How To Make Beaded Lanyards

How you wish you didn’t have to carry that identity card of yours in that boring blue lanyard every day? Even the bright ones look so dead after some time that you hate carrying your keys, I-cards and other small but important official things around you. But these are the stuffs that you cannot really survive without. And not only the official stuff, there is a lot of your personal stuff also that you have to carry with you all the time. Lanyards, by definition, are personalized form of jewelry worn on the body to carry small things like cards, whistles, badges and keys etc. And carrying such important stuff in boring lanyards on your fashionable outfit is like ruining your newly bought expensive attire by trying some embroidery on your own. This is where beaded lanyards come to play. Beaded jewelry never goes out of fashion, looks classy and costs dime a dozen. Read on to make your own lanyards and be the style statement in your office.

Tips For Making Beaded Lanyards

General Tips

Have a healthy supply of thin, elastic and flexible plastic laces ready with you. Do not stock up the thick ones, because you need to bead these laces.
Crystals, gemstones, clear stones, frosted glass beads or alphabets beads – you name it you get it. The market is flooded with a variety of beads that can be used for this purpose. If you have a dress code then it would be prudent if you chose colors that complement the color of your dress.
Tying the knots is the most important thing that you must learn before you start out making your lanyards. For your beaded lanyard to have the perfect look, it must have the perfect finish and knots do just that - give a perfect finish. And when you are talking about lanyards, a crown knot or the round knot is the best.

Making A Beaded Lanyard

Material Required

Beading Wire
Crimp Beads with crimp bead wires
Magnetic Clasp
Lanyard Hook
Key Ring
Needle Nose Pliers or beading pliers
Beads, of your choice

Procedure

Cut two equal pieces of beading wire as per your desired lanyard size.
Tie one end on both the wires to the key ring and make the knot at least ¼ inch away from the ring to ensure easy movement.
Cover the knots on each wire deftly with crimp beads and pull the crimp bead near the key ring and tie a knot using beading pliers. Give a finishing touch by covering the crimp bead with a crimp bead cover.
Now bring your assortment of beads together. Decide upon what pattern you intend to follow for the lanyard and start beading one bead at a time on each wire.
After the beading is done, string up a crimp bead on each of the wires and tie both the ends together.
Use a magnetic clasp and bring the crimp beads over the knots and adjust them, using beading pliers.
Cover all the knots with crimp bead covers for the finishing touch and trim off all extra wires that are left after the covers set in. Make sure you cut only the extra wire and not the knots.
Once the extra wires have been dealt with, bind the lanyard hook to the key ring and voila! You are good to go.
You can use various pendants and even old rings in place of key rings to make your lanyards.

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