Two More Necklaces

It's friday! Time for some weekend-worthy projects. :) Recently, I've been tearing apart old jewelry in order to use the components. These green enameled links resulted from this, and have been my favorite. I was eager to use them for a necklace. {unfortunately, I took these pictures at night in a poorly lit room, and even after photoshop, they're less than ideal. Sorry.}

01. Start by opening a jump ring.  02. String the first link onto the jump ring.  03. After the second link is added, and the jump ring closed, it should look like this.  04. I continued this process until I had five links connected by jump rings.

05. Instead of using jump rings to connect the chain to the links, I simply opened up the last link in the chain and strung my enamel link on it. Complete this on both sides, and you're finished! {You can also use lobster clasps to make an adjustable necklace, but I left the chain long enough to slip over my head without a closure.}

Et voila! A link-y necklace. I still have five more enamel links- I may make a bracelet or paint them a different color and use them for another necklace.

Next:

I actually remembered to take a picture of the supplies. I had all of these on hand, which made for a {practically} free craft. Love that!

You will need:

• beads in 4 shades of the same color {I cut apart a necklace that already had gradient beads}
• smaller beads to use as spacers
• embroidery floss
• crimp cord ends
• lobster clasp
• needle nose pliers
• flexible bead stringing needle {not pictured}

01. First, string the embroidery floss through the end of the lobster clasp. This will leave you with a double length of floss, which should still be small enough to string beads on.  

02. Next, string your beads {this is where a tiny bead stringing needle comes in handy}. Make sure you  work out your bead pattern before hand: I started with one lightest color bead, and followed with two light beads, two dark beads, then three darkest beads before then reversing to two dark, two light, and one lightest. Alternate the ombre beads with gold spacer beads. 

03. Once you're satisfied with your bead pattern, take the two ends of the embroidery floss and place them in the crimp cord end.

04. Carefully use needle nose pliers to crimp the cord end shut. Affix a jump ring to the cord end, and it's ready to receive the lobster clasp.

Have a great weekend, and happy jewelry making!