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Tips to elevate your handmade pieces!
I love jewelry, I love looking at it, I love making it, and I love wearing it. But there are some parts of jewelry that I don’t love. I can’t stand it when a piece is uncomfortable and scratchy to wear, and I also can’t stand poorly constructed jewelry that looks like it will fall apart after two wears, so I thought it would be fun to share with you some things to look out for so that you always make strong, comfortable jewels that you will enjoy for years to come.
Here are my tips for making long-lasting, professional looking and comfortable jewelry:
1: Make sure you tuck away the ends of the tiger-tail wire. I usually achieve this by running the wire through a few of the beads at each end of my beaded designs so that it doesn’t poke out. You can also use a crimp cover which covers any sharp ends of the wire. You can see some examples below.
Look at the ends of this beaded strand, the ends of the wire are hidden under the beads. Follow the tutorial for this necklace here. 
The crimp cover on this earring charm protects you from being scratched by the wire. Tutorial for these earrings here. 2: Avoid using elastic in your designs. Elastic might be easy to put on and take off (and in some cases, is the only appropriate option in terms of accessibility). Unfortunately, this accessibility comes with a trade off, elastic tends to wear out quickly, and you can find your beautiful bracelet scattered all over the floor at the most inopportune moment. I suggest making your beaded jewels with nylon beading thread or tiger-tail wire for a longer life span. I’ve got a post about the pros and cons of different beading materials here.
Here’s a bracelet I found a while ago that was made from elastic. Unfortunately it had broken and been lost to its original owner! 
I’m yet to experience any of my tiger-tail beaded pieces breaking on me, I suggest choosing it if you are looking for durability in your designs. Full tutorial here. 3: Pull your wire tight at each end of your beaded pieces. I’ve noticed with the trend towards beaded jewelry in recent years, beaded tiger-tail necklaces are being sold with large loops at each end. This loose loop can catch on things and lead to breakages. I also personally think it looks sloppy and makes your work seem less polished.
I think this anklet with tightly finished ends looks a lot neater than a loosely looped wire. You can follow the steps to make your own anklet here. 
Don’t leave big loops like this on your jewelry pieces, they can catch on things and don’t look as polished. 4: Try to use precious metals! I spent a long time making jewelry using findings made from base metals. While these materials are cheaper and great for when you’re starting out, I think investing in fine metals such as sterling silver, is a great way to elevate your designs and make them seem more polished and professional.
A sterling silver clasp elevates this beaded bracelet. You can see the tutorial for this bracelet here. 
Sterling silver wire goes a long way! Some silver wire can be transformed into many sleek, minimalist jewellery designs with minimal effort. Tutorial to make these here. Here are some sterling silver materials you can buy and use in your designs:
5: I don’t always follow my own advice, but when you are making beaded pieces with pearls, it can pay to spend some extra time knotting your beading thread between each pearl. This technique not only protects the pearls, it also stops you from losing them all in the case of a breakage! I have’t made a pearl knotting tutorial yet, but I think there will be one on the way soon so keep an eye out.
This pearl bracelet features individually knotted pearls. So there you have it, a few tips and tricks to elevate your jewelry making to that next level! Please note that this post contains affiliate links.
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Choosing bead stringing materials for your project…
Some people have strong preferences for the bead stringing materials they prefer to use when making their jewelry. I recommend playing around with different materials to find what you like using, but I thought I would share my thoughts on my preferred bead stringing threads. Please note that this blog post contains affiliate links.
I was inspired to write this post after finding this broken bracelet…
This bracelet was made from elastic thread tied to a jump ring at each end. When I found it, the elastic had broken or come undone at one end and there were beads spread all over the ground. I picked a few up to see if I could reuse them.
1: Beading elastic
Here’s where I introduce the first stringing material that I’ll be discussing here, clear beading elastic. There are a few pros and cons to using elastic, one pro is that it is easy to secure the ends closed and that elastic beaded bracelets are easy to put on, they stretch over your hand so you don’t have to fiddle with any clasps. A downside (a big one in my opinion) is that elastic isn’t very hardwearing or sturdy. Elastic stretches out and loses its elasticity over time, it can also snap or untie easily, so you end up with the situation pictured above.
If you want to try out beading on elastic, you can follow our tutorial for making a beaded elastic bracelet here. If that doesn’t tickle your fancy, I’ve got some more bead stringing information for you below…
2: Tiger Tail wire
Another material that I often use for stringing beads is tiger tail wire. Tiger tail is a metal wire coated with nylon. It is flexible and can be bent into shapes. I find tiger tail wire a much stronger and sturdy material for beading compared to elastic. There are also a couple of cons to using tiger tail, you need a few more materials and tools to use it, and if you crease it, it is hard to get it back to its previous shape.
