DIY Teacher Lanyards Tips and Tricks

Making a Teacher Lanyard

Components:

Fishing Line ( 60 inches)

Lobster Clasp and D Ring

6/0 seed beads ( 30 inches)

Decorative beads 8-12 mm ( handful)

Silver spacer ( optional)

20-30 mm decorative or wood end bead

clear fingernail polish

scissors

( no other tools required)

Cost guidelines:

Fishing line is available in any sporting goods store. It is also available at Walmart. I was able to buy what i needed for between $4.00 and $7.00 a spool.

Seed Beads:

Walmart $1.67 ( enough for two lanyards)

Jo Anne Fabrics, Michaels, AC Moore: Full price $4.00. 

The seed beads are size 6/0. The seed beads at the craft stores are sized more consistently. The Walmart beads are rough and inconsistent and create a more Bohemian final product. 

These two choices of fishing line are both suitable. 60 pound and 80 pound both work.  The seed beads are available at most Walmart Stores. 

Decorative Beads:

You can buy a set of decorative beads- pre-packaged in all the craft stores Full price around $8.00. They are very pretty in the package- HOWEVER- they are plastic and acrylic. Many of the necklaces at Chicos are made with acrylic beads so they can be pretty and the final product with be lighter around your neck.

 The strung beads at most Craft Stores have more options for real gemstones. 

Gemstones: You can select beads from old broken jewelry and select any of the strands from all the craft stores 

End bead:

The end bead can be between 18 and 25mm. The most important factor is the size of the hole. Ideally you want the size of the hole to be large enough to disguise the final knot. 

You can see the larger hole in this example. The purple bead with the silver hole is pefect for hiding the knot. 

Lobster Clasp:

From JoAnne Fabrics : Hard to find. You have to look at the bottom shelf sometimes

Jump Rings are also available at Walmart. These are perfect

You can buy a package of 4 lobster clasps at most of the craft stores. In addition, you can buy the large Jump rings or reuse one from an old key chain. The lobster clasps you buy at the craft stores are lightweight and they can't handle the weight of your keys.  You have to use the heavier jump ring to balance the weight of your keys. See photo above for sample jump rings from Walmart. 

Update: I have tested lost of lobster clasps. I found the best value and the ones that don't break on a website: Pandahall. They take several weeks to ship but I found they were worth it

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  Panda Hall Iron Swivel Clasps are also available on my Etsy Shop
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Instructions

  
  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  1. Measure 60 inches of fishing line2. Place small piece of masking tape on one end

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  
  3. Mix seed beads or pour entire container on soft mat

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  4. Thread 30 inches of seed beads on the 60 inches of fishing line

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  5. Arrange several inches of interesting beads 4-16mm

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  6. Thread assorted beads on each side of the 30 inches of fishing line

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  7. Add 5 individual seed beads to either side to begin to taper off

  
  

  

  
  

  8. Place both ends of the fishing line through the large end bead

  
  

  

  

  
  

  
  

  9. Tie the two ends of the fishing line around the bottom of the lobster clasp. Do not tie the fishing line on the circular jump ring. 

  
  

  

  
  

  
  

  10. Tie two knots

  
  

  

  
  

  11. Push the two pieces of fishing line back into the hole in the middle of the large bead and pull out the other end. Tie and place a small dab of nailpolish on the knot. 

  
  

  More information on You Tube
  
  https://youtu.be/w7VjTUK0BRU

   Iron Swivel Clasps with Key Rings, Platinum Color, Size: about 25mm wide, 60mm long (X-HJEW-H018-P)

  • US $1.48 / 5 pcs
  • US $1.53 / 5 pcs

  Weight: 46 g

  Package Size:
  

  5 pcs

  Ready Time: 3 Days

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

DIY Teacher Lanyard Pop of Color Bubble Gum Inspired

My Summer School Look

Teaching summer school is something you do because you 

have to. To make summer school more fun.  

I made a stack of summer school lanyards inspired by bubblegum and skittles.

The beads were all glass, but they were cheap. 

I try to avoid acrylic...

 This sample has a large pink wood bead on the end. These beads are in a bag at JoAnne Fabrics. I used a button at the very end just to add more color. 

This is a display of the beads I bought from Walmart and JoAnne's to get ready to make my summer lanyards and also bracelet stacks. 

You can buy these assortments at most of the craft stores. They are usually about $10.00 but I only bought them when I had my teacher discount card and a 50% off coupon. They work well making the summer lanyards. I also added the stretch elastic while I was shopping in Walmart because I wanted to make some stretch bead bracelets with the extra beads.

I love the color of these bright pink beads. These look like a strand of 8 mm agate I bought at Joanne's to use for the lanyard and a bracelet. 

This is another one of my summer lanyards. I bought the pretty butterfly bead from FireMountain Gems. 

