My first stop was a local "beads and baubles" shop about 10 minutes from my house. I was hoping to avoid having to drive farther but we struck out. The store had some beautiful beads, but at ~$5 each, this was out of my price range.
We also tried making our own salt dough beads. The kids enjoyed rolling the dough around, but the beads cracked during the drying process and were unusable. I wasn't too disappointed -- I had wanted beads that wouldn't require painting.
So I went back to the idea of buying beads that already looked like planets. I searched and searched online, but didn't come up with anything that fit what I was looking for.
My next move was to make the drive to the bigger chain craft stores. I tried Hobby Lobby first. Their beads were 50% off and I found beads suitable for every planet except Jupiter! I agonized over every planet but by the time I was done, I was very pleased with my finds.
I was not able to find a good Jupiter at Hobby Lobby, so I trekked over to JoAnn. Their beads were 50% off as well! I found a perfect set of beads to use as Jupiter and went home happy.
The Materials and Cost
The Mercury beads came in a set of 46 beads for $2.99, or $0.03 per bead after 50% discount.
The Venus beads came in a set of 14 beads for $2.99, for a price of $0.11 per bead after discount.
I loved these Earth beads. They came in a set of 13 for $4.99, or $0.19 per bead after discount.
The Mars beads came in a set of 9 beads for $2.99, or $0.17 each after discount.
The Jupiter beads were a bit different. The strand had different kinds of beads and only 3 that I could use for Jupiter. The strand was $7.99 at full price. After 50% discount, each usable bead ended up costing $1.33. By far the most expensive beads, but still reasonable.
The Saturn beads came 8 to a set at $6.99, or $0.44 apiece after discount.
The Uranus beads were $3.99 for a set of 15 beads. After 50% discount, this came to $0.13 per bead.
Lastly, the Neptune beads came in a set of 15 beads for $2.99, or $0.10 per bead after discount.
I also bought some jewelry wire for $1.99 to make Saturn and Uranus' rings. It was not on sale.
I later bought some clear glass seed beads and some clasps at Wal-Mart to complete the necklace. The clasps were $2.00 and the beads were $1.50. I used fishing line that I already had on hand to string the beads.
So all told, the necklace cost a grand total of $7.99. That includes the cost of each individual planet bead, plus the cost of the clasps, seed beads and wire. Of course I used a fraction of the wire, seed beads and clasps, but since it would be almost impossible to determine the exact amount used, I just added the complete cost.
So if I haven't completely bored and lost you yet, I'll move on to the actual process!
Assembling the Necklace
I started by making the rings for Saturn and Uranus. My Saturn beads were about the size of marbles, so I wrapped the wire around a dry erase marker a few times and then twisted the ends around each other. This made the rings.
Here is what the rings looked like next to the Saturn bead.
I did the same for the Uranus rings, but made them smaller since my bead was smaller. I wrapped the wire around a regular Crayola marker to get the right size.
Getting the rings attached to their planet was a little bit tricky. I tried several methods before stumbling upon one that worked. Since Uranus' rings are tipped sideways, this planet ended up being the most challenging. I tied a small length of fishing line to each side of the rings like this:
That way, I had two ends of line coming off of each side of the rings. Then I looped them through the holes of the bead like this:
Those ends later went through the other beads of the necklace for added stability.
For Saturn, I added some filler beads in between the rings and the Saturn bead and just wrapped the fishing line I was using to string the beads around each side of the rings before putting the line through the bead.
I used the filler beads to simulate the distance between the planets.
I used one of the small black beads that came with the Mars beads to give Earth a Moon. I wrapped the fishing line up around Earth, threaded it through the Moon bead, then threaded it back through Earth a second time. I added an equal number of seed beads to either side of the necklace, added the clasp and that was it! It was a super fun project and my son loves his necklace. I have plenty of leftover beads to make necklaces for my daughters as well.
