How to Incorporate Side-Drilled Beads into Jewelry Designs

Side-drilled beads are unlike "regular beads" in that their hole for stringing goes across the bead (usually the top of the bead or front to back) versus going from top to bottom. These types of beads are great for creating drops and charms. As you are shopping for them, you will also notice that sometimes they are referred to as beads and sometimes as pendants. PRESTIGE Crystal Components makes a wide variety of side-drilled pendant beads, and these add a wonderful touch of sparkle. Leaf and heart beads are other common types of side-drilled beads as are Czech glass dagger beads.

One really easy way of connecting these side-drilled beads to a design is by using a jump ring. You will want to select a jump ring that is big enough to easily curve into the hole and back out and a thinner gauge is usually easier to work with for this compared to a heavier gauge. A good video to view on how to do this is How to Make the Luxe Peach Earrings; the project uses this technique.

Featured Video: How to Make the Luxe Peach Earrings

Another easy way of connecting them is by creating a wire loop on top of the bead. This creates a little charm effect and is easy to do with a wire that is 22 gauge or heavier (remember the lower the gauge number, the heavier the wire). You can view the video showing exactly how to do this technique.

Featured Video: How to Make a Loop on Top of a Side Drilled Bead

Finally, you can easily just string them onto a fine beading chain or a beading wire. When strung on these materials, the side drilled beads create a drop effect. It can be fun to alternate them with "regular" beads in the same design for added interest.

Here are some project examples with side-drilled beads: