Step-By-Step Tutorials
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Here’s a fun simple design to make! All you need is some brightly coloured string and a fun bead!
This is a fun one, and great for when you feel like you need a new accessory to match an outfit in a snap! This bracelet is made using some bright string and a cheerful bead to make a simple bracelet that still looks great. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need the following tools and materials to make this bracelet:
1: A piece of beading string. I used this hot pink nylon beading thread. Cut it to a length by measuring it around your wrist and adding approximately 8cm extra. I usually measure mine by eye. If you think its too long, you can trim it a bit.
2: A bead. I used this smiley bead.
Here’s where you can get similar beads. Follow these steps to make your own simple string and bead bracelet:
1: Add the bead to the string buy sliding it over the end of the string.
2: Tie the string around your wrist.
Now its done! Perfect. If tying it yourself is tricky, you can ask someone for help to tie it on for you.
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Love the nostalgic craft-core style? If that sounds like you, here’s the perfect tutorial for you to follow.
The craft-core trend that sees beads combined in crazy combinations for a playful, handmade vibe. I super love this trend because its easy to recreate at home! Why fork out a few hundred dollars for something you can put together at home in about an hour for a fraction of the price?! Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make your fun mixed bead necklace that features a letter bead message:
1: A bunch of mixed beads. I used the beads I made in this tutorial in the selection.
2: A selection of letter beads that spell out your chosen word. I chose to spell ‘TIRED’.
3: Some tiger-tail wire, long enough to fit comfortably around your neck, plus about 5cm extra.
4: Four crimp beads.
5: A lobster clasp and jump ring for each end.
6: Pliers. I used my cutting pliers, round nose pliers and flat nose pliers.
Follow these steps to make your own crazy letter bead necklace:
1: Add two crimp beads to one end of the tiger-tail wire.
2: Add the jump ring and loop the wire around it and back through the crimp beads.
3: Squash the crimp beads using the flat nose pliers.
4: Add beads in your choice of pattern. I added mine pretty randomly. I continued beading until I reached close to the middle. I check for the length I like by holding the beaded section against my neck, with the clasp wrapped around, mimicking how I would wear it. (Remember to tuck the end of the wire into the beads at the end, I hadn’t done that yet in this picture).
5: Now it’s time to add your letters. I added the word ‘TIRED’ and a love heart letter bead.
6: Continue adding beads to the other side of the necklace until you have it at an even length to the other side.
7: Add two more crimps to the end of the wire.
8: Add the clasp to the end of the wire.
9: Loop the wire around the clasp end and back through the crimps and the end beads.
10: Squash the crimp beads using the flat nose pliers.
11: Trim the wire using the cutting pliers.
Now your beaded necklace is finished and ready to wear! How fun to make your own twist on the craft-core beading trend.
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Here’s how to braid three of the same type of chain together to make a cool necklace for layering!
I’ve already shown you how to braid three different types of chain together to make a choker length necklace, but here’s another tutorial that shows you the results of braiding three of the same chain together. This gives you the effect of a thicker chain and slightly shortens the length of the original chain. I think the end result is minimalist cool that can be worn on its own or the perfect necklace to layer with different lengths of chain. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make this cute braided chain necklace:
1: Three of the same style of chain all of the same length.
2: Pliers. I used my flat nose and round nose pliers for this piece.
3: A paperclip.
4: A bulldog clip.
Follow these steps to make your cute braided chain necklace:
1: Remove the clasps and jump rings from both ends of each chain except for one. Leave the clasp attached to this chain.
2: Open the jump ring that attaches the clasp to the chain and add the other two chains. Close the ring to secure the chains together.
3: Attach the paperclip to a table edge or other sturdy surface using the bulldog clip.
4: Add the chains to the paperclip by clipping the lobster clasp to it. This will allow you to pull your braiding tight and manage the tension better.
5: Braid the chains.
6: When you get close to the end of the chains, attach the ends together using one of the jump rings you removed from the necklaces earlier. Try to avoid letting the chains unravel.
Now your braided chain necklace is finished! How cute?!
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Flower beading is so fun! Here’s how to put together a flower beaded bracelet.
Flower beading was one of the first beading techniques I learned when I was a crafty kid! I still love beading and it is so fun to see this nostalgic style coming back! This bracelet makes a feature of a beaded flower, surrounded by a variety of glass beads. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make your flower beaded bracelet:
1: Scissors.
