2-1123 November How-To Holiday 2023: Beaded Window Hanger - Photo Tutorial

Hi there! Almost all of the "real" content is out here now... I'll show off some of the other bits and pieces just so that you can SEE them... because hand-drawn illustrations in a little booklet just aren't the same as pictures in full color, right?

And these window hangers are almost entirely stolen from naturallife.com and their wonderful beaded window decorations! In typical Ruth fashion I've gone a little nutty with the found-things, kitsch and a little bit of silliness... and hopefully I've also held to the exquisite joy of the beautiful things they offer in their online shop because they're just absolutely AMAZING. You really should check them out and see all of the lovely things they have to offer! They've found a way to combine the hand-made stuff I'm doing here with a business model that allows them to sell them at a much lower price point than we can do hand-made AND still keep them sweet, vibrant and heartfelt. Really. Go see. :D

I got my clips from Bad Chihuahua Designs on Etsy. 

I believe the beading line I used was gifted by a friend destashing. 

I used this line but still highly recommend fishing line.

What you'll need:

• bead stringing wire or thread. I choose to use 20lb test fishing line because it's clear and doesn't require you to also have a bunch of jewelry tools and pieces that you may or may not have. It's... fiddly and picky and be careful when you tie knots because the stuff is super fine and not coated like jewelry wire, so it's kinda sharp! LOL You also will be surprised how little pressure 20lbs really is even if you're wimpy like me! Other options include nylon outdoor sewing thread. It's also sharp so tighten knots carefully. (NOTE: For these photos I used the beading wire that I had)
• jump rings in an assortment of sizes in a similar color to your focal point. Most jewelry places sell these cheaply in a little flat pack or bag - I used a small one for the end of the bell cord and a larger one to attach the smaller one to the bell.
• beads, buttons, anything with a hole drilled in or anything you can drill a hole in. no, really. anything. JoAnn sells "bead soup" (aka Confetti) in bags or you can get strands of beads already sort of "themed" sometimes on really deep sales - or you can get a weird random bag of glass beads on Amazon like THIS one for $15. I prefer to see my bead soup, if I'm being honest. A lot of breakage happens in the bulk bags and you can see from the amount of dust in the bag and glass shards if you're really going to want to buy that bag of beads! NOTE: I LOVE shops that have a bowl or basket of bead soup to buy scoops from (sometimes these are a little more expensive) because I can eyeball a few KEY beads that I really like and drop them in the top of my "scoop" or just put them in the bag! One way to take advantage of this higher quality is to hit up Etsy and find a shop like THIS ONE that sells scoops of beads. I literally just searched "glass bead soup" and filtered my results to US shops only. LOL
• I'm using little bells I got on Amazon because I wanted to. They're not at all required. I like the jingle. (NOTE: I also took the little clippy thing off those bells and used it at the TOP of my window hanger so that it could be hooked over a nail or thumbtack. umm... LOL)
• a ring, hook, hoop or loop of ribbon to attach your window hanger to so that it can be hung from a curtain rod or thumbtack.
• about an hour of your time, once you have it all gathered. probably less.

Ok... so what I did was to thread both ends of my beading line  through the opening on my clip and through every bead to the end. In order to tighten the loop by the clip I used a smaller bead.

And now it's all about deciding what order you'd like your beads to fall in. I like mixed colors and textures and happened to have these stone butterflies and flowers in my stash to go with the glass beads. (NOTE: Plastic beads are lighter and may not hang straight on beading wire - the fishing line will be held down by the bell.)

Now I shot for no more than 11" in length because the bell adds almost 2" and a foot long window hanger is GOING to attract every small human and cat with good eyesight, it might ALSO attract birds, a note to those of you who feed them on your porches... shiny things INSIDE a window can occasionally draw their attention and create accidents.

To secure my bell or "focal point" at the bottom of the strand I looped the beading wire through the loop of a ring that I'll attach to the top of the bell with a jump ring later. I crossed the pair of wires so that one went through LEFT to RIGHT and the other RIGHT to LEFT. (sorry my hands were SO dry - some of the lampwork and bigger glass beads are made using a dessicant clay and it REALLY sucks the moisture out of your skin while stringing beads.)

Then I paid close attention to making sure each end went AROUND the ring and back into the bead at the end of my string. I actually fed BOTH ends back up about 5 or 6 beads, to the big yellow one in one of the next photos.

Then I tightened the wires from the top clasp all the way down to the ring at the end and then back again to the yellow bead - just being sure there's no big gaps in the wires.

I knotted my wires by feeding one end of the beading wire through the space between the 2 wires going through the top of the yellow bead and then just tied 3 knots, one at a time and carefully keeping them tightly close to the opening of the yellow bead. (NOTE: be careful, wire and fishing line can be sharp when you're pulling it tight, use beading tools or rubber grips or just BE CAREFUL.)

Then I fed one wire end DOWN towards the ring at the bottom of my strand and out between beads close to the end and I fed the other wire UP through beads the other direction.

Pull tight and then you can cut the two wires carefully off very close to the beads where they're coming out... they'll tuck back into the beads and be "lost" in the strand this way. I don't find the knot in the middle too noticeable (if you can see it at all) and I feel more like kitty Tarzan could ring the bell without showering all the jewels of the Nile down behind my bookshelves under the window. If you get my drift.

I used a jump ring to secure the ring on the bottom of my strand to the top of the bell. 

always open a jump ring by twisting forward, back with your tools, not yanking it open

I just hooked the ring on the strand over the jumpring and then closed it again.

I get my seam binding/crinkle ribbon from MyScrapCabinShop on Etsy.

And LOOK at them! I absolutely love them. Plain and pretty and carefully NOT kitsch.

 Go crazy. Have fun. Make something SO lovely and wonderful that you're smiling when you are waiting in line at the post office to send it to your friend. It's SO important to enjoy what you're doing!

NOTE: when buying organza bags on Amazon or Etsy always look for the listings that do NOT include the tags "wedding" - you'll save as much as 100% of the price. No kidding... 100 "wedding gift bags" on Amazon can go for $28 and the package I got that are just shop packaging were $13! Because we all know how expensive it has to be to get married. Literally EVERYTHING is double to quadruple the price so you can only use it once. LMAO

Please, if you're inspired to do something a little different or if you decide to go whole HAM and make the kitschyest most bananas thing on earth, tag me so I can see @12SquaredCreations on Instagram or #12SquaredCreationsPatreon. I love this stuff SO much! I'd be sad to find out you forgot!