a chunky green yarn that I have had lying around for years, and crafter's lace from Joann Fabric.

Step One:

Loosely crochet a chain long enough to fit around your neck.  Make sure it's about 2-3 inches shorter than you want for your finished scarf - when you double crochet later on, the stitches will stretch a bit.

Step Two

Double crochet your  scarf a total of eight rows, going back and forth along the chain. This will create a subtle stripey pattern.  Feel free to do more or less than eight rows depending on how think you want your scarf.  When you cut your yarn, leave a twelve inch strand of the end after you tie off.

Step Three:

Take your crafter's lace and cut into half inch strips about 1.5 times the length of your scarf.  I used clear fingernail polish on the ends to keep them from fraying instead of high end anti-fray sealant which can be expensive.  You can also buy lace on a spool of course, but crafter's lace is only $5.99 per yard, so it's a lot cheaper per square foot.

Step Four

Just like my crochet and ribbon hat, I'm using bobby pins in a fun (frugal) way.  Thread your lace through your bobby pin, and add a know to secure it.  Weave it along your scarf in any pattern you would like. I chose a basic, straight pattern of three long stripes but feel free to let your creativity go wild - you could thread diamond shapes, braids, even calligraphy if you wanted to.

Step Five

Tuck the lace ends under and pin into place at the end of your scarf, and sew them securely; I did about 5 stitches per end. Once you've sewn up all of your lace ends, take the excess twelve inches of yarn I told you to leave on the end of your scarf, earlier. Take your bobby pin (or, if you're feeling fancy, a yarn needle) and put it on the string. Sew up the two edges of your scarf  like you would one lace up one shoe lace, and knot off when you reach the end.   Your finished product should look something like this:

Stay warm and happy crafting, everyone :)