2: Beading thread.
3: A selection of beads. I used some larger glass beads for the flower and some smaller ones for the base of the bracelet.
4: A parrot clasp and jump ring for the ends of the bracelet.
5: Some superglue.
6: A beading needle with a thin loop of thread tied to it.
Here are the steps to follow to make your flower beaded bracelet:
1: Cut a length of thread, about 50cm and fold it in half.
2: Slip the loop around the clasp end and pull the length of the thread back through that loop. Pull it tight to secure it to the clasp.
3: Tie a knot at the base of the clasp and put the thread back through the clasp end, tying one final knot for extra security.
4: Add the looped needle to the beading thread.
5: Begin adding beads, bead to about half of the preferred length of your bracelet. You can check this roughly by laying the bracelet across your wrist and measuring by eye how far it reaches around the wrist.
6: Once you have the length you like, add the seven beads for making the flower.
7: Take the needle and put it through the hole of the first of the flower beads. When you pull it tight you will have a circle shape.
8: Add another bead to the thread, this will be the centre of the flower.
9: Place the centre bead into the middle of the circle and then thread the needle through one of the beads opposite the one you used to form the circle.
10: Pull the thread tight, you will now have a flower with a centre.
11: Continue beading until you have the length you like. I didn’t quite make the first part of my bracelet long enough so I decided to add some extra feature beads at the end to make it long enough.
12: Once you have your desired bracelet length, tie a knot at the end of the beads to secure them.
13: Loop the thread around the jump ring and tie a knot. Repeat this to secure the jump ring well.
14: Trim the excess thread from the end of the bracelet, cutting closely. Then add a dab of superglue to the knots on both ends of the bracelet for extra security. Set the bracelet aside and wait for the glue to dry.
Once the glue is dry, your sweet and cheerful floral bracelet is finished and ready to wear!
Here are some more floral bead tutorials you can follow:
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Here’s how to make round polymer clay beads using a bead maker!
I’m no expert on polymer clay, but I do like using it from time to time. I recently received this polymer clay bead maker as a gift and I thought it would be fun to try it out and take you along for the ride! So here’s how to make some cute round polymer clay beads using a special bead maker! Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make some polymer clay beads with me:
1: Some polymer clay.
2: A polymer clay bead maker. I used this Sculpey Tools branded one.
3: A carving tool or something similar that has a long pin on it for making the bead hole.
4: Some baking paper and foil for working on and baking. It is best to use a baking surface just for polymer clay and not trays you prepare food in. I like to fashion a little tray out of foil and then recycle it when I’m done.
5: An oven.
Follow these steps to make your polymer clay beads:
1: Choose the size of bead you want to make and fill the corresponding measuring cup with polymer clay. I chose 18mm.
2: Scrape off excess clay so that the clay sits flush in the cup.
3: Take the clay out of the cup and then roll it into a ball shape.
4: Put the the bead roller inserts that are the right size for your bead into the roller base. I used 18mm rollers.
5: Put the polymer clay ball between the two rollers.
6: Push the rollers back and forth with the polymer clay inside to make the ball round.
7: Take the ball out of the rollers and poke a hole through it using the poker tool.
8: Now you can decorate your ball, you might want to roll it again gently to reshape it after making the hole. I used the other end of my poker tool to add some cross designs on my bead.
9: Bake the bead according to the instructions on the package of your chosen brand of polymer clay. I made a couple more beads before I baked them. Here they are before being baked.
Once your bead is baked it is ready to use in your jewellery designs! Stay tuned for a tutorial where I use my polymer clay beads in a design!
Here are the baked beads. If you liked this tutorial, here are some other ways to make polymer clay pieces to include in your jewelry designs:
- Here’s how to make polymer clay earrings with a beaded tassel
- Here’s how to make polymer clay charms for long statement earrings
And here are some pieces that make use of polymer clay beads and charms:
- A bracelet made using polymer clay beads and beading thread
- Maybe you’ll make a funky beaded lanyard with polymer clay beads?
- Make a cute charm bracelet with your handmade polymer clay beads.
- Use some cube shaped polymer clay beads to make a fun stacking ring
- Add some polymer clay beads to a funky beaded phone strap
- Or use polymer clay beads to make a unique anklet
- Maybe you’ll add polymer clay beads to an amazing mixed bead statement necklace.
