Cones are an elegant way to finish off a multi-strand necklace. This is a great advanced beginner project, bringing together both stringing and wire work techniques.

Tools:

• Round-nose Pliers
• Chain-nose Pliers
• Wire Cutters
• Design Board (optional)

Ingredients:

• Three 16" strands of 5-6mm freshwater pearls
• 14 vermeil Bali-style spacer beads
• 14 6mm Swarovski™ bicone crystal beads
• 2 vermeil cones with an opening that is at least 8mm wide
• 1 vermeil toggle clasp
• 1 4-5mm gold jump ring
• 6 2x1mm gold filled crimp beads
• 1 foot gold filled wire, 22 or 24 gauge
• 4.5 feet of .014" bead wire, such as SoftFlex™

Directions:

1. Divide your bead wire into three pieces and string on your freshwater pearls with spacers and crystals. You may want to lay out your beads on a design board to plan your design. For this design, we kept all three strands the same length, but you may graduate yours if you wish.
2. Divide the gold filled wire into two pieces, and make two Wire Wrapped Loops.
3. Using the Crimp Beads, attach the necklace strands onto the wire wrapped loops. See Beadworks Cone Technique for illustration.
4. Slide the cones over the wire wrapped loops. Usually one of the beads will sit inside the cone, and the rest will be outside the cone.
5. Attach the jump ring to the toggle bar to give it room to come through the toggle ring.
6. Make a Wire Wrapped Loop on top of each cone, being sure to attach the toggle ring to one loop and the jump ring (with toggle bar) to the other. You're done!

TIP: It's a good idea to see how the cone will fit over your strands before you crimp them to the second side. That way, you can leave additional slack if you need to. With larger cones or smaller beads, all of your beads may fit inside the cone, but this is not necessary.

*Estimated retail cost: $ 65-70
*Estimated design and construction time: 2 hours

Techniques used:

Wire Wrapped Loop
Crimp Bead Technique: Flat Nose Pliers
Cone Technique