How to Make a Beaded Suncatcher

Start by playing with your beads before you thread anything. Line them up in the order you want, top to bottom, with the big focal crystal at the bottom where it will hang. Hope puts a white boho bead in the center and works out from there with crystals, bead caps, and little blue rondelles. Getting the pattern set now saves you from taking it apart later.

You need three things to hang everything: clear fishing line, a small fishing swivel, and a few crimp beads. Hope uses 12-pound line and a gunmetal swivel she grabbed from the fishing aisle. Cut off a length much longer than you think you need, close to two feet, so you have room to work and loop.

Find the hole in your focal crystal and push about four inches of line through it. Then loop it back through a second time. You do not have to double it up, but since this crystal is heavy, the extra pass gives you peace of mind that it will not slip loose and hit the floor.

Slide a crimp bead down over both strands of line right above the crystal. Squeeze it flat with your crimping pliers, then turn it 90 degrees and give it a second good smash. You want this one solid. Check that it holds before moving on, because this is what keeps the crystal from dropping.

Now string on the rest of your beads in the order you laid out. Hope goes rondelle, bead cap, crystal, bead cap, then the boho bead in the middle, and mirrors it on the way up. The first bead can hide the trimmed tail from the crystal. Take your time and check the pattern looks even as it grows.

Slide on your last crimp bead, then thread the line through the loop of the swivel and back down through the crimp bead. Crimp it tight and trim the extra line. The swivel lets the suncatcher spin freely. No swivel? Just make a plain loop at the top instead and hang it from that.

That is it. Slip the swivel over a small nail or hook in a sunny window and let it catch the light. The big faceted crystal at the bottom throws little rainbows around the room when the sun hits it. Hope hangs hers in her sunroom. It is a quick project with a big payoff.