I have LOTS of tiger tail tutorials, so here’s one of my favorites that you can try out.
3: Nylon thread
A third bead stringing option is using nylon beading thread. This method is probably the most traditional and is useful when you are using delicate bead materials like pearls. Thread allows you to create knots between beads so that they don’t rub together on each other, knotting also means that if your piece does break, the beads won’t fall off and fly everywhere!
The downside of bead stringing onto nylon thread is that it can be a bit fiddly to work with and you need to use a needle to add beads to the string. Here’s a tutorial that shows you how to create a simple beaded necklace using nylon string.
Which bead stringing material do you like best?
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This earring is HOT! Combine pearls and glass charms to make a cool statement earring
I can’t get enough of glass food charms. Here’s another idea for how you can use them in your jewelry designs. This earring uses pearls and a glass chilli charm to make something very sexy!
You will need the following tools and materials to make your pearl chilli earring:
1: Pliers. You’ll need your round nose and flat nose pliers.
2: An eye pin.
3: A charm loop earring finding.
4: Two jump rings. One larger and one small.
5: A glass chilli charm.
6: Three freshwater pearl beads.
Follow these steps to make your pearl chilli earring:
1: Add the pearls to the eye pin.
2: Create a loop at the end of the pin to secure the pearls in place.
3: Add the chilli charm to one end of the pearl pin using the large jump ring.
4: Add the earring to the other end of the pearl pin using the smaller jump ring.
Now your earring is finished and ready to wear! How cool?!
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Here’s how to make delicate shell threader earrings.
These shell earrings are a subtle way to get in on the shell jewelry trend. They’re simple, delicate and beautiful.
You will need the following tools and materials to make these earrings:
1: Pliers. You’ll need your flat nose and round nose pliers for these earrings.
2: Two threader earring findings.
4: Shells and beads of your choice. I used these small shell beads and two blue glass seed beads.
Follow these steps to make your shell threader earrings:
1: Add the beads and the shells to each of the head pins.
2: Create loops at the top of each pin using the round nose pliers to secure the beads in place.
3: Attach each bead charm to the loops at the ends of the threader earring findings.
Now your shell threader earrings are finished! So cute!
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Here’s how to use feathers in your jewelry, feather hoop earrings!
Here’s an idea for incorporating shells into your DIY jewelry creations, make yourself some shell hoop earrings!
You will need the following tools and materials to make your feather hoop earrings:
1: Pliers. You will need your round nose pliers, cutting pliers and flat nose pliers.
2: Two pieces of wire approximately 10cm long.
3. Two earring hooks.
4: Two feathers. I used two small ones that I found outside.
5: Two leather crimp ends.
6: Two large jump rings.
7: Beads of your choice. I used these yellow and blue glass beads.
Follow these steps to make your feather hoop earrings:
1: Trim the ends of the feathers.
2: Secure a leather crimp end around the ends of each feather using the flat nose pliers.
3: Set the feathers aside.
4: Create a loop at the end of each piece of wire.
5: Add your beads in any pattern you choose, leave 1cm un-beaded.
6: Create a loop at the other end of the wire to secure the beads on the wire.
7: Form the wires into a circle shape.
8: Link the ends of the circles together to close it off.
9: Add a feather to each hoop using each of the large jump rings.
10: Add an earring hook to the top of each circle to finish the earrings off.
Now your feather earrings are finished and ready to wear!
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All the steps to make your own triple strand leather necklace
Want to show off what’s under the collar? Why not enhance your decolletage with this amazing triple strand necklace?
You will need the following tools and materials to make your triple strand necklace:
1: Pliers. You’ll need your cutting pliers, flat nose pliers and round nose pliers.
2: Three pieces of leather cord, each one longer than the other. I used this brown leather cord.
3: Two flat crimp ends. I used two gold ones.
4: Two jump rings.
5: A clasp.
6: Beads that will fit on your leather cord. I used six of these gold tube beads.
Follow these steps to make your triple strand necklace:
1: Hold the ends of the cords together.
2: Place one of the crimps around the ends of the leather.
3: Squash the crimp around the leather using the flat nose pliers.
4: Add beads to each of the strands. I added one bead to the shortest strand, two to the middle strand and three to the longest one.
5: Line up the other ends of the strands.
