Famous Jewelry Collections: THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

How to Make Eye Glass Necklace Holder Tutorials

Posted: 17 Aug 2011 04:00 AM PDT

Ah, the joys of growing older. One such "joy" I discovered was my increasing difficulty in focusing on near objects like computer screens. So reading glasses are necessary. Rather than prop them up on my head, I made an eyeglass necklace for myself. It's what I call a functional necklace.

There are two types of eye glass necklace holders. Both work so the choice is down to personal preference.

Hanging Style
The first kind shown above consists of special rubber findings which you attach the necklace to instead of clasps. The necklace can be beaded or chain. The sky is the limit as to what beads to use but I would say pick smaller ones. If you decide to use Swarovksi crystals like I did, don't put them right up to the rubber attachments. I did that initially and wondered why the top of my ear was bleeding! A crystal must have nicked my skin as I pulled off the glasses.

I prefer this style as I can just whip off my glasses and not have to fold them. The disadvantage is my glasses can get in the way if I am bending down to do something.

Folding Style
The other way is to use a round metal finding (shown below) which has two loops on either side for the necklace. The glasses are hung folded up. The advantage of this hanger style is the tidiness. The necklace will also do double duty as a regular one without the glasses. The disadvantage is having to fold and unfold the glasses. So if you are in the habit of removing and putting on your glasses many times a day, this may not be the option for you.

You don't need to purchase the metal finding if you already have something similar in your pendant or metal collection that will fit the glasses. For example, I experimented with some gemstone donuts and found the above turquoise jasper tear drop would work just as well.

Tutorials
Auntie's Beads has a video tutorial which shows how to make both styles.