Classic Charm Bracelet

Today’s project is a perfect one for a girls’ craft night or even a camp craft for older girls.  Making charms aren’t difficult, but it does take fine motor skills that younger girls probably won’t have.  The first charm bracelet I ever made was a a woman’s retreat a few years back, and it was the perfect activity.  And by perfect activity, I mean I ended up at a table with some hilarious women who let me make all the charms and they just put them on their bracelets.

So I guess I am not in a position to make claims for how easy it is for those of us who DON’T enjoy jewelry making, but you will find this to be a really simple project if you DO enjoy this type of creating.

The thing is, with endless ways to personalize, this is actually a great little mother’s day gift, if you’re still trying to think of something with a handmade touch.

Let me show you! What you will need:

Some random beads that coordinate.  You want different shapes, and textures.  Try to pick a couple different sizes that can be combined to make similar-sized charms.  If you buy a glass bead mix of a certain color, that is a great way NOT to over-buy beads.  But if you’re a beader – just raid your stash!

• 2″ head pins
• Jump Rings
• Chain link bracelet
• Round-nosed pliers and wire cutters

I post a lot of tutorials that show how to make charms (because I never know which project will be the first one people see).  So if you read here often, you will find that part repetitive – feel free to just skip ahead!

Charm-making is more about finding the right mix of beads than it is technique – for me anyway.  You may want to try threading a couple different combinations onto a head pin and see what you like before proceeding.

If your beads have a little larger hole, you will want to add a small bead (like a seed bead) on first to make sure your bead stays in place.

Once you have a combination you like, you will grasp the head pin just above the top bead with your round-nosed pliers, and wrap the excess over the pliers, making a loop.  Next, wrap the pin around the “neck” of the loop you just made.  Once you’ve wrapped 2-3 times, you can nip off the excess with your wire cutters. (Do be careful, that little end can go flying.)  You may need to use your pliers to bed that end completely around the “neck” of your charm.

Your charm should look like this.  If it’s your first-time charm-making, just a couple tries should be enough practice to master it.

Make enough charms to fill your bracelet.  I liked the looks of adding a dozen, but that may be too many or too few, depending on what size beads you are using and how full you want yours to be.  Then, use a jump ring to attach each charm to a link in the bracelet.  Try to space them evenly, if you can.

And that’s it!  Now it’s ready to wear, give as a gift… or be snatched up and claimed by someone else in the house.  I swear, my daughter has a thing for bling already! Haha, I can’t say I blame her… I just can’t wait until we can have some great craft time together.