Beadtime Stories home page of Elizabeth Ann Scarborough free pattern

BEADTIME STORIES: Home Page of Elizabeth Ann Scarborough http://www.eascarborough.com

DAINTY CHRISTMAS GARLAND NECKLACE

LINK TO INSTRUCTIONS for similar spiral necklace (see below for variations used in this necklace)

LINKS TO SIMILAR NECKLACES

I made this necklace for my musician friend, Tania. You can use the same instructions that I have for the spiral garland necklace with the big Christmas bulbs. The only difference is that you don't do the holly berries and after every embellishment where you use the size 8 gold metallic bead, you use a brightly colored size 11 seed bead instead. So the sequence for the spiral is:

six inch tail of thread, size 8 stop bead in unrelated color, four dark green size 11 core beads, 1 size 11 lighter green embellishment bead, one size 8 metallic gold embellishment bead, 1 lighter green size 11 embellishment bead, dark green size 11 core bead, lt green em bead, size 11 bead in a color that goes with one of your Christmas bulbs, lt. green em bead, green core bead, lt green, gold, lt. green, core bead, lt green, a different color size 11 bead to go with your Christmas bulbs. I actually used seven different colors besides the gold and that helped me make sure I did the whole sequence between each bulb. Each sequence = about an inch.

When you get to the center, start adding your bulbs every eight embellishment turns. Since the bulb hooks are thin, add them along with your other embellishment beads. If you count, they'll hang fairly evenly. I used two miniature bulbs on each end, a medium size on each side of the second largest size in the middle. I made it about 22 inches long so it hung below Tania's fiddle when she raised it to her shoulder.

This Christmas I found a good source for plastic Christmas lights online. I bought several sizes and colors and a couple of finishes. This is the fanciest one as far as the strap went. If you haven't done a lot of beaded straps, I recommend learning the spiral stitch for a comfortable, flexible, light strong strap that looks really cool too.

Bulbs available from http://stores.ebay.com/PEANUTWHOLESALE for this necklace.