do you have any advice or tips on how to make a really cute necklace?

Question

and what do i have to buy?

Answer 1

Sure. You need to buy what you'll need to make one cute necklace -- or maybe several. First, of course, you need to decide what a cute necklace looks like!

Do you like hemp (or other cord knotted like it) with beads in it? Do you like dainty little chains with delicate pendants? Do you like chunky bold jewelry that makes a statement before you say anything? Do you like intricate designs or something simple?

Once you've decided on that, you'll need some sort of stringing material and some beads and some end clasps and possibly other hardware. A couple of tools would be good, too-- try starting with a good wire cutter (about 6" or 8" long) from the hardware store or automotive shop, a pair of 5" round-nose pliers, and a pair of 5" chain-nose pliers. Those are your basics. Get your wire cutter from the hardware store or automotive shop because the ones sold for jewelry making in crafts shops are basically useless and cost more, to boot.

If you like hemp or other knotted cord, your best bet is to buy a kit. That'll even teach you the knots you'll need. If your skin is sensitive or you have allergies like hay fever, don't get real hemp. Get another cord that isn't rough. You can usually find waxed cotton. That would work.

If you like a pendant on a chain, you can purchase said chain and said pendant and put them together. Some of those necklaces are gorgeous.

If you want some good ideas, go to www.firemountain gems.com and look at their pattern pages or design ideas. They have lots of designs available for anyone to use free. Much of their stuff is just stringing things creatively, so you can look at their site and get some good ideas. They also give supplies lists, so you'll know what to buy. Once you've decided what you want to do, go to a local crafts or beads shop and ask for help getting the right materials.

For my idea of a cute necklace, get a few coils of Memory wire, necklace-sized, a couple of assorted bags of beads, and one tube (or small bag) of e beads or seed beads in a neutral color to use as spacers. With a heavy-duty wire cutter, cut off enough wire to go around your neck with a couple of inches' overlap. Take a round-nose pliers and make a tiny loop at one end of the wire. Put beads on the wire to make a pretty pattern or a random design. Use a spacer (the tiny little seed beads or e beads) between the regular beads. This makes your necklace set better and look nicer. When you get to the other end, make your loop just like the first one. This make the cutest choker. It looks like it might be uncomfortable, but it really isn't. The Memory wire holds its shape, so you don't need to worry about clasps and stuff like that.

Answer 2

now this can get you into real trouble, you will become a bead addict and no one will ever be able to cure you, at joanns in the bead department, you can find some free instructions, mostly you need tigertail wire, beads to make the neck chain part, they can be any shape as long as they arent too big or overly expensive , unless you are loaded with cash. then you want a fancier central bead, or three of them or a pendant, you might start with the fancy one, then find beads to go with it, figure out how long you want it to be, usually 18 inches is minumum. you will need a crimp bead for each end, and a set of closures for the ends, and a pair of needle nosed pliars to pinch the crimp beads shut, start with the tigertail, at one end, thread on the crimp bead, then thread on one end of the closure, then run the tigertail back through the crimp bead, crimp it. now you want to lay out the necklace, its easiest with a necklace board, which is a oblong with a groove in it and usually measurements so you know how long its going to be, decide on length and cut the other end of the tigertail with a couple of extra inches to work with, then in the grove of the necklace board lay your pendant at the center bottom, then arrange your other beads in any pleasing arrangement. if you are going for 3 large beads as the focal center, lay the center one then figure how far away you want them from the center, i suggest about 2 inches away one on each side. then you fill in the space with your smaller beads which make the neck chain, it can be all one type bead, or you can put medium sized beads on the sides of your three central beads or you can use metal spacer beads which create an interesting design element. say the large central beads are pink with blue and white figures on them, you could make your neck chain all pink, or pink blue and white, alternating or pink and white, or pink and blue, you can use tiny seed beads or you can use e beads which are larger but look like seed beads and come in lots of the same colors, you really can do sooooooooooooo many combinations i couldnt ever stop typing, you can also use a metal charm for the central object. you might go to about.com where they have tons of bead patterns free and you can get some ideas of what you might like doing. but as i said, beware, its addictive, im a 35 yr addict and there is no cure what so ever. good luck! now if you want something that teens might really think is cool you could get a ball of hemp twine and two or three large hole beads and try your hand at macrame, i use a cardboard box bottom to pin my work to with a big t pin and knot away, you will find the basic instructions at elainecrafts.com, there are also instructions for the traditional friendhip bracelets made from embroidery floss, to make a necklace you just make it three times as long. i dont remember the sites but you can do a web search easily on that one.

Answer 3

I'd pair colourful tops underneath with some chunky jewelry. Maybe wear dark wash boot cut or skinny jeans on the bottom, or some nice bermuda shorts.

Answer 4

These are fairly easy to make:

http://tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?number=4352-00

and:

http://tandyleatherfactory.com/products.asp?number=43015-00

The materials or kits can be bought through:

http://tandyleatherfactory.com

or one of their stores that you can find on the web sites store locator.