Okay, so I’ve been wanting to make a gold crystal bracelet for a while now. I finally got around to doing it, and I’m pretty stoked with how it turned out! Here’s how I went about it.
Gathering My Supplies
First things first, I needed to get all my materials together. I’d already ordered some gold-plated beads and some nice crystal beads online. Here’s the full list of what I used:
- Gold-plated round beads (various sizes,I got few different options)
- Crystal beads (I chose clear ones, but any color would work)
- Beading wire (the flexible kind)
- Crimp beads (tiny ones to secure the wire)
- Clasp (a simple lobster clasp)
- Jewelry pliers (needle-nose and round-nose)
- Wire cutters
Getting Started
I started by cutting a length of beading wire. I made it longer than I thought I’d need, just in case. It’s always better to have extra, right?
Then, I took one end of the wire and threaded on a crimp bead, followed by one half of the clasp. I looped the wire back through the crimp bead, creating a small loop, and used my pliers to squish the crimp bead flat. This secured the clasp to the wire.
Stringing the Beads
Now for the fun part! I started stringing the beads onto the wire. I didn’t really have a set pattern; I just played around with the different sizes of gold beads and the crystal beads until I liked the look. I made sure to mix them up so it wasn’t too predictable.
Finishing Up
Once I had all the beads on, I checked the length around my wrist. It was a little long, so I took off a few beads. I recommend trying to check fitment to your wrist regularly to be sure it perfectly fit.
Better to adjust now than later!
Then, I repeated the crimping process on the other end: added a crimp bead, then the other half of the clasp, looped the wire back through the crimp bead, and squished it flat with my pliers.
Finally, I used my wire cutters to trim off any excess wire sticking out from the crimp beads. And that’s it! My bracelet was done!
My Thoughts
Honestly, it was easier than I thought it would be. The crimping was a little fiddly at first, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. And I love how the bracelet looks! It’s simple, but elegant. And now when someone ask me where did I get the bracelet, I can proudly said “I made it!”.
If you’re thinking about making your own jewelry, I say go for it! It’s a really satisfying project, and you end up with something unique that you can wear.
