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Making Beaded Chain Necklaces

Length: 32” long with 5” drop

With just one spool of 18-gauge Artistic Wire and a few strands of your favorite beads, you can make a completely custom rosary-style necklace that's right on trend.

I saw a rosary-style beaded chain necklace in a department store and wanted to create my own, custom version. My first attempt at this necklace didn't have the handmade look I was going for. The beads I chose were all too similar: smooth, round. I decided to go back to the drawing board. For the second version, I chose 6mm rounds and 8mm rondelles. Then, I started adding metal accents. The metal beads really changed the look of the design and the mixed shapes gave it more texture. Much better!

18-gauge non-tarnish silver Artistic Wire #AWD-18S-10-04YD
Bead Gallery beads: 50 silver 6mm rondelles; 18 blue dyed stone 6mm rounds; 9 silver 8mm lentils with daisy design; 18 silver carved 6mm rounds; 22 aqua imperial jasper 8x5mm rondelles
Bead Landing silver wing pendant
Beadalon tools: nylon round-nose pliers #JTNJ4, sparkle chain-nose pliers #201A-101, wire nippers #JTNIP1

Making bead links:

1. The quickest way to make lots of links is to cut a long piece of wire – about 12” or longer if it's comfortable - and work with that, rather than pre-cutting all of your little wire pieces.
2. Use round-nose pliers to make a loop on one end.
3. String a bead onto the wire, then bend the wire in a right angle against the top  of the bead.
4. Make a basic loop at the top of the bead, then cut off the extra wire.

Making the necklace and drop:

1. Make the following bead links:

18: silver rondelle/6mm blue/silver rondelle
9: silver 8mm lentil
18: carved silver 6mm round
14: imperial jasper 8x5mm rondelle
7: silver rondelle/8x5mm jasper rondelle/silver rondelle
1: imperial jasper rondelle with a large loop on one end

2. Use chain-nose pliers to open a loop on one end of each link.
3. Connect the following links together: carved silver, silver/blue/silver, lentil, silver/blue/silver, carved silver.
4. Connect the following links together: jasper, silver/jasper/silver, jasper.
5. Repeat Steps 3-4 so you have 8 blue sections and 7 jasper sections.
6. Connect the sections together in an alternating pattern to form a long chain.
7. Use the large loop on the jasper link to connect the ends of the chain together.
8. Connect the following links to the jasper link to form the drop: carved silver, silver/blue/silver, lentil, silver/blue/silver, carved silver, wing pendant.

Tip: Choose your favorite colors of stone beads in 6mm rounds and 8x5mm rondelles, then look for silver accent beads that work with your selection. I used the Pantone Spring/Summer Color Palette for inspiration.

Find more beading ideas in Katie's book: Necklaces 101 (Hot Off The Press 2012).