Black Tears Pendant Necklace

You may have noticed that I really love these acrylic teardrop beads!

I used them in my Queen of Hearts tutorial.  

They come in lots of different colours.

This is a long necklace, meant to sit lower down on your ribcage.  Obviously, you could make it shorter and add a clasp if you preferred. It uses heavy gauge jump rings to give it a more weighty feel.

Materials

Here’s what you will need:

• Black 5.5mm Twist Cable Chain x72cm
• 34mm Heart Connector with Five Loops x1
• 18x13mm Acrylic Faceted Teardrop Beads x 5
• 10mm Jump Rings x8
• 10x7mm Jet Faceted Glass Abacus Beads x5
• 6mm Metallic Blue Faceted Round Glass Beads x8
• 3mm Black Ball Beads x7
• 9mm Tibetan Silver Bead Cap x1
• 4mm Black Jump Rings x3
• 1.5mm Black Crimp Beads x2
• 5cm Black Head Pin x1
• 20 Gauge Wire x40cm
• Silver Grey Tiger Tail x 25cm

Tools

You will also need:

• Round nose pliers
• Chain Nose Pliers(2 pairs make it easier)
• Flush Cutters

Instructions

Watch the video or read the instructions below.

Wire Wrapping the Teardrops

Cut a piece of wire about 25cm long.  Thread it through the teardrop with the short tail being about 3cm long. Bend both ends up.

Cross the short end of the long and pinch where the wires cross between your thumb and forefinger. Twist the teardrop bead 3-4 times. Trim off the short end and use the chain nose pliers to squeeze in any ends that might be sticking out or sharp.

Use the round nose pliers to make a loop just above the wire wrapping. Place the wire between the jaws of the pliers and bend the wire around the top jaw (away from you). Bring the wire beneath the jaws and up towards you.

Take the pliers out and slide the jump ring into the loop.

Hold the loop with your chain nose pliers and wrap the wire around the previous wraps until all the wrapping is covered. Trim off the excess wire with the flush cutters.

Repeat four more times. You need five teardrop components.

Attaching the Teardrops to the Connector

Use two pairs of chain nose pliers, one on either side of the jump ring, open the jump ring and add one of the five teardrops to each of the bottom loops of the connector.

Ensure all the jump rings are closed afterwards.

Repeat until all five of the teardrop components have been attached to the heart connector.

Making the Chain Component

Lay the beads out as per the following diagram:

Place a bead stopper on one end of the tiger tail to stop the beads from falling off.

String the beads onto the tiger tail in the order laid out. Double check that they are correct.

Thread a crimp bead onto one end of the tiger tail.  Add a 4mm jump ring and then thread the tiger tail back down through the crimp bead making sure that the jump ring is in the loop of the tiger tail.

Pull the tigertail down until the crimp sits close up to the jump ring.  Ensure there you have left enough space to repeat this process of the other end of the tiger tail.

Squeeze the crimp with the pliers until it is closed then trim off the excess.

Remove the bead stopper and repeat for the other end, making sure that there is no space between the beads.

Attach this component to the chain by opening the jump ring at each end and slipping on the end loop of the chain.  Close the jump ring. Ensure the chain is not twisted before attaching the second end.

Making the Drop for the Centre

To the head pin add the 3mm ball bead, the bead cap facing away from the ball and the 10mm jet bead.

Use your pliers to bend the wire above the bead to a right angle leaving 2-3mm space.

Take your round nose pliers and make a loop.  Put the headpin between the jaws of the pliers and bend the wire away from you around the top jaw of the pliers.  Reposition the loop onto the lower jaws of the pliers and bring the wire back towards you to complete the loop.

Hold the loop in one pair of pliers and, holding the end of the wire with the other pair o fpliers, wrap the wire around the stem coming out of the bead 3-4 times until the space is filled. Trim off the excess wire. Use your chain nose pliers to tuck in any ends that might be sticking out.

Open a 10mm jump ring. Take the drop that you just made, and slide it onto the jump ring.  Add the connector to the jump ring as well,making sure that the drop will sit on the back side.

Add two more 10mm jump rings then close the jump ring.

Adding the Heart Component to the Chain

Open the two jump rings that you just added to the heart component.  Slip them through the 4mm jump ring on the chain component. Close the jump rings.  This can be a bit tricky as it’s quite a small space to get those large gauge jump rings through.  It can take some perseverance to get them both through.

Now your necklace is completed.

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