DIY Statement Necklace -or- How to get a drool bib to match your baby's

So lately, my entire world has revolved around this:

Look at those abs.

HENCE ("Yeah, hence!" Michelle will know what I'm quoting there....) I needed something to soothe his little teefers (Sorry for baby talking on my blog. Can't help it.) all the while forcing him to need me even more than he already does.

C really likes to chew on a couple of big-beaded necklaces I already have (and leave a large drool bib on my shirt at the same time), so I came up with the idea to go buy some giant wooden beads and string them on a rope of some sort and voila! A teething necklace. Not to be confused with this one, which I hear actually works really well. Problem solved. Off to JoAnn I went. 

With wooden beads in hand, I was ready. But something in the back of my mind (I later decided it was my fashion conscience) told me that I didn't have to settle for wooden beads. I could get something with color! Something to wear even when the boy has all his teeth!

And thus, a statement necklace was born.

Ignore my wrinkled shirt. Please?

This necklace is EASY, and CHEAP. The thing about it is, I only needed 2 things to make it, and it's made to be super durable and strong. Strong enough to be chewed on, slobbered on, pulled, etc. You get the idea.

$7.57 pre-tax, of course.

MATERIALS: 2 strands of acrylic beads, 1 skein (???) of embroidery floss in a coordinating color. Or contrasting color! Maybe I'll try pink and orange next!

1. The first thing I did was count out the beads and line them up. I knew I wanted 3 strands, and decreasing in number so I could get a nice curve to give me a bib effect.

2. Then, I got my embroidery floss and cut. I had 3 double strands (by double strands, I mean that I actually tied 2 strands together to make one. They were about 4 ft long each. You will need all this length later, so feel free to make it longer, but any shorter and you will have a nice statement choker or bracelet.

Steps 1 & 2

3. String your beads. Now you have 3 beaded strands. I think I had one with 15, 13 and 11. So I reduced by 2. I also left one bead off to use for the closure. Just slip the bead into a loop, ta-da! It will depend on the beads you get and how you want it to be shaped. 

After I strung the beads, I held them up to see if I needed to edit it at all.

4. Find the center of one strand and place your center bead there. Then, tie a knot on either side of the bead. 

Center bead with knots on either side.

5. Continue tying knots on either side of the rest of the beads. Repeat for every strand. This will keep your beads from sliding around on the floss, and will also reinforce the floss so it doesn't fray and break over time. You can skip this step, but your necklace might not hold up to the enzymes in your baby's saliva. Just sayin'.

A completely knotted strand.

6. Line up the beads on one side of your necklace so they are even. Tie all 6 strands of floss together in one knot.

Like so.

7. Line up the beads on the other side. You will now have some bibbage going on with the necklace. That's OK. Make sure to line up the beads the same way , or the necklace will be crooked and homemade-looking.

I LOVE THIS NECKLACE because all you're gonna do the rest of the time is just tie a bunch of knots. The great thing is that you can undo the knots if you mess up. Like if you ignored step 7 because you wanted to find out for yourself just how bad you can make it look. Kidding. But don't ignore step 7.

Ok, now, to finish the necklace, you need to know how to make a friendship bracelet. Here's a quick picture tutorial to show you how to tie your knots.

For more in depth details, click here or on the picture.

What I decided to do to break up the monotony was the following "pattern".

-35 "friendship knots"

-1 large knot with all 6 strands together

-35 "friendship knots"

-1 large knot with all 6 strands together

-20 "friendship knots"

-1 large knot

-15 "friendship knots"

-1 large knot

-STRING ONE BEAD on one side of the necklace

**I did the exact same thing on the other side, but then where I would have strung a bead, I braided the remaining strands together and tied it into a loop just big enough for the bead to slip through.

If you need more clarification, let me know. Now go make a necklace and send me a picture of it so I can get more ideas.

Thanks and I love you.

Here it is from my good side. Ha.