Homemade jewellery gift ideas...

I've been busy with my beads these last couple of weeks and am excited that this year I thought about Christmas far enough in advance to bring some Christmas gift ideas to your computer!

Unique jewellery is such a lovely gift and it's even more meaningful when you have put the time and effort into making it yourself. I love making and receiving handmade gifts, so I thought I would put together a mini series which will hopefully inspire you to whip out your jewellery stash and get creating!

The beauty of each of these ideas is that they are so versatile - you could either make them just as I suggest or simply use each of the tutorials as a springboard to that perfect gift.

First up is the pretty vintage-inspired pearl and ribbon necklace.

1. Cut three lengths of beading wire (I use beadalon which I finds kinks less than tigertail), each smaller than the last.

2) Create a loop at one end of the beading wire. To do this, thread a crimp onto a piece of the beading wire. Loop the end back through the crimp and pull to create a small loop, then squash the crimp bead with the flat nosed pliers. Cut any excess wire. (see picture in step 3)

3) Thread the beads onto the wire, with the largest beads on the longest length of beading wire.

4) Secure the beads by creating another loop (as above) on each of the lengths of beading wire. Attach these to two jump rings.

5) Take the ribbon and measure how long you want the necklace to be (I did this the technical way of hanging the ribbon around my neck!) and cut double your measurement. Cut this length of ribbon in half. Feed each piece of ribbon through a jump ring and secure with a knot.

And voila! one lovely pearl necklace...

I prefer to tie this around my neck with a bow so that I can change the length of the necklace. But you could always add a clasp and jump ring though if you want a set length necklace.

I haven't been able to resist wearing this so I will have to be making more if I plan on giving it away as a gift!!

Come back tomorrow for the next gift idea :)