DIY: NYE Bauble Necklace

My youngest sister, Janice, got me a very creative Christmas present: everything I needed to make a Simple Bauble Necklace in this SLOABN youtube video. Still, even though she condensed it down to a 5-minute tutorial, I was unsure if I could do it.

I'm not crafty! My twin sister, Becky, was always the crafty one. I was always the nerdy one. But, it turns out that when everything is handed to you with a bow on top, and there's a youtube video with awesome detailed step-by-step instructions, miracles can happen. And it's that time of the year for miracles, amirite?

So let's talk about how you can take a bowl of beads and transform it into a cute bauble necklace, perfect for adding some sparkle to NYE. (I mean, champagne is probably actually the perfect way to do that, to be honest. But just go with it.)

WHAT YOU NEED:

1. Beads! Our end-product necklace had 48 beads on it. I think it could have had 60, but we had a limiting factor (we didn't buy enough pins!) which brings us to...

2. Head pins. You need 1 per bead. These were our limiting resource, as we only had 48. I think 48 is sufficient but a necklace with ~60 beads would probably look nicer! Also you thread one of these through every bead, so they need to have a big enough "end" that they don't slip right through. We sadly couldn't use our blue beads because the pins were too small/holes on the beads were too big.

3. Wire Cutter Pliers & Needle Nose/Round Nose Pliers. Necessary. And no, I didn't already own these - I also got them for Christmas. My sister got me a Jewelry Tool Set with all this (and more) for only ~$10.

4. Jump Rings. We bought these in a pack of 85 and that was more than enough. You need one for every 2-3 beads.

5. Large Chain. To tie it all together.

6. Toggle Clasp. For connectivity. I used a Tiffany-style clasp.

You should be able to find everything at Michaels!

WHAT YOU DO:

1. Make Each Bead Its Own Charm. Do this by threading a head pin through the bead, cutting off excess pin, and then using pliers (round nosed worked best for me) to make a little loop. This step takes the longest.

How the "charms" should look:

Note: there is one blue bead. That's the ONLY blue bead the pin fit in! So, we ended up only using green, black, and sparkly white. (we didn't use the pearl white beads in the final product, though I think a bauble of entirely pearl white would look nice!)

2. Use Jump Rings to loop together beads. We made "baubles" of 2 beads and 3 beads. We were able to just pry the jump rings open with our hands, but in the video she recommends getting even stronger jump rings that you need pliers to pull apart. That would take a lot longer! (Though undoubtedly make a more durable product.)

3. Chain together Baubles by connecting Jump Rings. We did a pattern of 3 beads > 2 beads > 3 beads > 2 beads, and so on. You just link the first jump ring to the second, and the second to the third, etc.

4. After ~6-7 inches of bauble is made, link to chain.

5. Attach chain to Toggles at the end. 

6. Wear and Enjoy!!

Trust me when I say I am an amateur DIY-er. As in, I don't own a hot glue gun, amateur. But I did this with my sister, thought it was quite fun, and am pleased with how the necklace turned out! I actually can't believe I made it! Next time I might try to make one with 100% of one color bead (like sparkly white, maybe). Though, I am feeling the unofficial Slytherin theme of the one above. (ha!) I'd love to see your finished products if you try it - just tag me on instagram so I can see them! Go forth and bauble. :)