Braided beads

This weeks crafty excursion is just a small one, as I have a big assignment due next weekend and I’m trying very hard (and failing very badly) not to get distracted…

I saw a few versions of this necklace pop up on various blogs last year, and always thought it was a nice way to add a pop of colour to an outfit without going full on beaded-statement-necklace. It was easy to put together, I think the hardest part was choosing what coloured beads I wanted! We’re lucky to have a great bead store in Wellington, with a massive selection of seed beads. I went for 8mm beads, as I wanted a slightly chunkier braid but didn’t want to have to thread more than six strands of beads! I really am lazy.

To make it easier to string the beads, I safety-pin my knot to the knee of my jeans. This stops it flopping around, and makes it less likely that I’ll drop it and spill all of the beads! I knotted my threads to a jump ring, and the covered the knot with a crimp cover to make it look a bit tidier. I had a bit of trouble tidying the other end of the braid up, I just couldn’t get it to stay neat and tight, and you can see some of the black thread showing at one end. But I decided I could live with it, and I don’t think its too obvious now that its finished.

The only thing I’m unsure about is the
length. Above is the length I’ve made it, but I wonder if I should make it shorter, like in the below picture…

What do you think?
I also got my hair cut last week, I quite like it. I’m working my way shorter every time, I’m curious about a pixie cut, but not brave enough to lop it all off in one go!