If you want to make beads in other materials here are some tutorials:
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Here’s how to make a little person out of beads! This is such a cute tutorial!
I love things that look like other things, so I just had to make this little beaded body! This bead person is made using some head and eye pins and a bunch of beads. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make this funny bead person charm:
1: Pliers. I used my round nose, flat nose and cutting pliers for this piece.
Cutting pliers (left), Round nose pliers (middle) and flat nose pliers (right) 2: Two eye pins, one longer and one shorter. These will be for the head and body.
The longer eye pin 
The shorter eye pin 3: Four head pins for the arms and legs.
4: A selection of beads. You will need a round bead for the head and a larger bead for the body. I suggest going a bit crazy with your beads and using a mix of sizes and shapes to represent the different body parts.
Link to a round orange bead:
Some body bead options:
Mixed bead options:
And now here are all the steps to follow to make your bead person charm:
1: Take the shorter eye pin and put the round bead on it.
2: Bend the pin to form a right angle with the bead.
3: Create a loop at the end of the bead using the round nose pliers. This will secure the bead onto the pin.
4: Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the larger bead and longer eye pin. I had to trim my pin for this one, to do this, I used my cutting pliers to cut the pin down so that there was about 1cm left of the bent part of the pin.
5: Once I trimmed the pin, I looped it to secure the bead in place using my round nose pliers.
6: Now you will need to open one of the bead loops on either the head or body charm to attach the head and body together. Close the loop once you have slid the charms together.
7: Set the head and body aside.
8: Add beads to each of the head pins to form the arms and legs. Get creative with the patterns and beads you choose.
Making the first arm 
Two beaded arms 
Two arms and one leg 
All arms and legs beaded 9: Once your pins are beaded, you can bend the ends to form right angles and create loops at the top to secure the beads.
10: Add two of the leg pins to the bottom of the larger bead (the body), do this by slightly opening the loop at the bottom of the body bead and sliding the pins on. Close the loop to secure the legs in place.
11: Add the arms in the same manner to the loop at the top of the body bead. This time you will need to open and close the loops on the end of each arm so that you can attach the pins to either side of the head.
Once all your appendages are attached, your little bead person charm is finished and ready to go! Make another one to wear as a pair of earrings or attach one to a chain to make a cute necklace. Maybe it could also keep you company as a phone charm?!
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Here’s how to make a single floating pearl necklace!
I’ve made a floating pearl necklace before using multiple pearls, you can see the tutorial here. This design is a bit different. For this one you won’t need extra crimp beads, the pearl instead slides freely on the tiger tail wire! I also added some crimp covers on this version so that the trimmed tigertail ends don’t scratch your neck! Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make this floating pearl necklace:
1: Pliers. I used my cutting pliers, flat nose pliers and round nose pliers for this floating pearl necklace.
Cutting pliers (left), Round nose pliers (middle) and flat nose pliers (right) 2: Tiger tail wire. Cut to your desired length, I made mine a bit longer than I usually like, but you can check your length by holding the wire loosely around your neck or measuring the wire against the length of your fave necklace and adding about 3cm extra.
3: Two crimp beads.
4: Two crimp cover findings.
5: A pearl bead. I used this oval shaped freshwater pearl bead.
6: A clasp and extra jump ring.
Follow these steps to make your floating pearl necklace:
1: Add a crimp bead to one end of the wire.
2: Loop the end of the wire back through the crimp to create a loop.
3: Pull the loop tight around the crimp bead.
4: Squash the crimp bead using flat nose pliers and then trim the excess wire at the end.
5: Add a crimp cover from the other end of the wire, pulling it so that it sits around the squashed crimp bead.
6: Close the crimp cover around the squashed crimp bead using the flat nose pliers.
7: Add the pearl to the wire.
8: Add the second crimp cover to the wire and let it fall out of the way.
9: Add the second crimp bead to the wire and repeat the loop that you did in steps 2-4.
This is before trimming the excess wire. I suggest trimming the wire before closing the crimp cover. 10: Pull the crimp cover back up the wire and fold it around the crimp bead end, close it carefully using the flat nose pliers.
11: Use the loops at the end of the crimp covers to attach the clasp to one side of the necklace and the jump ring to the other side. Shape and close the crimp cover loops using the round nose pliers.
