Like silver and gold jewelry, bead accessories never become obsolete as fashion items, and making them can be fun, low-capital, and profitable sideline or full-time business for the creative and industrious.

You can start your own bead jewelry business for as low as P1,500. This is  all you will need to purchase your main tools – a pair of 2-in-1 pliers (P40) and a long-nose one (P40) – and several packs of beads and stones. To make a pair of earrings, in particular, you will only spend about P150 but you can it up to P750, giving you a clean profit margin of P500 to P600. On the other hand, it will cost you about P270 to make a bead necklace, but you can earn as much as P750 to P900 from it.

“What is good about this business is that you can put a 200 percent mark up. The is because the higher the price of the jewelry, the more the people would tend to value it,” says Em Mariano, a jewelry designer, trainer, and owner of FunDynamics, an arts-and-craft training company.

There are different bead-making techniques, such as looping, stringing, brooch-making, and knotting. For this project, the stringing technique will be used. It requires wire or string to hold the beads together.

All of the raw materials for making dangling earrings and necklaces can be bought at Divisoria, Manila, and at the Wellmanson Sewing Notion store in Quiapo, Manila.

TO MAKE DANGLING BEAD EARRINGS YOU WILL NEED:

• 20 cm gauge no. 5 cable wire, P60 per roll
• 16 pcs spacers from O-ring chain, P50 for 20 pcs.
• 2 pcs bead stoppers, P25 for 1000 pcs
• 2 pcs fish hooks, P30 for 100 pcs
• 4 pcs blue glass bead, P22 for 6 pcs
• 4 pcs yellow citrine, P5 per pc
• 4 pcs pearl stone, P5 per pc
• 10 inches chains, p75 for 4 yards
• 8 pcs coral beads, P70 per string of beads
• 8 pcs of Class A rainbow crystals, P120 per 30 pcs
• 2 pcs teardrops or elongated bead, P120 per 30 pcs

Spacers are any of the minute accessories used in-between beads to provide aesthetic spaces between them. They come in different forms, with metallic and ring spacers as the most common ones.

PROCEDURE:

 Step 1. Using a pair of 2-in-1 pliers, cut two 10-cm length of gauge no. 5 cable wire. Set aside one of the cut wires. With the other, create a loop and put the teardrop bead stone in the middle of the loop. Always remember that in bead making, the most stunning stone should always be placed in the middle of the loop.

After placing the teardrop bead stone in the center of the looped wire, insert spacers on both sides of the teardrop bead stone. Insert yellow citrines and a spacer next to the teardrop stone and spacers already in place.

Step 2. To create dangles for the earrings, cut two sets of 2 inch-long and 3 inch-long chains. Set aside one set. Insert one end of a 2-inch chain onto one end of the looped wire, then insert the other end of the chain to the other wire end. Add the blue glass beads and another spacer to both sides of the beads, then string the 3 inch-long chain like the first one.

Step 3. String in the pearl, two corals, a spacer, and two Class A rainbow crystals onto both sides of the wire. Then, insert a teardrop bead or rainbow crystal onto both sides.

Step 4. Insert both ends of the wire into the two openings of either the bead or the crystal.

Step 5. Now, insert both ends of the cable wire into the stopper. Then insert right end of the cable wire back to the stopper to create a small loop. Crimp the stopper using the long-nose pliers. Make sure that the beads are tightly secured. Cut the excess cable wire, then attach the hook to the looped wire.

Follow the same procedure to create the second earring that will complete a pair.

TO MAKE BEAD NECKLACE YOU WILL NEED: 

• 2 inches chains, P75 for 4 yards
• 1 pc ruby stone, P25
• 8 pcs spacers from O-ring chain, P50 for 20 pcs
• 2 pcs rhinestone, P45 for 10 pcs
• 2 pcs yellow citrine, P5 a piece
• 12 pcs red coral beads, P70 per string
• 2 pcs metal spacers, P6 apiece
• 2 pcs pearl stone, P5 apiece
• 12 pcs Class A elongated rainbow crystals, P120 for 30 pcs
• 12 pcs Class A round crystals, P120 for 30 pcs
• 2 pcs metallic bead, P12 for 30 pcs
• 4 pcs teardrop or elongated bead stone P120 for 30 pcs
• 3 pcs pre-made teardrop Class A stone, P2 apiece
• 1 pair toggle locks, P3

Step 1. Get a gauge no. 5 cable wire. Cut it to fit the size of your neck, but make sure to add an inch to the total length. Put the ruby stone in the middle of the wire, then add the O-ring spacers on both sides of the stone. Cut a 2-inch long chain and string to add dangles to your necklace. Clinch three blue glass beads to the chain, forming an inverted triangle.

Step 2. String the following in this order: rhinestones, metal spacers, yellow citrines, two red coral beads, metallic bead, pearls stones, two O-ring spacers, and three red coral beads. To fill the remaining wire, you may alternately add Class A elongated rainbow crystals and Class A round crystals.

Step 3. Lock your necklace using the toggle locks. Make sure that the beads are locked tightly. Cut the excess cable wire.

Style Tips for Bead Jewelry

1. When making bead accessories, it is important to always come up with sets consisting of both earrings and necklace.

2. Make your bead jewelry as unique as possible.

3. Learn the art of combining complementary colors for your bead stones.

4. If you are targeting Class A and B customers, use more sophisticated stones.

5. For student customers, use neon-colored beads and plastic beads.

Marketing Bead Jewelry

1. Put up an online site to promote your finished product. Include pictures and the prices of the items.

2. The give your jewelry strong customer appeal, you must know the latest trends in fashion and personal accessories. This will give you a clear idea of the materials, tools, and techniques for making the kinds of bead jewelry your prospective market needs.

3. Women from different market segments have different bead jewelry needs. Devise different marketing strategies for them accordingly.

Where to train:

BUSINESS FUNDYNAMICS
Telephone: (02) 717-3014
Mobile: 0919-4011308

Where to look for supplies
WELLMANSON SEWING NOTION INC.
22 Villalobos St., Quiapo Manila
Telephones: (02) 733-6270; (02) 734-4475
Fax: (02) 733-6269