Butterflies, Sunshine & Happy Birthday Prince George...

It really doesn't seem like a year since I did a blog to celebrate the arrival of HRH Prince George  and seeing all the pictures of him today with the butterflies (which you know I a-b-s-o-l-u-t-e-l-y ❤️...  ) just makes me like him even more -  Happy Birthday to our little King-in-the-Making!

I thought, if he is peeking at the blog from his mum's lap, that he might like to see my fluttery visitors to the garden - the one below is a gorgeous 'Comma' that came to settle on the Buddleia...

We also had a beautiful Peacock Butterfly settle for a little rest in amongst the mock orange blossom bush...

...and I nearly never spotted the striking Brimstone Butterfly that was also resting in the same bush (he blended in so well!) The sunshine has really brought them all out today.

Well -  it just wouldn't be right if I didn't mark the Royal occasion with a new butterfly inspired project would it?! So, what with it being flip flop & sandal weather too I've come up with a simple little summer anklet...

For this project you will need a selection of tools and some flexible beading wire (aka Tiger Tail)..

Plus an assortment of seed beads, little acrylic butterflies and some crimps, jump rings and clasp findings

First of all it's a good idea to plan out the colour order of the butterflies...

Then begin threading the butterflies & seed beads directly onto your beading wire (a great tip is to use crimps as spacers between them - they look very cute!)

Keep adding the beads until it's long enough to fit around your ankle (allowing 2-3cm for clasp ends)

Side on a larger crimp and a necklace clasp of your choosing.  Thread the wire end back down through the crimp.

Squash & shape the crimp with crimping pliers and then thread the beads back up over the ends to cover the wire tail.

Once you've pushed all the beads up the wire, cut the wire from the reel, leaving enough to finish off (usually around 3-4cm)..

Next, link one small & one large jump ring together as shown..

Add a large crimp to the wire end, then the linked jump rings and crimp (as before) - threading the wire end down through the first few beads.

It looks nice & neat if you use crimp covers to hide the squashed crimps or if you have a gap in the wire that needs a bit of filling..

And there you go.. a pretty butterfly anklet to wear on a summers day!

If you don't have butterflies a few crystals or other pretty small beads will do just as well. Of course if you want to you can make it shorter to fit your wrist instead and maybe add an extra such as a little charm.

Happy Making

&

Happy 1st Birthday Prince George 

All pictures & text (c)Addicted to Making 2014