Once the clasp has been attached, your floating pearl necklace is ready to wear! Would you wear this piece as a simple statement or layered with other pieces?
Here are some other pearl necklace designs you can make:
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Here’s another sparkly shoe chain tutorial for you…
Shoe jewellery is pretty fun! Here’s how to make a sparkly decoration for your fave shoes using some string and some rhinestone embellished beads. I made this one long enough that you could also clip the ends together so you can wear it around boots. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make this shoe chain:
1: A piece of string about 35-40cm long.
2: Two large lobster clasps.
3: Some beads. I used these second-hand rhinestone embellished metal beads.
4: Scissors for trimming the string.
5: Some superglue.
Follow these steps to make your shoe chain using string and beads:
1: Add one of the lobster clasps to one end of the string and tie a knot.
2: Tie two more knots, leaving the end for now.
3: Add the beads to the string.
4: Add the second lobster clasp to the other end of the string and tie three knots as you did in steps 1 and 2.
5: Trim the ends of the string using your scissors.
6: Add a dab of superglue to the knots to secure them then set it aside to dry.
Now your shoe chain is finished. Here it is clipped to some low top sneakers, but you could experiment and add them to high-tops or boots!
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Here’s how to make a special pair of earrings using earring findings and beaded thread…
Here are some fun earrings you can construct at home! This is a great way to use the pieces of copper or brass that you created patina on using our salt and vinegar patina tutorials as well as some of your fave beads. Please note that this tutorial contains affiliate links.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make these earrings:
1: A pair of brass earrings with drilled holes or charm loops, I used these ones I made a while ago.
2: Some nylon beading thread. I used two scrap pieces about 30cm long.
3: A beading needle with a thin loop of thread attached to it.
4: Beads. I used these purple and blue glass seed beads.
5: Jump rings. I used two copper jump rings.
6: Scissors.
7: Super glue.
8: Pliers.
Follow these steps to make your cute pair of earrings:
1: Close both of the jump rings using your pliers.
2: Fold one of the pieces of thread in half and loop it around the jump ring.
3: Tie some additional knots to secure the thread to the jump ring.
4: Pull the thread through the loop at the bottom of the needle.
5: Begin adding beads to the string in your chosen pattern.
6: Continue adding beads until you have a length you like, I made mine about 7cm long.
7: Tie a knot at the end of the thread to secure the beads onto the thread.
8: Tie the end of the thread onto the jump ring to form a loop, thread it through the jump ring and tie a couple of knots to secure it.
9: Trim the excess thread using scissors.
10: Add a dab of superglue to both knots to secure them.
11: Repeat steps 2-10 for the second beaded loop.
12: Open the jump rings and thread them through the earring findings. Close the jump rings using your pliers to secure them in place.
Now your earrings are finished and ready to wear! How fun is this design?
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Here’s how to make a bracelet using beading thread and a needle!
I’m loving using nylon beading thread at the moment, so I thought I’d make a tutorial showing how to use it to make a cute beaded bracelet! Here are all the instructions plus some affiliate links so you can buy the materials to make your own.
You’ll need these tools and materials to make this beaded bracelet:
1: Some nylon beading thread. I used some thread that was cut to about 1m long.
2: A clasp. I used this sterling silver parrot clasp.
3: A jump ring. I used a sterling silver jump ring.
4: Beads. I used these handmade polymer clay beads and some red glass seed beads.
5: Scissors to cut the thread.
6: Super glue.
7: A beading needle with a thin loop of thread tied around the bottom.
Follow these steps to make your beaded bracelet:
1: Fold the piece of thread in half, loop and knot it around the jump ring.
2: Slide the thread through the needle loop and begin adding beads.
3: Add beads in your desired pattern.
4: Once you have your bracelet at a length you like, tie a knot to the end so the beads won’t slide off.
5: Tie the end of the string to the jump ring on the parrot clasp, be sure to do a few knots and loops around the clasp for a strong tie.
6: Trim the excess thread.
7: Add a dab of superglue to each knot and set the bracelet aside to dry.
8: Once the superglue is dry, your bracelet is finished! How sweet is it to learn how to use new beading materials?
If you like using beading thread, here’s a tutorial that shows you how to use it to make a beaded necklace.
