Bird Nest Necklaces

I can't get enough of these Bird Nest Necklaces.

I fell in love with the necklaces at first sight.  They were different from the other Mom type necklaces I'd seen and super cute.  My brain instantly thought, "I could make these for every mom I know and customize them with colors (boy or girl) and the number of eggs (kids) they have!"  This project became a must make.

These necklaces are wicked easy to make. 

You will need:
22 gauge floral wire (the original tutorial recommends 24 gauge)
Beads (how ever many and which ever colors you'd like)
Needle nose pliers with wire clipper built-in
2 Jump Rings
1 Necklace Clasp
Necklace Chain, cut to desired length

I bought floral wire instead of the wire by the jewelry section of Michael's.  I was putting around the store after grabbing the jewelry wire and ended up by the floral display equipment.  I saw the floral wire.  It basically the exact same thing, only cheaper and more came on the roll.  Switching was a no brainer for me.

Thread your beads onto the wire leaving a space between them so that you can bend the wire and "nest" the beads together.

Begin wrapping the wire around the beads to create a nest.  I would recommend not clipping the wire from the spool until you have wrapped the beads.  This way you can wrap until you are happy with your nest and not end up short on wire (like I did). 

Wrap the wire 2 or 3 times around the nest at each opening between the beads.

For one bead, I don't wrap the wire around the nest. 

Two beads will give you two loops, three beads will give you three loops and so on.

Tuck the end of the wire back into the nest so it doesn't poke you.

Now that your pendant is compete, let's make the necklace and get the nest attached.

Thread one jump ring through the loops you just made.

For the necklace take your cut necklace chain and attach the other jump ring to one end.

To the other end, attach the necklace clasp.  It's easy as that.

You will notice the jump rings are the same size and you can't thread the necklace chain through the jump ring on your pendant.  Fear not!

Clasp the necklace closed.  Hold the necklace so that the chain end can drop through the jump ring on your pendant.  Pull the chain end so that the pendant sits half way up the chain.  Pull the clasp through the chain end and cinch it down so that the necklace loops around the pendant on the jump ring.  This will form a slip knot.  It should look like the picture. 

This is a really nice way to attach the necklace because it will keep your pendant from turning and showing the backside on the pendant.

I can't wait to make these in all kinds of color and bead number combinations for my friends and family.  The green I made is mine.  The eggs are for Thing 1 & Thing 2.  The one above is a gift.

Happy Nesting!