Bohemian Chic Turquoise and Gold Beaded Necklace

Hello! Today on the blog, I am going to show you how to make a bohemian chic necklace, accented with faceted turquoise and bronze beads. My favourite thing about this design is the neckline; I just love the shape it gives which, to me, is reminiscent of something a princess would wear :) This design is a bit of a blast from the past as I am using some of the Just Bead It beads from an earlier range. They are so beautiful that I couldn't resist!  I hope you enjoy!

Just Bead It products used:

• JBX29 - bronze faceted rondelle beads (medium)
• JBX36 - bronze faceted rondelle beads (large)
• JBY49 - turquoise faceted beads

Additional products used:

• gold eyepins (and lots of them!)
• gold headpins
• gold lobster claw clasp
• gold jumprings
• wire-cutters
• round-nose pliers
• bent-nose pliers

NOTE: Did not end up using the turquoise oval beads that are shown in this pic... I tend to change my mind right near the end

I love this type of necklace because there are no crimps involved, and each of the beads are spaced apart by the eyepins, so they are highlighted individually. It's also very easy to adjust and change the length of the design, even after you are finished. You can simply take some of the links off, or add some on, with no extra hassle of having to start over.

Having said that, let's begin!

Firstly, start by creating a few mini turquoise 'charms' as I like to call them, because they have loops on either end that can be attached to a chain. To do this, thread a gold eyepin through one of the JBY49 turquoise beads, turn it on a 90degree angle, and cut the wire, leaving about a centimetre to work with. Then - using round-nose pliers - gently turn the remaining wire upwards until it forms a loop that is flush with the hole on the bead. And that's it! This exact process is repeated many times with the other beads as well, and then you just link all of them together to form the necklace. 

For the pattern, start by threading two links of the turquoise 'charms' (you can always come back and add more if you want the necklace to be longer). To link them together, use bent-nose pliers to grip one end of the loop, and gently twist it into an 's' shape while gripping the bead with your other hand as an anchor. Then, simply add it to the closed loop of another link, and firmly close the 's' back into a loop using bent-nose pliers again.

Be careful when doing this process with the bronze rondelle beads, however, as the glass is fragile and if you are too rough with the pliers, you could break some of the bead.

Continuing the pattern, make a 'charm' using the JBX29 medium bronze bead, and link it onto the chain you have already started. Continuing on, add another two turquoise links, and then the first JBX36 large bronze bead. 

Then, add three more of the turquoise links in a row, and start back with another medium bronze bead (JBX29).

So to recap: 2x turquoise, 1x medium bronze, 2x turquoise, 1x large bronze, 3x turquoise, 1x medium bronze

And that is the basic pattern for the first part of the necklace.

If you want, you can add the lobster claw clasp now to remember which end of the chain you started with

Next, once you have reached the desired length of the necklace, you will need to find the middle of the necklace and start continuing the pattern downward. To do this, continue the pattern as normal, but attach the next link vertically, so that its top loop is linked with both the chains above it, and the 'charm' is facing downward. From then on, it is simple to continue the pattern downward until you have reached the desired length. Just make sure that the other side of the necklace is even, by going back and making sure to reverse the pattern so that it continues downward in a direction facing the opposite side of the necklace. For example, after the central JBX29 medium bronze bead, usually there would be two turquoise beads to follow if the pattern was going in the same direction, however, to reverse the pattern, there will now be three turquoise beads, followed by the large bronze JBX36 bead. As you can see below, the pattern now lines up and the direction follows the central bead, starting from either side of the necklace.

I was originally going to add a turquoise oval bead at the bottom end of the necklace, but I decided against it at the last minute, and elected instead to go with one of the medium bronze beads (JBX29) for a more subtle look.

Whatever bead you decide to go with for the end, you will need to use headpins, rather than an eyepin, as it is the final 'charm' and does not need to link with anything else. The headpins I were using had too small a base, so I improvised and used a group of three and thread them through the bead instead to widen the base (or else a single headpin would have slipped through the bead hole). This worked fine, although it was a bit tricky to curve all three wires into a loop in the same motion. Then, I just added the final 'charm' onto a jump ring, and linked it to the rest of the design.

Finally, attach a gold jump ring to one side of the necklace, and a gold lobster claw clasp to the other end. I was going to use an extender chain, but due to the extra chain in the centre of the necklace, any adjustability in the length of the necklace will result in the drop-length being uneven, which is not what we want. Therefore, only a jump ring attachment can be used for this one.

Add a lobster claw clasp and jumpring and you're done! NOTE: this photo shows that I decided to elongate the necklace slightly by adding a few more turquoise beads at the top than I started with.

And voila! The necklace is finished! I love the effect that the extra chain length gives at the end. If you prefer, you can keep adding links to the start of both sides of the necklace, which will elongate the design and give a more triangular neckline as it becomes longer. Alternatively, a shorter length will result in a more curved shape as it fits more closely around the neck. There is a lot of variety with this necklace, which I love :)

I hope you enjoyed this post - hopefully this can inspire you to have a go at using some of the Just Bead It beads. Thanks for reading - happy beading!

If you would like to view more of my designs, I also have an Etsy store called 
DominiquesWares which features more beaded jewellery. This particular boho-chic necklace will soon be uploaded to my store, so stay tuned for that :)

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