Sometimes, I make a piece of jewelry and then look at it thinking, “This needs something!”. That’s when I whip out my beads and start to play around with my options. It can take some trial and error occasionally but in the end I’m always satisfied with my work. You too can add a little “bling” to your work in several ways.

How To Jazz Up Your Jewelry

Use Crystals

Adding crystals is always a good place to start when you need to jazz up your jewelry. There’s nothing like a little sparkle to brighten up a boring piece of jewelry.

Try making a basic right angle-weave bracelet using round beads and then embellishing the top or sides of it with bicone crystals. Bicones can be perfect for embellishing because they slot right into the nooks of your jewelry like they have always belonged there.

Add Fringe

Bicones not right for the piece you’ve made? Well then, you can try adding some fringe.

There are several types of fringe that you can add to beaded jewelry including straight, leaf, looped, coral aka branch and picot fringes. You can check this website for instructions on how to do each of the types of fringe that I have mentioned.

Adding fringe can give your jewelry movement and texture and, depending on the type used, it can give your work a whole different feeling. Try a simple ladder stitched bracelet using Tila beads and picot fringe along each edge. Now make the same strip of Tila beads and add some coral fringe along just one edge to make a necklace. Same base, two completely different looks.

Shaped Beads

Not everyone likes fringe and for those people, adding shaped beads such as tiny drops can revolutionize your world.

I have been experimenting recently, trying to make up my own designs and I have realized that I am officially in love with drop beads. In similar fashion to bicones, drop beads can slot into the smallest space and add dimension to an otherwise flat strip of beads. I have used them in just about every type of stitch I know and I have grown very reliant on them. New shapes of beads keep emerging so see what is available to you and go wild.

I find it fascinating what a little imagination can lead to when using beads. I am a fan of Pinterest and the pictures I find representing what people all over the world have made are amazing and inspiring.

Seed Beads

Above all, simple seed beads are the best material you can use to take your pieces from “blah to rah” (Yes, I just made that up.) They are economical and come in so many colours, shapes and sizes that you can scarcely run out of options.

Hopefully, I have given you some inspiration for ways to jazz up your jewelry.