Dangling Charm Necklace

This project will help you create a necklace that will draw attention and envy from many. It is a great way to show off some charms you love and that say a lot about your personality.

Items Needed

• 16 Inches of Link Jewelry Chain
• Five Charms
• Five Eye Pins
• Six Decorative Head Pins
• 17 Small Accent Beads
• 11 Medium Accent Beads
• One Clasp
• 16 Jump Rings
• Two Split Rings
• Wire Cutters
• Jewelry Pliers

Making the Necklace

1. Attach the final link on one end of the chain to one end of the clasp by sliding both pieces onto one of the split rings.
2. Repeat this step on the other side.

Preparing Dangles with Charms

1. Open one jump ring with your jewelry pliers. Slide one charm and the loop at the end of an eye pin onto it. Close the jump ring.
2. Thread one medium bead and one small bead onto the eye pin.
3. Cut the eye pin just over 1/2 inch from the top of the bead.
4. Use the Jeweler's Looping Method to create a top loop on the eye pin. (Jewelers Looping Method - Hold the pliers approx 1/2 inch from the end of the wire and bend it at a 90-degree angle. Then grab the end of the bent portion of the wire with the pliers and tightly wrap it around them creating a complete circle.)
5. Repeat to make all five charm dangles.

Preparing the Accent Dangles

1. Thread beads onto a decorative head pin in the following order - one small bead, one medium bead, and one small bead.
2. Cut the head pin just over 1/2 inch from the top of the beads.
3. Use Jeweler's Looping Method to close the top of the head pin.
4. Repeat for all six accent dangles.

Putting It Together

1. Pick up the necklace by the two clasp endings. When you have it up in the air, you should be able to pinpoint the center of the necklace. Mark the center link (you can also do this by counting the total number of links in the necklace, and finding the center by dividing the total by two, then count in that number of links).
2. Open a jump ring and loop it through the center link in the necklace chain.
3. Add the dangles to the jump ring in this order, accent dangle, charm dangle, and accent dangle.
4. Close the jump ring.
5. Lay the necklace out smooth, on a flat surface, with the center dangle that you have attached facing you, so all links are flat and there are no twists in the chain.
6. Count four to six links to the left of the center charm dangle.
7. Open a jump ring and hook it to the link, making sure it is being hooked on the same side of the necklace link as your middle charm was, and add on one charm dangle and one accent dangle.
8. Count another four to six links and use another jump ring to attach the next charm and accent dangle.
9. Repeat on the other side of the necklace.

Once you have put all the dangles on, you should have a great personally themed piece of jewelry that is ready to wear.

You can also build onto this design with these options.

Focus Charm

If you would like the center charm of your necklace to be more pronounced, try this. On the dangle where your center charm will be held, after you create the original charm dangle, add another eye pin to the top of it and a few more accent beads, and then close that eye pin with the Jeweler's Looping Method.

When you attach this doubly long charm dangle and the accent dangle charms into the necklace, the charm will hang down a little more than it would have before, making it stand out.

More Bling

If you like the idea of the necklace but are the kind of person who likes to make a much bigger statement with your jewelry, you can add a second, third or even fourth accent dangle to each of the side dangle sets. In addition, you may want to add on more charms in each section.

Full Choker Look