Since I’ve never actually done a post about jewelry that I’ve made, I decided it might be fun to show everyone my latest necklace creation. All semester I’ve been finding ideas on Pinterest for necklaces and bracelets that I want to make myself, but with all my bead supplies at home, it’s been a little difficult. But, since I’m spending a few days of my break working at Heart n Soul Beads, I figured I could finally try out all of these ideas that I’ve been building up!

The first of these was the braided necklace. The diagram that I found explains it easily enough, but I thought I’d show you how I made mine anyway.

First, I picked my beads. The example I found used a larger seed bead, but I thought these czech glass beads were beautiful, and around the same size. So I picked 2 colors and strung up 3 strands of each on beading wire {I use SoftFlex}…about 8 inches of beads on each.

I then crimped two strands together and put a clamshell over the crimp to cover it. This also helped me attach the strands to a jumpring once I had them all crimped. Repeat this on each end {remember, there will be 3 sets of 2 strands…} for all of them.

Then I attached the clamshells to a jumpring on a chain {I used copper fixings because I thought it complimented my colors well.} Only one end for now. After that, I braided the 3 strands together. This was a little more tricky than I planned and got a little tight at the end, so I had to loosen my braid a bit. It doesn’t have to be super tight. Just judge from the size and feel of the beads you choose.

Attach the clamshells on the other end to another jumpring. I used about 8 inches of chain on either side {aproximately…but it just depends on how long you want your necklace to hang.} and put a lobster claw clasp at the back. And there you have it…a sparkly necklace for a new year!

Happy New Year!