Dancing Elephant

Inspired by the vivid colors of Indian saris and elephants with bells on their ankles, Janice found so many choices when designing with the Autumn to Winter Curated Box. "This collection of beads was unusual and very interesting. Kate and I challenged ourselves to create a mix that celebrates the colors and textures of metal, glass and stone. What I did with it was purely an act of joy. My favorite part, I think, is the dangles!”

Whether you choose to make this necklace using the Curated Box, Autumn to Winter, or you gather your own materials and just start creating, it’s really about building the necklace one strand at a time. Remember, strands that have pendants tend to make a “V” and those that don’t, tend to hang round. It’s so critical to hold the strands up as you go to see how they “talk to each other.” This four strand design could have easily been three. It’s up to you!

Dancing Elephant is a chunky necklace design that can be strung to fit your goal length. If you are beading using the Autumn to Winter Curated Collection, there are enough materials to make a finished 4-strand necklace 24 inches in length.

Each individual strand measures 16-18 inches in length. They can vary slightly in length and still cluster to give you a chunky look. Because the elephant hangs in a V, Janice kept that strand the shortest (16½ inches). The other three strands vary between 17 and 18 inches in length.

All beads are strung on Regular C-Lon. Beads are strung on single strand of thread and knotted between beads. The elephant pendant strand begins with 2 pieces of C-Lon measuring 30 inches in length. For each one, find the middle of the thread and tie a lark’s head knot around the loop of the pendant. The C-Lon is then separated to string the first portion as two separate strands per side. C-Lon then comes together and is knotted between beads.

About 2½-3 inches from the end, the strands are knotted together. Use a generous dab of Zap Glue to secure the knot. Feed as many strands as you can through the green wood bead or a bead with a generous hole. Watch the video,  if you are not familiar with how to macrame the loop and button. The threads that cannot fit into the wood bead should be cut away and/or singed with a thread burner.

The last thing Janice did is add drops onto each strand with head pins using the Rosary Loop technique.