Pin of the Week: Anthro Necklace

Remember when I started doing Pins of the Week? Well, I got a little overwhelmed with pinterest after about a month and took a little break.  I'm getting back into it, and saw this pin.

Now, I'm not a huge necklace wearer these days. I much prefer some fashionably large earrings, but this necklace just called my name. Jessica at The Morning Letters, who's darling, made it sound so easy, and she purchased all of her supplies at Michaels. Can't get any easier than that, right? Well... .. .... ....... (that is me typing a dramatic pause) ... turns out it wasn't so easy. I had to change a few things, but I'm really happy with the outcome. So now that I figured it all out, it should be a breeze for any of you wanting to make your own.

First, I couldn't find those darn tear drop beads anywhere. And I mean anywhere. I had no idea what size I needed and when I finally found some online I was really nervous that whatever I ordered would be huge. I finally decided on these, but they are a pendant, so the hole is going through the wrong way. But better than nothing, and it cut out the step of having to use jump rings, so I ordered them.

I did get the rest of my supplies at Michaels, which included:

• Americana Acrylic Paint in Sea Glass
• Delta Air Dry PermEnamel Clear Gloss Glaze
• Crystazzi Round Silver Beads in 6mm - Pack of 120 

And a few other things, including jump rings, that I ended up not using and can return.

I already had: (all of which can be purchased at Michaels as well)

• Magic Stretch .7mm
• Silver chain, any will do, just make sure you can fit the elastic through the links so you can tie it.
• Lobster claw clasp (You may be able to cut out this step if you make your necklace long enough. Or don't have a large noggin like myself.  Since the beaded part is stretchy you could just slip it over your head avoiding a clasp all together.)

1. Paint your beads. They dry quickly, so by the time you get done with all of the first sides, you can go back through and paint the other side.  I did 2 coats. Let dry. I would recommend for at least 30 minutes.

2. Seal them with with a thin layer of the gloss paint. I did this right after painting, and it smeared the paint a little on some. Hence my recommendation on waiting a little longer for the paint to dry.  This step is a little trickier since the gloss doesn't dry as quickly, so be careful not to let them stick to whatever surface they are drying on.  I sealed all of mine and then looked at the instructions on the bottle. It said, "Let dry 10 days". 10 days? Are they for real? I did let them dry over night, and they seemed to be fine so...

3. String your beads. I tried every which way to use ribbon like Jessica did. But there was no way that my ribbon was going to fit through my pearl beads.  Jessica does say to use glass beads, and I think the holes on glass beads are generally a little bigger, but still... who likes tied necklaces anyway? I sure don't, so I wasn't too sad to try something else.

 I had some Magic Stretch on hand and decided that would be easier. I strung 3 pearls on first, then only put 2 in between each teardrop, and then finished with 3 to match.

Just in case you don't want to count. One strand has 9 teardrops and the other has 10. Edit: I neglected to take another picture once I had the beads how I wanted them. The final product has 9, and 10.  As my thoughtful husband pointed out, the picture above does not.

4. Tie the strands together.  To get your Magic Stretch to stay tied, tie right over left, and then left over right, wrapping the left strand around twice. Pull as tight as you can without breaking it.  If it doesn't hold, and you may want to do this anyway, put a tiny, tiny drop of super glue on your knot. Careful not to get it on your beads though.

5. Cut 2 pieces of chain to your desired length. Using the same tying technique as step 4, tie your chain to your beads.Then snip the extra elastic. Not too close, you don't want all your work coming undone.

Not my favorite finished look, but I have plans on how to improve that on my next one. Don't worry, I'll share my secrets.

6. Add a clasp to the end of your chain. All you need is a small pair of pliers to pry open your end link, slip on your clasp and re-close. And that is it!

I think it turned out the perfect size for my taste. After I was done I thought to google "anthropologie stormy seas necklace" and found a billion images. Then I realized the original is much larger than mine. So if you do like the original better, with the jump rings, I would recommend ordering these instead. I think it looks darling on her, but just not sure if I would ever where something that big.

Um, Cute 'n Cheap, can you find that dress? Love it.

I've had a few people asking if I will sell these... Sure! But time is money, so I would charge $25 per necklace. That hand painting takes some time. If that is too steep for you, keep your fingers and toes crossed because I'm going to be doing a give away with one of these very soon!

Here is my cost breakdown per necklace:

Pendants:   $1.79

Pearl Beads:  $0.66

Paint: $0.22

Glaze: $0.70

Magic Stretch: $0.60

Chain: $0.70

Clasp: $0.55

Total: $5.22 :)