Festive Green & Red Christmas Bracelets

Festive Green & Red Christmas Bracelets

Hi there! It's Dominique here, with another Just Bead It design for the blog. The Christmas season is upon us, so today I am happy to share some adorable Christmas-themed bracelets, made with the lovely Just Bead It Christmas bead range.

Just Bead It products used (for the bracelets):

• JBZ58 - small glass pearl beads x2
• JBXM30 - Green glass present beads
• JBXM23 - Red glass present beads

Additional products:

• Beading wire
• Crimp beads
• Silver and gold crimp covers
• Silver and gold 3-strand bar ends
• Silver and gold extender chains
• Silver and gold lobster clasps
• Crimping pliers
• Wire cutters

JBXM23, JBXM30, and 2x JBZ58

Firstly, start by cutting three equal lengths of wire. On the first strand, add a crimp bead and thread the wire through the middle hole in the 3-strand bar end, and back through the crimp bead a second time. Pull tight, and use a pair of crimping pliers to make an indent in the bead, and then fold it over itself so that it is nice and rounded. Add a crimp cover and use crimping pliers to round the cover over the crimp so you end up with a smooth, round, bead-like result.

Add a crimp and crimp cover to the middle loop of the bar end

Now you can begin to thread the beads onto the strand. I started with the red bracelet, so thread the red presents (JBXM23) onto the wire until the desired length is achieved. Also make sure to thread the excess wire through the first few beads, for added security.

For added security, tuck the excess wire through the first few beads

Repeat the first step for the remaining wires, attaching a crimp and crimp cover to the ends. Then, take the dainty glass pearls (JBZ58), and begin threading the beads onto the wires until the desired length is reached.

Once all the beads are strung, and you are happy with the size, add crimp beads to the other ends of the wires, and just like the first step, thread the wires through their respective loops on the bar end and use the crimping pliers to secure the ends. Once again, add crimp covers to each raw crimp beads. Lastly, attach a lobster clasp to one end, and an extender chain to the other, and the bracelet is finished!

Once the desired length is reached, add crimp and crimp covers to secure the other end of the bracelet

For the green bracelet, follow the steps above, except use the green present beads (JBXM30), and all silver findings this time. 

I love both variations of this bracelet, and think they would be such a dainty addition to a Christmas-themed outfit this year! 

If you would like to get more information on some basic jewellery-making techniques such as how to use crimp 

beads and covers, and attaching lobster clasps etc, you can refer to my more thorough jewellery tutorial on the Just Bead It blog.

I hope you enjoyed this post - if you would like to view more of my designs, I also have an Etsy store called DominiquesWares which features more beaded jewellery. These particular bracelets will soon be uploaded to my store, so stay tuned for that :)

If interested, you can follow me on Twitter @DominiquesWares

or Instagram: dominiques_wares

You can also follow my Dominique'sWares blog

Thanks so much for reading - happy beading!

Assorted Christmas Earrings

Assorted Christmas Earrings

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Hi all - today I am going to share with you a variety of different Christmas and holiday themed earring designs. I just love the assortment of Just Bead It Christmas beads, and thought it would be fun to show them off in a variety of different styles. I can't believe we are only 7 weeks away from Christmas! I hope everyone has a relaxing and peaceful time leading up to the holiday season :)

Just Bead It products used:

• JBZ41 - glass angel bead strand
• JBXM51 - small 6mm glass pearls
• JBXM53 - large 8mm glass pearls
• JBXM06 - purple glass pearls with bead caps
• JBZ27 - glass rice-shaped beads

Additional products used:

• Silver headpins
• Silver eyepins
• Surgical steel hypo-allergenic earring hooks
• Jewellery pliers (bent nose pliers, round nose pliers, wire cutters)

Firstly, take one of the teardrop beads from the JBZ41 strand, thread a headpin through the bottom, and turn the tail to a 90 degree angle. Trim the tail to roughly one centimetre, and curl the tail into a tight loop using round nose pliers.

Using an eyepin this time, repeat these steps with two silver spacers from the same JBZ41 strand, plus a small glass pearl from the JBXM51 strand.

Then, using flat or bent nose pliers, grip the loop and gently bend it outward into an "S" shape, and attach to the other loop as shown.

Lastly, use the same method to attach a surgical steel earring hook to the dangle. Repeat these steps to replicate another earring, and the first pair is done!

I personally use surgical steel earring hooks because they are hypo-allergenic, and are less likely to irritate those who - like me - have sensitive ears. 

Teardrop glass bead and silver spacers from JBZ41, glass pearl from JBXM51

These steps are foundational to begin creating any style of earring. There are many different possible variations, but I have created four more to share for inspiration. Feel free to be creative and mix and match/improvise any of these designs. They are just to help inspire a few different design ideas.

Purple glass pearls from JBXM06, angel wings from JBZ41

Glass pearls from JBXM51, white howlite beads from JBI58

Angel beads from JBZ41 strand

Glass rice-shaped beads from JBZ27, large pearls from JBXM53

I hope you enjoyed this post - if you would like to view more of my designs, I also have an Etsy store called DominiquesWares which features more beaded jewellery.

If interested, you can follow me on Twitter @DominiquesWares

or Instagram: dominiques_wares

You can also follow my Dominique'sWares blog

Thanks so much for reading - happy beading!