Jamaican Shell Set

When my mother-in-law told mentioned she is planning a trip to Jamaica, I thought Mother’s Day would be a good opportunity to make her something fun and bright that she would enjoy wearing while there. She loves shells, so I knew this set would be perfect for her. I think you’ll enjoy it, too!

To make this set you’ll need chain-nose pliers, crimping pliers, round nose pliers, wire cutters, a clasp, crimp beads, head pins, beading wire, hoop earrings with several ‘eye’ openings and, of course, shell beads of various sizes, colors and shapes.

First, decide how long you’ll want your necklace to be, and how you want it to look. Arrange it accordingly on your design board. I wanted my mom-in-law’s necklace to be on the longer side, so that meant I had to grab a good number of shells. How playful do you want your set to be? This is a basic design, but you can play it up by choosing brightly colored beads and then contrasting them with darker beads.

I know that green is one of my mother-in-law’s favorite colors, so I chose to use pale colored shell beads, accented with green and brought to life with larger, round shell beads in the front of the necklace.

If you are using various shell chips, like I did, you will need plenty, as they are pretty thin. Once you’ve connected your beading wire to half of your clasp and have crimped your crimp bead into place, begin stringing your beads. As a variation, I decided to add cultured pearls to this set, as well. You can do the same or choose another alternate bead that’s to your liking.

Once you’re done stringing your necklace and you’ve added the other half of your clasp, we can put that aside and work on the earrings. Hoop earrings are fun and playful, and they’re really fashionable right now! Gather your hoops, beads and headpins. I alternated the pale shell beads with the green shell beads to create a good balance.

First, you’ll want to place your beads on your headpin and make a loop at the end, but before you close your loop, you’ll bring it through an eye in your hoop earring, and then you’ll close the loop. Simple, right? Now continue with this until you have all your beaded headpins connected to the eyes of your earring hoops.

Once you’re done, you’ve come up with a great set of earrings you can wear alone or with the necklace as a set. This is a light and fun set for summer — even if you’re not going to Jamaica! Enjoy!

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