Beading

You know how I love marbles?  I love glass beads also.  I've always wanted to get into making bracelets with beads, but never did because the beads are just so expensive.

But thanks to swap meeting shopping I've accumulated enough beads to try my hand at it. My sister Geri taught me a few tricks and I also went online to see what I could learn.


At $1 a bracelet at the swap meet bead collecting can actually be quite a bargain. You can take apart the bracelet and then make your own creations. Geri found this one.  Cute yah!


She found this one too.








The top one here was actually $8, but I loved the look, so I broke down and bought it.  The elastic on these were loose and worn, so I replaced them. 


I used this.  Bought it at Ben Franklin.


I've used this one too when repairing other bracelets. An important thing to know when you're tying your final knot: left side over, right side over. Then your knot won't slip.


I bought this container of beads for $5. The girl selling them wanted $10 but reluctantly agreed to sell it to me for $5 after I asked. I felt kinda bad after I got home and looked at them, 'cause I realized that they were actually probably worth way more than $10.


Isn't this bead pretty?  I think it's vintage Japanese.  I bought a bunch of um at the swap meet awhile back.  I decided to use them for my first attempt at a bracelet.


I used these pins.


And with pliers made a loop on top.


I did the same thing for each bead and embellishment which I then attached to a chain. I got the star-face charm from Ben Franklin, by the way.

When I tried the bracelet on for the first time, I realized that some of the wires were poking out and would scratch me.  So I had to go through each one and make sure to squoosh the wire tight. I already gave this bracelet to coworker Noreen. 

Do you think you might want one?  I'll probably be making a few more.  Maybe I'll have a giveaway. We'll see.