Wonder Wood

Laura Carman uses bright colours to create a multilayered necklace and earrings set which are perfect for spring

Laura Carman, MJ Designer

"These wooden beads are great fun to use. the bright colours are perfect for spring to brighten up any outfit and because they are lightweight, you can use a lot of them to make a bold statement"

Wood is the word on the street, and you don’t have to go for the natural look!

Necklace

1. Cut six lengths of ribbon, 70cm long; two blue, two green, one pink and one purple. With one of the green and blue lengths together, thread on the following beads working from the left and twisting the ribbon in between each; lilac, green, turquoise, pink, green, lime and lilac (use a piece of wire to help poke the ribbon through the bead holes).
2. Place the other blue length with the purple ribbon and thread on the following beads, twisting the strands in between each as before; magenta, lime, lilac, green, turquoise, magenta and pink. Line up the last green ribbon with the pink and thread on the following beads twisting the stands as before; pink, turquoise, magenta, lime, lilac and green.
3. Position the strands as shown, then arrange the beads along the ribbons with a 4cm gap between each, making sure they have their own individual space and an even length of ribbon is at either side of the beads. Knot them together at each side.
4. To make a hook and eye clasp, cut two 20cm lengths of 0.8mm wire. Turn a loop at the end of one length to make the ‘eye’ and bring the two ends straight together (one should be longer than the other). Hold it against the ribbon and wrap the longest length around the ribbon and the shortest length of wire as tight as you can.
5. Wrap six times down the ribbon, pinch in the last twist and cut off any excess. Trim the ribbon and put a dab of glue on the ends. To create the hook, use the other piece of 0.8mm wire, bend 8cm back and twist the end onto itself. You should now have a doubled 4cm length with a twist at the bottom of the 4cm and a longer length of wire past the twist.
6. Bend the 4cm in half with roundnosed pliers and bring the tip of the hook shape out slightly. Hold the hook against the ribbon, twist the long length of wire around the ribbon length six times and cut off any excess wire pinching in the last twist. Trim the ribbon and put a dab of glue on the ends.

Earrings

1. Cut two 20cm lengths of ribbon, one blue and one green. Thread an earring hook onto one of the lengths halfway down. Bring the two ends together and make a knot. Thread a magenta bead onto both ends.
2. Twist the ribbon length between the hook and the bead, then knot below the bead to secure. Cut off any excess ribbon and add a dab of glue. Repeat to create a pair.