Make Jewelry for Holiday Gifts

Easy instructions to make a necklace to give as a gift for the holidays

Nov 11, 2006 Maire Loughran

Learn how easy it is to make a beautiful sterling silver necklace with an akoya pearl charm to give as a gift for the holidays.

Giving artisan handcrafted jewelry as a gift to a loved one or close friend truly shows that you care. Since artisan crafted jewelry is not mass-produced you are giving a unique piece of wearable art.

This holiday season show you care by handcrafting this elegant sterling silver and akoya pearl necklace to give as a gift.

Where to buy the supplies:

The sterling silver bail, necklace and akoya pearl were purchased online at Rio Grande. I have ordered from Rio Grande for years with complete satisfaction. You will need to establish a customer account to be able to order from Rio Grande. This is an easy, simple process.

Your supply list:

1. One half drilled 4mm Akoya Pearl. Rio Grande item #822-140
2. One sterling silver filigree bail, cup size 5.7mm. Rio Grande item #630-138
3. One sterling silver chain. I used a 16" long, 1.6mm sterling curb. Rio Grande item #698-700/16
4. Fast set glue pen

Don't want to purchase from Rio Grande? You can buy freshwater pearls and bails at any craft store that sells jewelry making supplies. Just make sure that the size of your pearl in diameter is slightly smaller than the cup size of the bail - as shown above (4mm pearl with a 5.7mm bail).

Handcraft the necklace:

This elegant and rich looking necklace could not be easier to handcraft. To follow are the three simple steps:

1. The sterling silver bail will come with a post upon which the pearl is normally placed. Rather than have you use a pearl reamer to enlarge the hole in the pearl if needed - just bend the post back and forth until it breaks off as close to the base as possible.
2. Using your fast set glue pen place a few dots of glue inside the bail and firmly place your pearl in the bail. Make sure the hole in the pearl is hidden in the cup of the bail. Steady the pearl/bail combination for a minute or so giving the fast set glue a chance to work.
3. After the glue has a chance to set totally, thread the bail onto the sterling silver chain. Voila! You are done.

How I gift wrap my jewelry presents:

Place the necklace in a small plastic bag in which you have also placed an anti-tarnish strip. If this necklace is wiped off, allowed to completely dry and stored in this bag between wearings the need to polish this necklace should be minimal.

Then place the plastic bag into a black velvet or colorful taffeta drawstring bag. Attach a gift tag and you are done.

The fabrication and gift wrapping process takes less than 10 minutes.

More Jewelry Making Instructions:

Holiday Season 2007 - Circular sterling silver pendant hung on black silk cord.

How to make a ring with bling - easily set a large gemstone into a setting.

The copyright of the article Make Jewelry for Holiday Gifts in Jewelry is owned by Maire Loughran. Permission to republish Make Jewelry for Holiday Gifts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

akoya pearl

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