Mini-Collar Necklace
My first love has always been natural stones. I still make and sell primarily jewelry made of stone beads. Often I come across items made of stones that look really neat, but at first I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. The mini-collar was one such item. The reason they are called mini-collars instead of just collars is, of course, they also come in much larger sizes. These collars are fairly inexpensive and come in a variety of stones such as jasper, rose quartz, and aventurine. They usually come packaged in sets of two, are stapled to a small piece of card board, and wrapped in cellophane. The mini-collar pictured above is made from Fancy Jasper so it includes all kinds of colors from dark greens to rosy pinks. The necklace I made uses rose quartz and leopardskin jasper, but you can follow my pattern using any sort of combination of stone beads you'd like.
- Here are the materials you'll need:
- 1 stone mini collar - leopardskin jasper
- 24 4mm rose quartz beads
- 22 6mm rose quartz beads
- 2 8mm rose quartz beads
- 60 hot pink seed beads
- 2 crimp beads
- 2 clam shells
- 1 jump ring
- 1 spring ring clasp
- 24 inches of clear nylon jewelry thread
- super glue or E6000 glue
- Here are the tools you'll need:
- sharp scissors
- flat nosed pliers
- bead board
- corsage pin
Next take the mini-collar off the card and set the two smallest pieces aside. (These will be used for earrings to match in another project). Now take the rest of the mini-collar and lay the largest piece in the middle between the two 8 mm beads. Skip over two beads to your right (one 8mm and one 6mm bead) and place the next largest piece in between the next two beads (both are 6mm). Skip over two more beads to your right and place the next largest piece of the mini-collar. Continue this to the right until you have five pieces of the mini-collar on the right and the largest in the middle. Repeat this pattern on the left side with the rest of the mini-collar. Your last piece will have the last two 6mm beads to the right or left depending on which side you’re on. Below is a sketch of this pattern.
Directions to string a necklace:
1. Knot one end of the thread. Two knots, one on top of the other is a good precaution. Trim off excess (use scissors) so that knot is at very end of thread.
2. Thread the unknotted end of the jewelry thread through the hole in one of the clam shells so that the knot rests inside the shell.
3. Drop a dot of glue onto the knot.
4. Using the pliers, close the shell over the knot.
5. Insert jewelry thread through crimp bead.
6. Next, string on remaining beads.
7. Insert second crimp bead. Then, thread on second clam shell so shell faces away from beads.
8. Tie a loose knot in remainder of jewelry thread.
9. Insert corsage pin through the loose knot.
10. Now, holding onto thread with one hand and the corsage pin with the other hand, tighten knot by using the corsage pin to push the knot towards the inside of the clam shell. Repeat this so that knots are on top of each other. Both knots must be inside the shell.
11. Carefully trim off excess jewelry thread (use scissors) and add a drop of glue to knot.
12. Use pliers to close clam shell.
13. Insert clasp onto clam shell hook, and close hook over clasp using pliers.
14. Make sure jump ring is evenly closed.
15. Insert jump ring onto second clam shell hook, and close hook over clasp using pliers.
16. Flatten crimp beads on both ends of necklace using pliers.
That's it. This is a nice way to incorporate those mini-collars into a beaded necklace. If you have any other ideas, please share them with me. Next week I'll show you how to make some hoop earrings to match this necklace.
All graphics created by Tammy Powley.
