Beaded Christmas flakes

- a 6-pointed star-shaped metal frame(available in sets of 3 from Bijoux et Perles) - a 10-15 cm piece of nylon wire (0.25mm diameter) for suspension - beads in multiples of 6, in glass, crystal, wood, ceramic or even natural stone such as white Howlite (see photo). Choice of beads: their holes must allow them to be threaded onto the branches, as is the case with Czech crystal facets from 3mm upwards, Swarovski crystal spinners from 3mm upwards(retail crystal beads), but for the last bead on each branch, you need a slightly larger hole to slide the nylon thread used for attachment through (a 6mm crystal facet works well, for example).

You'll need one to 3 small beads to start each branch (otherwise, the beads will get in each other's way from one branch to the next). Then experiment with the beads you have on hand: large beads framed by smaller ones look great, as do oval beads. There are 2 techniques for making these flakes: one involves twisting the end of each stem (leaving around 8 to 10 mm free at the end of the stem) with round-ended pliers, but as the stems are quite rigid, this is a tricky job that requires very good pliers. The other technique is simpler to achieve, and is the one we recommend, but requires the use of a glue (a specific glue for pearls, beware of rapid glues which damage the crystal).

Now glue the last bead strung: the beads must stop just at the edge of the stem (with a small gap near the center of the star). Once you're sure of the order of the beads, and that you have the beads in quantity x 5 for the other branches, start the 1st branch by stringing the beads. Place some glue on the end of the stem left free, and string the last bead.
Then work on the next branch, paying careful attention to the glue, which must dry. For the last branch, proceed in the same way, but as soon as the last bead has been threaded, pass both ends of a nylon thread through it. Let dry before hanging up your new Christmas decoration.

One model is a little more elaborate, with a double inner strand of pearls and an "integrated" clasp. The pearls are faceted Czech crystal and marbled white Howlite natural pearls. Fitting instructions on the Bijoux et Perles boutique

Christmas snowflake or star? This model is made up of Swarovski crystal elements: Marquise cabochons in Crystal Ab color, shuttles in Crystal Golden Shadow color, white pearly beads...and a few seed beads. Other crystal Christmas jewels are to be discovered in the table decorations section": Crystal bead decorations