Gemstones are now an increasingly popular material in jewelry making, especially now that there are many online tutorials for DIY gemstone bead making. But you don’t have to take the leap without first learning how to make gemstone beads or making stone beads with your own hands. Get started with these instructions for how to make gemstone beads with your own hands.

How To Make Gemstone Beads With Your Own Hands

Beaded necklaces and bracelets, simple yet elegant and eye-catching, can really help any outfit stand out. But there’s more to them than simply stringing a few together; you must know how to make the beads yourself if they’re going to be of any quality. The first thing you’ll need to know is how to make gemstone beads with your own hands.

Getting Started With Gemstone Beads

To begin with, you’re going to have to have a few supplies ready before you start making your gemstone beads. You’ll need a large glass or plastic bowl filled with enough water that you can submerge the parts of the bead in it. Next, you’ll want to have an airtight container filled with a drying solution such as silica gel, salt, or rice. Finally, be sure to have a notebook and pencil handy so that you can document what kind of gems and how much were used for each bead. 

Step 1: Gathering Your Supplies

The first thing you’ll need to do is gather your supplies i.e. gems for jewelry making. You can find a great selection of gemstones at a variety of stores and online, but the ones you’ll need are those that have been coated in organic dyes, which include malachite, zoisite, and citrine. While quartz may look very similar to those dyes, it doesn’t work as well as they do as a gemstone. So the first thing you’ll need to do is pick out some dyes that match with the kind of gems you’re going for. The quartz will be used for the other two stones.

Step 2: The Dye Solution

Next, you’ll need to mix the dye solution you’ll be using for your beads. For your first batch, use a pint of water and one tablespoon of silica gel, rice, or salt. This will turn that solution into what’s referred to as a “solution,” which is simply another way of saying it’s ready for everything else in this process. 

Step 3: Drying The Beads In The Solution

Now that your blue solution is made, you can begin drying the beads in it to encourage them to become dyed and harder than they already are. The way you do this is by placing a small amount of dye into the glass bowl and submerging the beads in it. Make sure that they’re all placed evenly throughout the solution, and then let them dry for a few hours. Once they’ve been in there long enough, take one out and check it to see if the color has changed – once it’s where you need it to be, remove all of them from the solution.

Step 4: Adding The Quartz To The Solution

The next step is to add quartz to the solution, which will cause your gemstone beads to become more colorful and interesting than they already are. For this, you’ll need a pitchfork and a teaspoon of quartz, which you’ll mix thoroughly with the solution. Make sure that the pieces of quartz are all flat and evenly distributed throughout the solution before they’re placed into it.

Step 5: Dyeing The Beads With The Quartz

Once you have your quartz ready, you can dye the gemstone beads with it by placing them into the glass bowl which already has some dye in it. Once they’re all in there, stop washing them for a few hours so that the natural color is removed from them before continuing with this step. 

Step 6: Adding The Dye To The Beads

Once they’ve been dyed with quartz, you’ll need to add the dye (which will now be called a “dip”) to your beads. This will help make them more vivid and colorful than they were before. For this, you’ll need a wooden dowel and a plastic spoon; you’ll mix the dip with the dowel and then use it to remove some of the solutions from the bowl. Make sure that none of it gets into the actual solution, which will dilute it and ruin your work if that happens. 

Step 7: Drying The Beads In The Air

Once the dip has been placed into the beads, you’ll need to set them out to dry in a safe place. This is where the airtight container comes in handy; if it doesn’t have one, you can make one using an airtight plastic bag and some tape. Once they’re all inside the bag, place them somewhere that’s wind-free and won’t get wet or dust-filled. 

Step 8: Using A Cleaner To Clean Them Up

Once they’ve dried in their bag, take out your gemstone beads and clean them up with some warm water before putting them back in your solution. The last thing you’ll want to do is check the color on them; if the dip was too strong but still fine for what you’re doing, the additional dye can be added to make them even more vibrant. If your gemstone beads were too dark, you’ll need to find something else to use instead of the dip.

And that’s how to make gemstone beads with your own hands!

There are two basic types of gemstones used in making stone beads: natural and man-made. Natural gemstones are just stones that have been naturally created by nature – they’re not man-made. There are many different kinds of them that are used in making gemstone beads, including quartz, jasper, opalite, onyx, pearl and so much more! On the other hand, man-made gemstones are created by assembling pieces of natural gemstones together.

Things To Keep In Mind While Making Stone Beads With Your Own Hands

There’s a lot to consider when making gemstone beads with your own hands, and it can seem overwhelming at first. Here are some things you’ll need to keep in mind as you make gemstone beads:

  1. Make sure to start with a round wire as the base of your shape as it’s easier to work with than any other wire type. 
  1. If the wire is too thick, you won’t be able to work with it easily, so try adding a few layers of thinner wire together to create something that can be used for this process. 
  1. After that, using a bead roller or a mandrel is going to help you create consistent shapes that will be easier to work with once the process begins. 
  1. Use earring hooks while making Stone Beads With Your Own Hands because they’ll make it easier to create gemstones with loops on the end while you’re working.
  1. When the shapes are all created, you’ll want to use a file to smooth down any areas that have rough or uneven edges before they go into the next round of shaping. 
  1. Work with a resin that has a viscosity of 5 to 15 centistokes, which is going to give you a consistency that will be easier to work with. 
  1. When making Stone Beads With Your Own Hands, it’s going to be important to use a fiberglass or urethane resin that dries slowly, which will ensure even coverage of the stones while they’re covered in it. 
  1. Depending on what type of gemstones you’re using, different dyes will be used for a multi-colored look; if the stones are naturally multicolored, you won’t need dye at all! 
  1. To finish off your gemstone beads, use an acid cleaner to clean off the remaining dip from the stones, which will ensure that you have clear glass in front of you for when they go in so their sharp points don’t get in the way. 
  1. After a few hours of drying, take out your gems and clean them up with some soapy dishwater before placing them back in your solution. 
  1. If you’re using synthetic gemstone beads, you’ll want to add an additional dip into the mix to help make your gems more vibrant with color after they’ve been removed from the mixture. 
  1. Once all the stones have been placed in the solution and allowed to dry, check the overall color of your beads by touching them up with water and a drop of turpentine. 
  1. Make sure to use an acid cleaner on your solution before using it again, which will remove any oils leftover from previous uses. 
  1. For the last step, you’ll want to use an acid cleaner on your solution that will remove any oils leftover from previous uses while you work on your project, which will ensure that no clunky particles get in the way when you’re creating gemstone beads with your own hands. 

Conclusion- 

You’re now ready to create some of your own gemstone beads using the process outlined above. If you follow all of the steps carefully, you’ll be able to achieve some great results while working on your project. If you follow the process and take the time to do what you need to do, you’ll be able to develop a much better understanding of how these gems are made and gain insight into what it takes to create them yourself. To get your hands on the best stones for bracelet making or jewelry making, consult or get in touch with Dream Of Stones and get the best help from them.