Contemporary fashion is glitzy, chunky and with plenty of embellishment!
We have just received new stocks of charms in a wide array of themes - dogs, horses, cats, cities (eg. London) and items like lockets and keys.
Charm Bracelets 
Making a charm bracelet is really one of the most simple projects you can attempt as a beader. They are a fabulous project for:
- Beginners who have tried a few basic beading techniques.
- Those that are familiar with tigertail and want to venture into wire.
- If you want to practice making loops and wrapping wire tightly.
- People who just love chunky charm bracelets!
About 4 or 5 years ago, in the early days of WishWare Beads, I had an order for 16 charm bracelets and ever since I can basically do these in my sleep! Which is lucky - it’s a project I teach customers at least once a week in the store.
Charm bracelets is one of those projects that there is no right and no wrong, it’s just a matter of what inspires you at the time…
General instructions:
For the base most people choose a thicker cable chain or crimped chain. I’ve found it easiest to use one that is quite flat but has large enough links so that when you attach all your beads they can move around freely.
From there you can use an assortment of beads of your choosing. I particularly like the large firepolish crystals as they make the bracelets nice and chunky. Lately, I am regularly using the head-pins with the ball at the end as I think it adds a pretty touch.
Examples:
Pandora’s Charm Bracelet
In this bracelet I have used some brushed silver chain, a lock and several key charms and a packet of oval lockets. You can then place small pictures or mementos that you’d like inside the lockets. I’ve used an assortment of deep aqua blue firepolish crystals so that they match the round key charm.
The Cat’s Meow Charm Bracelet
This charm bracelet is made in the same way, but uses a crimped chain and instead of using 3 packets of charms it uses just one cat packet and a few swarovski and firepolish crystals to finish.
