Beaded Holiday Necklace and Earrings

Homemade red, white and green beads come together in a festive holiday necklace with matching holiday earrings from AMACO. The center pendent of the necklace is a lovely Christmas bead.

Materials:

• AMACO® Craft Porcelain - Red, English Green, White
• Delta Air Dry Perm Enamel paints - basic colors kit (includes red and green)
• 2 earring wires
• 2 jump rings
• 3 fancy sterling silver headpins
• 2 crimp beads
• sterling silver necklace clasp
• Beadalon bead stringing wireAMACO® Tri Bead roller
• AMACO® Professional System Bead Roller - Set 6
• AMACO® Tube Bead Roller - Set 2
• AMACO® Bead Baking Rack
• Thin knitting needle
• Wire cutters
• Needle nose pliers
• Crimping tool (optional)
• Tissue blade or craft knife

Instructions:

1. Condition a 1/8 package each of English Green, Red and White porcelain clay (see conditioning tips following these instructions). Using the Tri Bead Roller, roll 20 green bi-cone beads, 20 red circular beads, and 20 white oval beads.
   
   Using the green clay and the tube bead roller, roll a tube of green clay and mark it into bead lengths using the 8mm marks. Leave the clay to dry (overnight works well), then trim into 20 short green tube beads.
   
   To make the holes in the beads, pierce them using the bead pins from the Bead Baking Rack. Hang the beads on the pins on the Bead Baking rack and set aside to dry.
    
2. Using the large bead roller and white clay, follow the directions on the roller for determining the amount of clay needed to roll the bead. Roll a large white bead. Pierce the bead with a bead pin and set aside on the bead rack to dry.
    
3. When the large white bead is dry, use Delta Air Dry Perm Enamel paints in red and green to paint the bead.
   
   Start by dipping the top of a fine knitting needle into the green paint and hand paint holly leaves onto the middle of the bead. You will get four sets of holly leaves around the bead alternating the direction they point in (one up, one down etc.).
   
   Dip the knitting needle into red paint and dot holly berries below the leaves. Set aside to dry. When dry, dip the knitting needle into red paint again and paint a small cross-stitch style pattern around the top and bottom of the bead. Finish by painting a small flower over the hole at either end of the bead and set the bead aside to dry.
    
4. For the earrings, set aside two green bi-cone beads, two red beads and two white beads.
   
   Assemble a green, red and white bead onto a fancy headpin and create a wire wrapped loop using your needle nose pliers. Trim the end of the headpin if necessary. Attach the beads on the loop to an earring wire using a jump ring. Repeat to make the second earring.
    
5. To assemble the necklace, pass the remaining headpin through the large bead and create a wire wrapped loop at the other end. Loop the large bead onto a 20" piece of Beadalon stainless steel beading wire and thread the remaining beads in a pattern of your choice building it up either side of the central bead. Measure the necklace and add/or remove beads as desired to fit. Attach a fancy clasp at either end of the Beadalon wire using a crimp bead to secure it.