Easy Jewelry DIY: How to Make a Gorgeous Gemstone Pendant

Tools and materials:

• Gemstone beads
• 20 gauge half-hard round wire
• Wire cutters
• Chain nose pliers 
• Round nose pliers
• Bent nose pliers
• Chain or cord

1. Create a hook

Cut 6 inches (15cm) of wire and make a little hook at the end with the chain nose pliers. Bend it away from you by twisting your wrist away.

2. Press the hook down

Press the hook down. This will act as a headpin that will hold our beads on.

3. Put beads on the wire

Put the beads on the wire. All of the gemstone beads are different sizes, and sometimes you can't really tell how they're going to work out until you actually put them on the wire.

The ones I’m using are also different shades of blue too, so I want to mix them up a little. I’m going to put 6 beads on, but you can put as many as you like.

Make sure you are happy with the order of the beads and the overall appearance of the pendant.

Also, make sure that the bottom bead is secure and is not going to be sliding off the hook.

4. Make a loop

Make a wire-wrapped loop on the top. I am going to make this loop as big as I can by using the part of the round nose pliers that is closest to the handle as possible.

There needs to be a small space between the bottom of the pliers and the top of the beads that a wire can fit through. Bend the wire around the pliers.

We’re going to be using this loop to put the chain through, so we don’t need to use any jump rings or anything like that.

5. Straighten the loop

The loop will be crooked, so straighten it up by holding the loop in your chain nose pliers and wrapping the loose end around one time.

6. Wrap the loop more

Then hold the loop in your chain nose pliers and use your bent nose pliers to wrap the wire around the loop a couple of times.

Pull hard on the wire while you’re doing this and keep the loop as straight as possible.

Make sure the loops are close together, you can always smush them together if you need to.

7. Cut the excess wire

Grab your wire cutters and clip off any excess.

8. Smoothen up the loop

Take your chain nose pliers and press them onto the loops while moving the pliers around to ensure that the end of the wire is not poking out.

Make sure everything is straight, and then you’re finished! All you need to do now is put the pendant on your necklace chain or cord.

Gemstone pendant

Here is the finished gemstone stacked pendant on a necklace, as well as a matching pair of earrings that I made to go along with it.

One day, I’d love to go out to a river, get real rocks, drill holes through them and make a natural rock necklace.

Until then though, I’m thrilled with how this gemstone necklace came out.

If you enjoyed this tutorial, leave a comment down below!

For more DIY jewelry content, check out my post on How to Make Cute Button Earrings.