- Seed beads are small beads with small openings. They can be made of plastic, glass or metal and come in all colors and finishes. Choose seed beads that complement your main beads. For instance, if the main beads are mahogany rounds, use metallic copper, purple or pewter seed beads.
Make sure the seed bead holes are just slightly larger than the stringing material. Hole and thread sizes are marked on the packaging; compare them and find the right fit. The seed beads should fit tightly on the thread and be difficult to move. When stringing your beads, slide a seed bead firmly into place followed by a main bead and another seed bead.
Your main beads can be any shape, size, color or material; they should just be large. Patterned and faceted beads make ideal focal point beads because they draw the eye. - Crimp beads are similar to seed beads, except they have an opening on the side so they are C-shaped when you look at them from above. These are always metal and come in metallic tones of all colors. Crimp beads are open on one side so they can be crushed easily with beading pliers.
To string with crimp beads, slide a crimp bead into place on the thread and crush it closed with pliers so that it will not move. Slide on a focal bead followed by another crimp bead. Crush the second crimp bead, being careful to avoid catching the focal bead in the pliers. - Another reliable but tricky technique is to use glue. Use acrylic nail glue or another kind of sticky craft glue. Find seed beads that fit your thread closely, but they need not be as tight as if you were using seed beads alone.
Slide a seed bead into place on the thread and squirt a drop of glue into the hole of the bead so it binds to the thread. Hold the bead in place for a few seconds until the glue sets. Use tweezers to hold the bead so your fingers don't stick to the necklace. Slide a focal bead into place and another seed bead behind it. Put a drop of glue into the second seed bead and wait until it sets as before.
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