Alphabet pendants and how to make easy tassels | DIY

Hey guys! I hope you aren't yet tired of alphabet beads, because here comes another tutorial with pastel colored alphabet beads this time. We're making fun and easy pendants that can be used for personalized necklaces or keys or loads of other different purposes.  I'll also show you how you can make very easy tassels for jewelry without end caps and glue. It's a great project to make for or with kids!

What you need:

BEADS:

alphabet beads (I used acrylic beads in mixed pastel colors)

JEWELRY FINDINGS:

chain - if you want it to be a necklace pendant

eyepins - the ones I used are 5cm long and hold up to 5 alphabet beads. For longer words use longer eyepins.

jump rings (I used 4mm and 6mm jump rings)

TOOLS & OTHER:

round nose pliers

chain nose pliers

needle

nylon cord (similar here)

lighter

How it works:

1. To make a simple tassel you cut a long strand of the nylon cord and fold it in half and fold that in half and repeat until it has about three times the length that you want it to be. Pull it through one of the 6mm jump rings.

2. Fold the nylon cords over the jump ring like in the picture above. Find one of the two loose ends of the cord and thread it through the needle. Now wrap that loose cord around the whole strand of cords for a few times, just below the jump ring. While you hold everything tight with your left hand, push the needle down behind the wrap you just made, pull through and tighten up.

3. To finish up the tassel, cut it to your desired length and carefully melt the ends with a lighter to prevent the cords to unravel. You've made a tassel!

4. Now, the next steps are very similar to the instructions for the alphabet necklaces. String the alphabet beads onto an eyepin. Make sure there are about 1-2cm left at the end to create a second eye.

5. To make the second eye, grip the pin with the chain nose pliers right behind the last bead and bend the remaining pin into an 45° angle. Now make a loop with the round nose pliers until the end of the pin points downwards, cut away the excess wire using the sidecutter and maybe correct slightly with the chain nose pliers again. Here's also a nice video tutorial.

6. Add a 4mm jump ring to one end of the eyepin. Connect the eyepin and the tassel with a 6mm eyepin.

The pendant is now complete and can be strung onto a necklace or used as a key pendant or anywhere else you  would want to add a personal touch. I know that I had similar pendants on my pencil case and on my backpack in school. They would also make great gift tags for birthdays!