Carnelian Necklace

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This weekend I had the pleasure of getting to go with my boys to a lovely cabin on a little lake in the woods. While I did learn not to expect to have a "relaxing" trip when you take a 1-year-0ld to stay in a house that is not baby-proofed (or probably any kind of traveling with a toddler for that matter), I did get to carve out a little time (whenever he was asleep) for hanging out with my sweet hubby, reading, and a little crafting!

Maybe it was the fall pumpkins or a little ballgame this weekend (still love you longhorns!) but I was in an orange mood and decided to make some orange jewelry.  I hope you like it because you are going to have a chance to win it!! (More details to come soon).

This is the view from our front porch this weekend... bliss!!

To make this necklace I used a mixture of stone (carnelian) and glass beads, a stone rose pendant, beading cable, lobster clasp and closure, 2 crimp beads, needle-nosed pliers, and clippers.

I started by using a double knot to tie the lobster clasp close to the end of the cable.

I slipped one of the crimp beads over the knot...

and used my needle-nosed pliers to compress the crimp bead to hold the knot securely. (The crimp beads are not absolutely necessary, but give your necklace a little added strength... just in-case a toddler or thief tries to pull it off).

Then I began to string the beads, making sure that the first few beads covered up the short end of the cable so it wasn't sticking out.

I continued stringing the necklace, adding the pendant when I had reached half-way (it helps if you measure it against another necklace that you like the length of).  When I got to the end I put on the other crimp bead.

To tie the clasp on securely (without any slack in the necklace) I like to first make a loop through the hole of the closure...

and then pull the closure down tightly against the rest of the necklace. Then I use the loose end of the cable to tie a knot around the necklace cable (make sure the knot is in-between the closure and then crimp bead).

After I had the knot tied snugly I strung the spare end of the cable back through the crimp bead and a few of the first beads on the necklace.

Then pulled it through and used the needle-nosed pliers to compress the crimp bead....

and clipped off the end of the cable.  Now it is ready to go (along with these lovely earrings--- tutorial coming soon!) to one of my lucky blog readers!!!

You may also like:

Anthro-inspired Earrings

Beaded Cross

Double Stranded Beaded Jewelry

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