Guide to Beading: The Top 4 Beginner Projects

Beading is a craft that many people partake in, and it seems that more and more people are starting to Bead. However, learning how to do the different Beading projects out there takes a little time and a lot of patience. It's best to start with a few easy projects and as you become more practiced move onto more challenging projects. Here are the top four beginner Bead projects to get you started:

Easy Bead Earrings

Materials: 2 Headpins, 2 Ear Hooks, Choice of Beads, Wire Cutters, Pliers

You can make many different earrings with this design as it is all dependant on your choice of beads.

• Put the Beads of your choice onto the Headpin.
• Use the Pliers to bend the headpin over, away from the top of the beads. Ensure you bend both headpins over the same amount to ensure the Earrings are the same length.
• If your Headpins are long you may need to cut off any extra.
• Use the pliers to curl the bent part of the headpin into half a loop.
• Slip the Ear Hook on and finish bending the Headpin into a completed loop to keep the Ear Hook in place.

Drop Earrings

Materials: 2 Large Beads, 2 Medium Beads, 2 Small Beads (of your choice), 2 Earring Wires, 2 Head Pins, Wire Cutters, Pliers

These earrings are a little more elegant than the above design, but still a relatively easy project to begin with.

• Place the Beads on the Headpin in the order of your choice. A popular choice is Medium, Large, and then Small, but the choice is yours, and you can also play around to see what you like best.
• Use the pliers to create a loop close to the top bead. Do not close off the loop quite yet.
• Slide the Earring Wire on and close off the loop.
• Cut off any extra wire with the wire cutters.

Ribbon and Bead Bracelet

This is a nice alternative to a regular Bead bracelet and a little more on the funky side.

Materials: Wire, 2 Ribbons, Seed Beads

• Cut one piece of wire and two pieces of ribbon to the length of your choice.
• Tie all three together leaving an extra 3/4 of an Inch on the end
• Thread the beads onto the wire until you have a length that will fit around your wrist. The beads can be in the pattern of your choice.
• Braid the Ribbons and Wire
• Tie all three together when you reach the length of your liking. Your Bracelet is now ready to wear.

Cascade Earrings

A bit more of a challenge to the top two Earring Projects and can really spice up an outfit.

Materials: 10 Flat Shell Disks, 2 Earring Loops, 2 x 5mm Beads, 10 Eye Pins

• Attach each of the Shell Disks to an Eye Pin
• Take a Shell and inserted Eye Pin and start to create a loop. However, before closing off the loop add another Shell and Eye Pin, and then close the first pin loop.
• You will continue to repeat this process until you reach the final shell at which time you will also add one small bead.
• Close the last loop around the earring loop, and your Earrings are ready to wear.

References:

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=67

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=72

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1382

http://www.craftbits.com/viewProject.do?projectID=1268