6: Add the crimp to the other side of the necklace to secure the strands together.
7: Add a jump ring to one side of the necklace and attach the clasp.
8: Add the other jump ring to the other side of the necklace to finish the necklace.
Now it’s ready to wear! Gorgeous.
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Here’s how to make a cute pair of dangly earrings!
We’ve done a cluster earring tutorial before, but here’s another fun one using earring hooks instead! This tutorial is super easy, you’ll be making a different pair for each day of the week.
You’ll need the following tools and materials to make your earrings:
1: Pliers. You will need your round nose pliers and flat nose pliers to make these earrings.
2: Two earring hooks.
3: Two large jump rings.
4: Ten small head pins.
5: Ten beads. I used these glass beads.
Follow these steps to make your own beaded cluster dangle earrings:
1: Add a bead to each head pin.
2: Create a loop at the top of each pin by winding it around the barrel of the round nose pliers. This will secure the beads onto the pins.
3: Add five of the beaded pins onto one of the jump rings.
4: Add one of the earring hooks to the open jump ring too.
5: Close the jump ring to secure the beaded pins and earring hooks together.
6: Repeat steps 3 to 5 to make the second earring.
Now your earrings are done! Awesome!
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Do you want to keep the ocean close? Here’s how to make a bottle charm filled with shells and sea glass
This pendant is so cute, fill it with your fave beach combing finds, or perhaps with some other special pieces. Affiliate links included
You will need the following tools and materials to make your own sea bottle charm:
1: A small glass bottle with a cork top.
2: Shells and sea glass to fill the bottle.
3: A small eye pin.
4: A large jump ring.
5: A wire collar necklace.
6: Water based glue, I used Mod Podge.
7: A skewer.
Follow your steps to make a sea bottle charm:
1: Take the cork out of the bottle.
2: Fill the bottle with sea glass and small shells.
3: Add some glue to the cork using the skewer.
4: Put the cork back in the bottle and wipe off excess glue.
5: Push the eye pin into the middle of the cork.
6: Add some glue around the eye pin to secure it to the cork.
7: Add the large jump ring to the eye pin.
8: Add the charm to the collar necklace to finish the design off!
Now your charm is ready to wear!
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This Pom Pom Charm Bracelet is a Whole Lotta fun!
This pom pom charm bracelet is so much fun to put together and even more exciting to wear! Contains affiliate links.
You will need the following tools and materials to make this bracelet:
1: Pliers. You will need your round nose pliers, flat nose pliers and cutting pliers to make this bracelet.
2: A short piece of chain.
3: Two pieces of string cut to the same length.
4: Two leather crimp ends.
5: Head pins. I used 15 head pins so that I could add one charm to each link of the chain.
6: Pom Poms and beads of your choice. I used these small multi-colored pom poms and some small timber beads.
Follow these steps to make your pom pom bracelet:
1: Add the beads and pom poms to each of the head pins.
2: Bend each pin to form a right angle using the round nose pliers.
3: Form a loop at the top of each pin using the round nose pliers.
4: Add each of the pom pom charms to a link on your chain. I left the links on each end empty.
5: Add a crimp end to each of the strings, leaving one end open.
6: Attach the strings to either end of the chain by opening the chain links or using some jump rings.
Once the strings are attached your bracelet is finished and ready to wear!
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Easy Layers with this Double Chain Necklace
This double chain layered necklace gives the effect of layered pendants for a cool look.
You will need the following tools and materials to make this chain layered necklace:
1: Pliers. You will need your round nose pliers, flat nose pliers and cutting pliers to make this necklace.
2: Two pieces of chain, one longer than the other.
3: Two eye pins.
4: Four small jump rings.
5: Two larger jump rings.
6: A clasp.
7: Beads of your choice. I used these stone beads.
Follow these steps to make your necklace:
1: Place both the beads on each of the eye pins.
2: Bend each eye pin at an angle to the bead.
3: Create a loop to secure the beads on the pins.
4: Attach the ends of the chains to each side of the charms using the smaller jump rings.
5: Separate the chains at the center of the chain.
6: Attach one end of each chain to one of the larger jump rings.
7: Attach the other side of the necklace chains to the other jump ring and attach the clasp. Close the jump ring to complete the necklace.
Now your chain layered necklace is finished and ready to wear!
Here are some more layered necklace designs you can make:
- This delicate bead and chain 2 tier necklace
- A statement necklace made with memory wire
- A super cute double layer beaded necklace
This tutorial contains affiliate links.
