How to Make a St. Patrick’s Day Statement Necklace

Avoid a couple pinches this St. Patrick’s Day by making this shamrock pattern necklace in the perfect shade of green. Master a few key techniques below and you’ll be making statement jewelry in no time — all the time!

Materials Needed

Materials:

  • 20 headpins
  • 13 (10x12mm) faceted glass teardrop beads
  • round-nose pliers
  • wire cutters
  • 7 (16x12mm) faceted glass rectangle beads
  • chain-nose pliers
  • 20 small jump rings
  • 2 large jump rings
  • 21″ curb chain cut into 5 sections: two sections of 2″, two sections of 4.75″, and one section of 7.5″
  • lobster clasp

Loop the teardrop beads

Step 1:

Start threading a headpin through each of the teardrop beads. Using round-nose pliers, create a loop at the top of each bead. Snip off any excess wire with wire cutters. Set them aside.

 

Loop the rectangle beads

Step 2:

Make a loop with round nose pliers at the bottom of 20 headpins or some thin gauge wire. Thread this through each of the rectangle beads so the loop is flush on one side. Using your chain-nose pliers, bend the wire to form a right angle as close to the bead as possible. Roll the wire around the tip of the round-nose pliers to form a complete circle centered over the wire stem. Repeat for all rectangle beads. Set aside.

Connect the beads

Step 3:

Open a jump ring with your chain-nose pliers and in this order add on a teardrop bead, and two rectangle beads. Close the jump ring.

Create the bead pattern

Step 4:

Open another jump ring and connect it to the empty loop on center rectangle bead. Add on another rectangle bead and a teardrop bead. Close the jump ring. Keep connecting the beads like this until you have the above chain formation.

Step 5:

Open two jump rings and use them to connect one piece of 2″ chain onto each end of the bead pattern. Using another open jump ring connect the 7.5″ chain (at the center) to the top loop of the center rectangle bead.

Connect the top beads to the chain

Step 6:

Using jump rings, connect the top loops of all the rectangle beads to the curb chain. We spaced ours 3 links apart, but you may need to adjust this depending on the chain you are using. Just keep in mind that the beads should drape around a curve when you are wearing the necklace so don’t just connect them straight up to the chain (make sure they are leaning a bit in toward the center point).

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Step 7:

Now we are going to connect all the chains together. Use 3 jump rings on each side — one to the end of each chain and one to connect them all together.

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Step 8:

Add 1 large jump ring and a lobster clasp to one end of the necklace . And add 1 final large jump ring to the opposite side, which will act as a catch for the lobster clasp.

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Whew! You’re all done! If you are ready to master other statement jewelry and fashion accessories grab a copy of our DIY book, “Make a Statement: 25 Handcrafted Jewelry & Accessory Projects.”

SOURCE:http://www.marthastewart.com/1105468/how-make-st-patricks-day-statement-necklace