Another Anthro-Inspired Necklace - Unbreakable Bonding

I find myself browsing Anthropologie's site more often lately. They have a lot of nice things but it just amazes me sometimes how they price things.

Take this one for example:

Anthropologie - Unbreakable Bonding Necklace, $148

It caught my eye because I have beads like that... in different colors. One pack/string cost only around... hmmm... $2? I made them into necklaces for me back in summer of 2008.

Anyway, here's one of my bead necklaces:

You can wear it with the ribbon tied in front or at the back. I made this design in different colors. Here's the white one:

I also have this in deep green and pink... same design. So to shake things up a bit, I decided to make the yellow one into my version of Anthropologie's Unbreakable Bonding Necklace:

Ta-dah! Janelle's Seriously Unbreakable Bonding ;) See bottom of this post to see why I say 'Seriously'

I only had enough beads for half of the necklace so I added a chunky chain for the other half. Total length of the necklace is 22 inches.

Want to make one? I prepared a tutorial :)

You will need:

• Resin beads... these are about 0.75 inches in diameter each.
• Glue (I used Mighty Bond, the kind that dries fast)
• Thin chain that can go through your beads.
• Jump rings
• Clasp (I used oyster clasp)
• Hmmm... I don't know what these are called... caps? See the picture below to see what I mean:

Silver metal cap thingeys and the chain I used

Step 1: Cut your chain into 3 pieces. If you want your necklace to be 22 inches, your chains need to be around 30 inches each (if you have enough beads to make the entire necklace). Since I only had enough beads for half of the necklace, my chains were only around 20 inches each.

Step 2: Put a small amount of glue inside one of those silver cap thingeys and insert one end of your 3 chains.

Wait for the glue to dry before proceeding to Step 3.

Step 3. Start braiding. I made a couple of braids without the beads first before I added the beads. Quick braiding how to:
- you have 3 chains: the leftmost, the center, and the rightmost;
- insert your bead on the leftmost chain, and then cross the leftmost chain over the center chain;
- insert one bead on the rightmost chain, and then cross the rightmost chain over the chain to it's left;

- repeat the last 2 instructions over and over again... making sure that the chains cross below the beads. See picture below:

See? The chains cross below the beads.

Step 4. When all your beads are braided, make a couple of braids with the chain without beads. Make sure that there isn't too much slack in the chains. The braided chains with beads twists and turns and the braid can become undone or messed up if there is slack in the chains. After you are sure that there is no slack on the chains, cut off the excess chain and hold this end with your fingers. Don't let go!

It took several tries for me to get this right because the braids kept getting undone.

Step 5: With your other remaining free hand, put a small amount of glue on that other silver cap thingey. Then insert the chains you are holding in your other hand to the cap and wait for the glue to dry.

And... No, you are not done yet :)

See I read the reviews on this necklace on the Anthropologie site and one customer said:

After braiding and securing both ends of my chains... I can totally see how that can happen, even if there is no slack to your chains... the beads will still move. I thought about it and tried to glue the first 2 beads on each end to each other.

Then do the same for the other side. I also made sure that the chain between them is also glued between the 2 beads.

After that... I closed my eyes and shook the entire thing. When I opened my eyes, I saw that the beads stayed in place! I tried to drop it and shook it some more. The beads still stayed in place! I did say this was 'Seriously Unbreakable' :)

Step 7. Add your jump rings, extra chain (for me since I only had half the necklace), and clasp.

And this time... you are done!

I really love this color :)

And this morning, we had to take our pretty princess to the doctor for a check up for her cough and colds.

I'm wearing my necklace, and we are using our matching bags! :)

I linked up at the following parties!

Sugar & Spice at Seven Thirty Three | Strut Your Stuff at Somewhat Simple | Crazy Cute at Between You and Me | Think Pink Sundays at Flamingo Toes | Weekend Wrap-up Party at Tatertots and Jello |  Keep It Simple Sunday at The Tattered Tag |  Sundae Scoop at I heart Naptime | Strut Your Stuff at Saturday Mornings |  Free for All at Young and Crafty | Sew Crafty Saturdays at Wildflowers and Whimsy | CraftOManiac Monday at CraftOManiac | Making Monday Marvelous at C.R.A.F.T. | Motivate Me Monday at Keeping It Simple | Market Yourself Monday at Sumo's Sweet Stuff | Inspire Me Monday at Singing Three Little Birds | Craftastic Monday at Sew Can Do | Handmade Tuesdays at Ladybug Blessings | Get Your Craft On at Today's Creative Blog | Made by You Monday at Skip to my Lou | Take-a-Look Tuesday at Sugar Bee Crafts |  Show Me What Ya Got at Not JUST a Housewife | Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios | Craft Couture Monday at Craft Couture | Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Design | Whatever Goes Wednesday at Someday Crafts | Wednesday Link Party at Tea Rose Home |  We Did It Wednesday at Sew Much Ado |