Elegant Pearl Wedding Necklace DIY with David Tutera Bridal

If you've been following me for over a year, you may remember that I recently got married! Just a couple days over a year at this point :) Hubby and I tied the knot on February 25th 2012. I was fresh out of college and we did NOT want to spend a fortune on our wedding so I chose to DIY a lot and be smart in my planning. (See a round-up of all my wedding DIY here)

So, when I was given the opportunity to try out some pieces from the David Tutera Bridal

line, I jumped at the chance! I had a great time planning my wedding and I'm at the age where my friends are getting hitched all over the place! I need to keep my wedding crafting skills fresh :) Here are some of the pieces included in the line:

So many sparkly things to craft with!!!!

Here's the project I created with my goodies:

DIY Elegant Pearl Wedding Necklace

What really stood out to me in all of the FABULOUS wedding supplies I received were the pretty rhinestone pins! This pair was super feminine and classy, and I just KNEW they were begging to be made into a pretty necklace (cause sparkly things talk to me, ya know?)

Now...I have to apologize for not having super concise steps. I swear though guys, I have a good excuse!! My dog ate my homework! Ok. Actually my SD card. And actually only chewed on it. BUT STILL WHAT THE HECK now it's broken. That darn puppy........... So, I took more concise steps the first time around but those got slobbered up...so I tried to break down the construction of the necklace to show you how I did it. And as always, if you have questions, please let me know!

Supplies

Supplies needed for this project are David Tutera rhinestone pins, 8mm pearls, 6mm pearls, 4mm pearls, jewelry wire, crimp beads, split rings, clasp. Tools needed are wire cutters and needle nose pliers (or a crimper). All of these supplies can be found at Michaels!

First step is to string your pearls onto three separate strands of beading wire. I made my shortest strand the 4mm pearls, then the 6mm, then the 8mm pearls. After you have your desired length, crimp the strands onto a split ring. You can also use a jump ring, but did not need the ring to open for anything else for I used a split ring for more stability. Here's what the ends should look like:

And here's the completed "bib" that will be created:

Next, string more pearls (I used 6mm) onto bead wire to make the necklace tails. Crimp one side to a split ring and the other side to a clasp.

I just used a basic toggle clasp:

Ok, now it's time to break out the rhinestones!!! Open up the pins like so:

And then string on the split rings for each side of your pearl bib.

Next add on the necklace "tails" to the rhinestone pin as well:

Buckle the pin back up, flip over, and your done!!! These pins seemed pretty sturdy, but you could always add a little hot glue to make sure the pins stay closed so the necklace doesn't fall apart. The nice thing about leaving it this way though, you could technically "borrow" a pin to wear with something else and later add it back to the necklace very easily!!!