Silver Splendor Necklace

Use a variety of glass beads to create this funky silver splendor necklace from Katie Hacker.

Materials:

15 ft. spool - Beadalon 19 Strand silver plated .015 in. wire
5 - 8mm Blue round faceted cat eye beads
3 - 8mm Peridot round fire-polish glass beads
3 - 8mm Rose smooth round color-coated glass beads
20 - 6mm Blue round faceted cat eye beads
12 - 6mm Peridot round fire-polish glass beads
16 - 6mm Rose smooth bicone color-coated glass beads
50 - Size #1 Crimp beads, silver plated
12 - Size #2 Crimp beads, silver plated
1 - Design sterling silver crimp hook & eye clasp
Designer flush cutters
Designer chain nose pliers
Designer crimper
Bead mat

Steps:

Note: Before you begin, start building the beaded section of the necklace by working from the center toward one side. It doesn't matter which side gets done first, as long as you end up with five 8mm beads in alternating colors on each side of the center bead.

Cut the following lengths of Beadalon wire: three of 20 in., one of 5 in., two of 3 in., and 33 of 2 in.
Hold the 20 in. wires together and string the following beads onto the center:

#2 crimp bead, 8mm blue, #2 crimp bead
Do not crimp the crimp bead at this time.
Hold a 3 in. length and a 2 in. length together. Pass them through the crimp beads and blue bead. Use a crimping tool to crimp the crimp beads.
On one side of the center bead, string one 8mm peridot or rose bead and a #2 crimp bead onto the wires. Hold two 2 in. wire lengths together and pass them through the crimp bead and peridot bead. Crimp it.
On the same side of the center bead, string one 8mm blue bead and a #2 crimp bead onto the wires. Hold two 2 in. wire lengths together and pass them through the crimp bead and blue bead. Crimp it.
Repeat the beading pattern from Steps 4-5 until there are five alternating 8mm beads on each side of the center bead. Each bead should have two short wires passing through it in addition to the three foundation wires of the necklace.
When you’ve strung all of the 8mm beads, string a #2 crimp bead onto each side of the bead section. Use chain nose pliers to carefully flatten it.
On one side of the center bead, fold a 5 in. length of silver Beadalon around the wires. Pass the wire ends through a #1 crimp bead. Adjust the wires so one end is longer than the other, then slide the crimp bead upward to form a small loop. Use a crimp tool to crimp it.
Repeat Step 8 to attach a 3 in. length of beading wire in the same manner on the other side of the center bead.
Start adding 6mm beads to the ends of the short wires. Each bead should be held in place with a #1 crimp bead. String one 6mm bead and a crimp bead onto a short wire end. Use a crimping tool to crimp it. It doesn’t matter which color goes where, just try to spread them out evenly across the necklace. Leave all of the short wire lengths as-is, or use wire cutters to trim them to varying lengths to add interest.
Once all of the beads are added, braid the necklace ends. Tape one end of the necklace to your work surface to keep it still while you braid.
Braid one side of the necklace and place the wire ends inside half the crimp clasp. Use chain nose pliers to flatten the center section of the clasp to hold the wires in place. Repeat this step with the other half of the clasp to finish the other side of the necklace.

Tip: If you have leftover beads, Beadalon wire and crimp beads, you can add extra dangles to the beaded section. Cut pieces of wire in varying lengths and use Step 8 as a guide.