I wear black pants most of the time so I make some bright colored lanyards I can wear with most of my clothes. If you look you will see mint green, kelly green, red, blue yellow, orange accent 6/0 seed beads. 

The green bicone are part of the special collection but I mixed in assorted glass beads with the 6/0 seed beads around the neck to get in as many colors as I could. 

I made a lanyard to hold my library card. The purple beads were from a Jessie James assortment. 

From  all this mess, I can sit and make summer school lanyards mixing in inexpensive beads from local craft stores with priceless vintage beads from Africa.

Materials Used

• 60 pound test fishing line
• lobster clasp
• clear nail polish to seal the knot
• scissors
• 6/0 assorted seed beads
• 4-6 inches of fun beads 4-10 mm
• large end bead with hole big enough to hide the knot

 For more help and instructions please see one of our YouTube Videos

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLu9QGKCfwNHnN_uhWm14Goa217rD0GVk1

DIY Teacher Lanyard Glitz and Bling

DIY TEACHER LANYARD 

One of my biggest learning curves was differentiating between "really pretty beads" and as 

Kate describes them, and "really good beads." 

I spent countless weekends shopping at JoAnne Fabrics, Michaels and ACMoore with an 

occasional stop at Walmarts or Hobby Lobby shopping for beads when Kate was out of the 

country teaching in Costa Rica. 

I would buy pretty beads, on strands or from Jessie James beads and spend money to 

send them to Costa Rica so Kate could bead when she was out of school and could not get 

to a store. 

She had access to some natural beads that she bought locally in Costa Rica but I still felt 

like I needed to shop with my teacher discount card and send her beads. 

Buying beads for her became my hobby.

One day in 2014 she wrote and said, " I really appreciate your sending beads, but please 

don't waste your money on pretty beads that are junk."

I had no idea what she was talking about. She said, " I like to bead with gemstones not 

acrylic."

This started a new chapter in our beading. There are countless,  REALLY PRETTY beads in

packages that cost $3.00- $8.00 in all of the major craft stores. They used to be packaged 

as Jessie James and one pack could make up to two REALLY PRETTY lanyards. BUT!!!  

This is the big BUT!!! Some of the beads are glass and some are acrylic. If they are acrylic, 

sometimes the color wears off.  

If you are just getting started, they are not a bad investment because you get a really pretty 

lanyard very quickly and inexpensively. 

Usually the packages of Jessie James beads have a large bead that can be used on the end.  They can be mixed with any inexpensive glass beads that are really inexpensive. 

This is a sample of a lanyard made with a very inexpensive package of seed beads from Walmart. There are premixed assortments that can turn our perfect. They are glass and pretty. The down side is they are not all uniform in size and shape so you get a bumpy final look. You can buy countless bead assortments in the craft department at Walmart to get a pretty lanyard  without spending a lot of money. Interestingly, this lanyard was one of the most popular in the last school where I worked and I made some to give away to the teachers and cafeteria ladies who were nice to my kids.

MORE SAMPLES of Bright Colored Fun Lanyards

MATERIALS USED

• 60 pound test fishing line
• lobster clasp with D ring
• large end bead with a hole large enough to hide the knot from the fishing line
• 30 inches of 6/0 seed beads
• assorted 4-6 inches of fun and fabulous beads you love
• spacers
• clear nail polish to cover the knot

For more information and instruction: Please see my YouTube Playlist with 7 videos. 

https://youtu.be/Mdf0lKY4SFQ

Happy Beading!

DIY Teacher Lanyards and ID Badge Holders African Inspired

DIY TEACHER LANYARDS

Teacher Kate with her Teacher Kate Lanyard

Want to add some fashion and fun to your basic working look? This blog will include the 

instructions and inspiration to help you start to make lanyards to hold your ID badge and or 

keys at work. Once you get used to having your keys hanging around your neck on a pretty 

lanyard, you may find this is something you can't live without even on the weekend. 


GETTING STARTED

Look at samples on this blog and on other blogs and on Etsy to determine what look you 

like.

When I used to make these for teachers in my building, I would start off by showing them 

samples and saying: "What speaks to you?"


The Natural Look- also called "earth tones".


Many of the lanyards Kate started making included beads she bought in Costa Rica or 

Africa.

She had seeds and beads that were all natural materials including paper, glass and semi-

precious gemstones. 


The necklace part of the lanyards usually included all black 6/0 seed beads, gold seed,

copper or bronze  beads or an assortment she made when she had too many beads on the 

table and she just mixed them together. 

This is a picture of Teacher Kate when she was beading in Botswana. 

This is a sample of mixing a mish mash of brown, black, gold, white and bronze seed beads when the table gets messy. 

