Ribbon Necklaces Anyone?

Here are two super easy ribbon necklaces.  For mine, I used wooden beads and painted them the colors I wanted, but these could easily be made with any bead.  The important thing is to make sure the hole in the bead is large enough to get a ribbon through.

Here's what you need to make the two I made:
Wooden beads (3/4 inch, round)
Acrylic paint
Paint brush
Ribbon (5/8 inch, grosgrain)

Start by painting the beads.  I used 8 beads for the red/blue necklace and 7 for the maroon/orange necklace.  You will need to do 2-3 coats.  I held the bead and painted half of it.  Then I set onto a toothpick stuck into an egg carton and painted the other half.  I left it on the toothpick to dry.

For the first necklace, cut a 60 inch length of ribbon.  Since my ribbon was wider than the whole in the bead, I folded one in half and sewed a length of thread to it.  Using the needle, I was able to thread the ribbon through the bead.

Thread the first bead 20 inches down one side of the ribbon and tie a knot on either side.

Repeat the above for the next 7 beads and tie around your neck in a bow!

For the second necklace, cut a 60 inch length of ribbon.  Measuring down 20 inches, wrap the ribbon around one bead and sew a piece of thread through the ribbon, then the bead and through the ribbon again.

Add a second bead, wrapping the ribbon around it and sewing through as well.  Continue this until you have 7 beads sewn together.

Tie in a bow around your neck and there you have another fabulous necklace!

I made the red and blue necklace for my sister-in-law, she works at University of Richmond and I know she will be sporting this thing on campus and at the football games.  The maroon and orange, I made for myself to of course wear to Virginia Tech games.  I made both of these necklaces in 1.5 hours (including time for the paint to dry), they are super easy and I get lots of complements on them.