Over the years I’ve learned to embrace my hippie urges at times and this DIY is definitely true to my free spirited heart. A traditional hippie accessory, Love Beads are long, handmade strings of beads worn by both guys and girls in the 1960’s. The trend is thought to have evolved from the generation’s fascination to non-Western cultures such as India and Native America. I love spotting love beads when flipping through old photos and magazines from that era. Janis Joplin is probably the most famous ‘hippie’ to wear love beads and I don’t think anyone wore them quite as well as she did.

• Beading Wire
• Flat-nose Jewelry Plyers
• Crimp Beads
• Jump Ring, Connector Charm, or Clasp
• Lots of Beads!

I made two strands of Love Beads for this project- One I strung beads in a fun pattern and another I used random multicolor beads together. I like the way both turned out.

To make a strand of Love Beads, I first like to organize my beads in teacups or small bowls. This way I grab the ones I need easily and organize my colors. All the beads you see here I bought second hand.

Tips for finding and collecting beads:

• Thrift stores & garage sales– When thrifting I always look for clothes that have beads on them that I can easily cut off and use for jewelry projects. Some thrift stores also have craft supply sections where you can find bags of random beads. If you live in Portland, my favorite place to go is the Knittin’ Kitten, a craft supply thrift store on NE Glisan.
• Friends & family– Ask around! You never know who might have a box of beads sitting in their closet leftover from their beading phase 10 years ago.
• Broken/old jewelry– Whenever a necklace or earring breaks or falls apart, I always save the remnants to recreate into something new!

How to make Love Beads:

To get started, first cut your beading wire to length. I wanted my necklaces to be super long (just like Janis Joplin), so I cut mine 54 inches long, leaving a few extra inches for tying off the finished strand.

Next I started stringing on beads. If you want to make a pattern, I like to start in the middle of the necklace and use both ends of the string to add beads in my desired pattern. This method is dangerous though! The more beads you string on, the heavier the necklace gets, and the easier it is to drop your ends and lose your beads!