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Cost: $ $ $ $ $

Difficulty: • • • • •

Time: 40 mins

This is a quick and easy to make jewellery set with stunning results.
Feel free to use more or less beads to customise your design!

Posted by Beads Unlimited from Brighton, England, United Kingdom • Published 11th March 2009 • See Beads Unlimited's 96 projects »

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RareJewel favorited Cluster Necklace And Earrings 20 Jul 06:18

Step 1
Necklace base

To make the base for your necklace cluster, you need to make a chain of 5 jump rings. To do this, use the flat nosed part of your pliers and open up 1 of the jump rings. Do this by holding the jump ring on 1 side between your thumb and forefinger. Grip the other side with the pliers and open it away from you.
Attach 2 jump rings and close the open jump ring.
Open another jump ring in the same way. Attach 1 jump ring to it. Then attach the open jump ring to an end jump ring of the 3 you’ve already joined. You should now have 5 jump rings joined in a chain.
Step 2
Hanging your beads

To hang your beads, pick up a headpin and slide on 1 or 2 beads of your choice. Directly above the bead, bend the headpin over. Leaving a good centimetre, cut the headpin with the cutter part of your pliers. With the round nosed part of your pliers, curl the headpin into a loop until it is almost closed. Hang on any of the jump rings on your chain of 5. Close the headpin curl. Repeat this with 11 more beads, hanging them randomly on the jump ring chain.
Step 3
Adding your thong

Depending on how long you want your necklace to be, cut about 70cm or more of cotton thong. Remember that it has to go over your head! Fold the thong in 2 and pass the folded end through the top jump ring. Then pass the 2 open ends of the thong through the folded end. Pull tight. To complete your necklace, knot the ends of the thong together once or twice.
Step 4
Earrings

Following necklace instructions steps 1 and 2, make 2 clusters of beads. Open up the top jump ring of 1 of the clusters. Hang on the joining loop on 1 of your long ball wires and close the jump ring. To complete your earrings repeat with the remaining cluster on a 2nd long ball wire.
Step 5
Your finished items should look something like this.