A Handmade Gift for an Excellent Person : Beaded Pendants
It brings me such pleasure to look at the series of annual photographs of my cousin Lisa’s sweet daughter Delilah, which show her enjoying the handmade gift I sent for Christmas. They live a plane-ride away so I’ve not been able to see her grow up in person, but the pictures, taken around the same time every year, have given me a wonderful glimpse at how she’s changed over time.
We began doing this when she was two and now she’s eight, making this the seventh time I’ve had photos of Delilah to share with you.
This past Christmas, I sent her three beaded pendants and a chain to wear them on. At the end of the post, I’ll demonstrate how they were made, but first, let’s look at them being modeled by this darling person (and her beautiful Guinea Pigs).
And, here are the previous years (click the links below each picture, if you’d like to see more pictures and how the gifts were made) …
↑ A Cotton Flannelette Blanket, when she was two. ↑
↑ A Cat Doll Made from Socks, with Clothes, when she was three. ↑
↑ A Crocheted Cross-Body Purse, when she was four. ↑
↑ A Decorative Garland, when she was five. ↑
↑ Some Mini Pillow Cases to go on a Child-sized Pillow, when she was six. ↑
↑ A Crocheted Hat and Scarf, when she was seven. ↑
How to Make the Beaded Pendants :
These are a pretty easy beading project, as you can purchase the beads you need altogether, as pictured below. I got these at Michael’s. Then you only need to add the findings and a chain. (Note : for the red and crystal angel, with the sparkly halo, I used beads and other pieces I had in my stash.)
- To make a Dragonfly Pendant you need the beads from the pre-assembled string, plus a long ball head pin, a small bead to match the head on the pin, and a jump-ring large enough for your chain to go through. (Note, I made the pendant a bit more kid-sized by only using two of the three round beads provided.)
- To make an Angel Pendant you need the beads from the pre-assembled string — Note, I wanted silver-toned metal, so switched out the gold wings and halos that came with the beads, with ones from a previously purchased string of beads — plus a long ball head pin and a jump ring large enough to fit your chain through.
- For both you need beading tools and a chain. I selected an 18″ stainless steel one, as this metal is hypoallergenic and comfortable on the skin.
Here are some instructions to make the Dragonfly. The Angel ones are made the same way.
↑ Thread beads onto the head-pin. ↑
↑ I’ve found that 8mm of extra wire allows you to make a nicely sized and shaped loop, so I use a spare 8mm bead to quickly measure. ↑
↑ Cut the head-pin, leaving 8mm extra wire. ↑
↑ Using round-tipped beading plyers, make a loop in the wire. Here’s a quick YouTube video, showing how that is done. ↑
↑ Attach your jump-ring. Here’s a quick YouTube video, showing how that is done. ↑
Thanks to Lisa and Delilah for the heart warming photos, and thank you for reading.
I hope you’re doing well. xo loulou
