Wednesday, January 02, 2008

How To Make a Beaded Necklace

Hello friends!



First of all, thank you to everyone for the warm release day wishes. It's pretty crazy that the day I've waited over 6 years for is finally here...wow! I will soon start posting pics of HOW TO SALSA IN A SARI sightings =)



Today I will be giving away a signed copy of HOW TO SALSA IN A SARI to a randomly chosen person who leaves a comment. This book is very close to my heart because it's the very first YA novel I wrote....I was in Sears one day and watching two teenage girls fight. It was very obvious they were sisters, but not "biologically" related. The scene got my mind whizzing...a story about two completely opposite girls who are forced to get along...and HOW TO SALSA IN A SARI was born!





Today I'm going to talk a bit about How To Make a Beaded Necklace. This is something I started doing last year when the necklace I wanted was way too expensive for me to afford. I took a close look at it and decided to try and re-create it.




1. First choose your color palette. Blues? Reds? Greens?

2. Get about 2-3 sizes of beads in that color palette in three colors. For blues, it would be like small navy blue, mediumn turquoise and large royal blue. For reds, magenta, bright red and burgundy works well. You can get beads at any craft store like JoAnn Fabrics or Michael's.

3. Get craft wire and a matching ribbon to your beads. (Also from the craft store)

4. I love multi-strand necklaces, so I cut 3 pieces of craft wire and tie a knot at the end of each. Then I string the beads on each one. There are several patterns you can follow:

String 1: Big bead, big bead, big bead, etc + String 2: Small bead, small bead, etc + String 3: Medium bead, etc

OR

(and this is what I prefer)

String 1: Big bead, small bead, med bead, etc + String 2: Big bead, small bead, med bead, etc + String 3: Big bead, small bead, med bead, etc


So that you have three strings of beads the length of a necklace.

5. What I like to do now is tie a big piece of ribbon around the ends of the strings so that I can tie the necklace on and off rather than try and fiddle with a clasp.


So far, I've made a red toned necklace and a green and I always get tons of compliments on both.



Thanks for playing everyone and happy new year!!
-------------------------------------
Dona Sarkar-Mishra
HOW TO SALSA IN A SARI - out NOW!
SHRINK TO FIT - June 2008

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice blog! congratulations Dona with your release. I am looking forward to read it, (i won your book in the previous giveaway from a few weeks ago on booksboysbuzz)
Looking forward to the arrival of it!(i hope you received my mailing adress in the mail i send you)
Marlayne

Dona Sarkar-Mishra said...

Hey Marlayne!

You book will be on its way by EOW when I make a BIG post office trip. Thanks for playing and hope you enjoy SALSA!

stephhale said...

I love that necklace, Dona. I'm so happy for you and I hope you have a great release week!

Steph~ who is still trying to figure out what she knows How to do...hmmm...

TinaFerraro said...

A wonderful and helpful How To, Dona. As you know, I have a copy of your book already, and it's next up on my list to read. Can't wait!

Chelsea said...

That necklace looks SO COOL. I want to make one. I'd love to be entered into the contest, too! =)

Lisa Asanuma said...

How fun! I just saw a tiny beaded purse the other day that I'm thinking of trying to recreate, this kind of stuff is right up my alley. :)

Marley Gibson said...

Will you make me one, Dona? LOL!! Love it! Great post.

Whoooooohooooooo on the book release!!!

Me said...

I'm totally making one of your necklaces because: a) it's totally adorable, b) it sounds way cheaper and way more unique than anything I could buy, and c) it might get me one tiny baby step closer to being as chic as you! =)

Anonymous said...

Hi Dona,
Your book sounds fantastic. I'll be sure to check it out. I think I'm even going to try to make a necklace now, despite how craft challenged I am.
MJ

Anonymous said...

that sounds pretty cool. i'll give it a try, though i'm sure it'll take me a few times to get it right...i am in no way talented in the arts&crafts department.

congrats on the book!

-kiran.

Anonymous said...

those necklaces look cool! I always tried to make a necklace but they always turned out looking more like the noodle necklaces i made in preschool! maybe i'll try to make one of yours!

also congrats on the books realease!

Anonymous said...

An excellent post on necklace making, if you need any info on other aspects of jewellery making
feel free to send me an email I may have some handy info for you.

Unknown said...

Congratulations on the book! It is a very interesting title and would make people want to read it! Thanks also for the tips on how to make a beaded necklace. :) Best Wishes...