Sample natural colors with large black end bead- random accent beads including two amber glass beads and black 8 MM round- gold spacers

Sample natural colors with large brown end bead and owl charm- random 6 mm gemstones

Sample natural colors with copper seed beads and paper accent bead with the word "Joy"- two really cheap fake wood beads from JoAnne's

Bronze seed beads with natural colored large wood end bead and two large red colored seeds from Africa. 

 This is a sample with bronze seed beads, two fake Pandora Beads with inexpensive wood saucers as spacers and really cheap fake wood beads from an inexpensive bag at JoAnne Fabrics. 

This is a sample with black seed beads, some really nice ostrich shell spacers and some very rare African Trade Beads mixed with some seeds Kate bought in Africa. 

This is a small sample of the lanyards that I consider "natural, earthy, and also suitable for men. If this is your look, read more about where to get the components on this blog. 

If you like more color- fun bright colors or more glitzy silver and sparkle, read more about these options on this blog. 

Materials Used for this Project

• 60 pound test fishing line
• 30" of 6/0 seed beads
• 4"-6" of any beads 4 mm -10 mm you love
• lobster clasp
• clear fingernail polish

For directions and more samples, please see our YouTube. 

https://youtu.be/Mdf0lKY4SFQ

Playlist of 7 DIY videos

Amazonite used in jewelry like Sundance

Amazonite
Uncommonly Beautiful Feldspar

What does it look like in a bracelet and how much does it cost to buy just the stones?

The ancients called amazonite the stone of courage. It has also been attributed with hope and confidence.

Amazonite is a beautiful green variety of microcline feldspar.


Abundance of Feldspars
In the earth’s crust the feldspars are the most abundant mineral by far. Microcline is the common potassium feldspar found in pegmatites. But the green variety of microcline feldspar is a rare occurrence. It is believed that the green color comes from traces of lead and OH-1

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Alkali or Plagioclase

Feldspars can be alkali or they can be plagioclase. Amazonite is the pure potassium end member of the alkali group. It crystallizes at relatively low temperatures.

Low Crystallization Temperature
At low crystallization temperatures the potassium feldspar, Amazonite, and the sodium feldspar, albite, separate into layers. This is seen as thin white bands of albite within the green crystal.

Schiller
One quality that makes this stone popular is schiller. Schiller is similar to iridescense. It comes from light reflecting off different planes within the crystal structure of the mineral. Light reflects differently in each of these minerals causing the effect of schiller.

A Description
Amazonite is popular in jewelry and decorative objects as well as specimens for mineral collectors. It is usually light green to blue green and is found in granite and pegmatites. It has a range of 5 to 6 on the Mohs Scale.

Location
Large prismatic crystals are found in the Pike’s peak area of Colorado, the ILmen mountains of Russia, they can also be found in Madagascar, and Brazil. The specimens from Colorado are sometimes found with smoky quartz, orthoclase, and albite. When this is the case the value of the specimens is much higher.


Amazonite Folklore, History, and Healing Properties
What's In A Name?

Some say the name comes from the Amazon River. This beautiful green stone has been found in Brazil but not close to the Amazon. This stone has been known and used by man for thousands of years. Long before the Spanish discovered this mighty river in 1541.

In Greek Mythology the Amazons were a nation of women warriors. While there is disagreement over the historical existence of the Amazons as a people it is likely the source of the name of this stone.

DIY How to make a teacher lanyard: Introduction

Sundance Color Inspiration for Beading

Checking to see what colors are trending. One of my "go to"places is the Robert Redford Sundance Catalog. The option: New Arrivals probably shows any new colors and trends.

Found this: Now it is is time to list and study the colors.

The first small yellow bead is light and buttery- like butter that has been whipped. 

In Crayola colors:

• pale yellow

• blue

• pinkish red

• darker yellow

• orange

• light blue

• turquois

You are to look carefully to see there are actually two yellows, a bright one with the stripes and a small buttery yellow. 

The two yellows are actually related when you look at the RGB numbers!!!

Using the sessions color tool- https://www.sessions.edu/color-calculator/

and manually adjusting the color came out : 232 234 73

What is interesting is: the Red stayed the same but the green and blue numbers increased.  

Adding more green and blue created a lighter softer yellow.

The other yellow is in the trade bead.

Using the sessions color tool- it appears 232  240 14

Side by side:
Lighter yellow bead:  232 234 73
Darker yellow bead : 232 240 14




Next is the blue. This blue bead look like Lapis. 

The bead next to blue is an interesting shade of pinkish red. The pinkish red bead is on either side of the yellow bead. 

I get the most information when I read the list of beads in the catalog:

• lapis-dark blue 
• turquoise-tear shaped
• apatite
• coral
• trade beads-long yellow

Time to search for apatite to see what color it is??


The results are pretty obvious. The apatite bead is the pretty light blue bead. 

The redish pink bead is obviously red coral. 

The next step is to find the beads and see what the assortment looks like.

Staytuned to see a Teacher Kate Lanyard with this Sundance color inspiration.