Beaded Pendant Ornaments

Not sure what to give great Aunt Griselda for the holiday? For that matter, what to give Grandma, your sister or your best beady friends? What about your friends that don’t know much about beading?  Well, here’s a simple idea that they’ll all love.

The vintage pendant

If you’ve ever been lucky enough to browse at your leisure through the Beadin’ Path store, you’ll know that there are delicious little dishes of gorgeous vintage pendants all over. Some are facetted lead crystal, some are German reverse painted floral pieces and others are carved Japanese jade glass. There are so many to choose from, and nearly all of them are appropriate for this project.

The how-sie on the what-sie

Begin by choosing a pendant you’d like to transform into an ornament. Keep in mind the person you’re going to gift it to. For instance, my dear friend and Japanese neighbor, Lynda, would LOVE to have one of these Japanese jade glass pendants. It’s the love of her culture and her love of beading that makes it a match in Heaven. Using Fireline, make a bale for the pendant using 2 mm, 3 mm or 4 mm Swarovski crystals. Pass through the beads more than once to ensure a strong loop. Knot the Fireline and trim off the tail. Now slip a piece of shimmering organza ribbon through the bale and tie in a small bow at the top. Make it long enough to pass a holiday tree branch though in case its going to be hung on a Christmas tree. It can go on a wall, a door handle, a chandelier or anywhere else you think some adornment is needed!

An extra perk!

The fabulous thing about this ornament? All you have to do it untie the ribbon and slip a chain though the bale, and you have an instant necklace! This will work for all pendants that are manageable in weight. Some of our pendants are big, heavy, honkin’ size, and you may end up with an aching back if you wear them… but today… anything goes! Just have your husband massage your neck and shoulders if they get tired from holding up all that bling!

Who to give it to?

Other than Lynda, I can think of many people whom I would love to give one of these to. One for my friend Camille who lost her house to a fire and along with it all her holiday ornaments. Hers will be a special one: an amber colored faceted crystal (her and her husband’s birthstone) and the bale will be made of clear, peridot and garnet Swarovski bicones (her children’s birthstones). For my friend Krista who’s having a baby boy this holiday, a blue cameo pendant with a profile of a little boy. Once you begin looking at pendants you’ll hear them speak to you! I even have a pendant for my brother-in-law… it’s an old vintage skeleton key that he once admired and considered buying at an antique store. I bought it later when I stumbled onto it again, and tucked it away until the right idea came along for it. The time is now! :-)

For the young at heart… and age

One of the most thoughtful gifts my children have received are special ornaments from friends and relatives. Yes, I have two young sons who aren’t old enough to appreciate it yet, but I’m saving them all in two ornament boxes so that some day they’ll move out (yikes!) and be fully functioning adults (eek!) and they’ll have a holiday tree of their own to embellish! And by then they’ll have a great assortment of ornaments from friends and family that are part of their history. Alongside the wisps of cotton balls with googlie eyes and a glass shoe that says “Babie’s first Christmas” will be beautiful glass Santa’s and crystal bells among others. I put them out every year and keep them straight by keeping a list inside their keepsake boxes so I know who gets which ones back when its time to pack them away. Boxes of treasure and memories.

“Archeologists think the oldest kind of jewelry is the pendant. Near the end of the stone age (17,000 ago) humans learned how to bore holes through stone.” ~ author unknown