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No one ever has enough costume jewelry, and it will solve a lot of gift and prize problems. This jewelry is also quite saleable. I have sold it at bazaars and to friends who wanted "something different."

Bead and button jewelry originally grew out of a need for jewelry items at a benefit bazaar in Hartville, Ohio, where I live, which meant they had to be made inexpensively and still attract customers. In casting about for materials, I came upon some very pretty buttons and some broken strings of beads and decided to see what could be done with them. Those first earrings and scatter pins were extremely simple, yet sold readily at fifty cents per pair. Since that time, the designs have become much more intricate and a definite pattern of construction has emerged from two years of experimenting with beads, buttons and wire.

AT FIRST, my bead and button craft was merely a pastime and a way of providing myself with all the costume jewelry I wanted. Then friends began admiring them and the idea of using them for gifts presented itself. I used them as birthday, Christmas, and shower gifts—donated them to bazaars, used them as card prizes and even used some of the simpler ones as tray favors at a club meeting.

Unintentionally, this wholesale giving of my craft products turned out to be a wonderful means of advertising. Recipients began asking if they might buy some of the earrings and pins. In turn, their friends saw the jewelry and asked where to get it. Hesitatingly, I priced some at $1.25 and $1.50 per pair, at which price they sold quite readily.

It seemed that these sales were mostly for those hard-to-buy card prizes where "something different" was wanted and as gifts for the person "who has everything." Since practically every store has its jewelry counter, the sales value of this particular jewelry evidently stemmed from the fact that, while it was not expensive, it was handcrafted and original.

This seemed an important clue and I am at present working out a sales plan to begin as soon as sufficient stock and samples can be built up. Many women's clubs seek to add to their treasury by having "jewelry parties" for a percentage of sales. These women are usually of the discriminating buyer type who would appreciate being able to buy handcrafted jewelry at reasonable prices. Sometimes benefit bazaars, festivals and hobby shows allow you a booth, again for a percentage of sales.

This plan calls for dividing the jewelry items into two separate lines. One line will feature one-of-a-kind items and in this group I have made it an absolute rule to make no two items alike. This has not been hard to follow since new ideas come with every pretty new button I find. These are the items which are made up ahead for immediate sale.

The other line will consist of items which can be duplicated and can be made up into whatever color combinations the customers order. These will be more intricate and each design will have its own name, such as "Sophisticate," "Wishing Star," etc. These are the items to be sold by ordering from a sample display for future delivery.

Why two separate lines? In selling to groups, you will always find some who want to buy immediately and others who will buy more if delivery is to be made later. You will sell more if you can do both and so I have tried to give each line a distinction of its own. While both are handmade, one features one-of-a-kind originals and the other custom-made, named designs. I am working on designs for original labels and packaging to point out these features and to give the jewelry a mark of distinction.

TO CONTACT clubs, I find the name of the ways-and-means chairman and send one or two sample pairs of earrings, explaining what I have to offer. The samples are gifts to the group to use as they please. I offer one or more door prizes, depending on the size of the group, ten percent of the sales in cash and another ten or fifteen percent in jewelry items of their choice. They can then use this jewelry in some moneymaking project of their own. Although this naturally reduces the profit, it is worth it in advertising alone, since each person present is given a card telling where she can make future purchases.

Once your hobby becomes known, you will find a side-line in customers who have some cherished antique buttons tucked away in a drawer and would like to have them made up into jewelry. Some women have saved unusually lovely buttons from a discarded garment or perhaps they have saved them from a garment which has sentimental memories. These are all things to mention in your sales talk as you display your jewelry.

Pricing this jewelry is rather difficult. In reality, perhaps, handmade jewelry is worth more than I am charging, but luxury items do not sell readily in our locality. My prices for earrings begin at $1.25 per pair. However, at this price you cannot allow too much time spent on them. This means working out designs which are not too intricate yet are both unusual and lovely. On this type design the materials usually cost less than twenty-five cents and you should be able to make at least three pair in an evening, once you have mastered the procedure. Of course the more intricate designs take more time and materials and have to be priced accordingly.

WHILE THE following instructions are primarily for earrings and scatter pins, the same procedure can be adapted to bracelets and necklaces with the use of links and chain. I have also made quite a lot of cuff link and neck-ribbon sets for shirt-type blouses by merely sewing one of the jewelry pieces to a velvet ribbon and matching it with button cuff links. Brooches are made exactly like earrings and scatter pins, the only difference being that you make only one piece, but make it much larger. This is easily done by starting with a large button, cameo or other center.

First, gather up all your prettiest buttons, broken strings of beads, and old beaded bags or beaded dress trimmings. The small seed or cut beads such as from beaded bags, are the basis for this type jewelry. These may be purchased for a very few cents at trimming counters if you have no old ones around the house.

Tools needed are few. A spool of very fine wire, a tube of good household cement, and a small pair of cutter pliers such as most tool boxes contain. If you cannot find regular beading wire, try the braided picture wire found in all dime stores, and pull the strands apart. Cut the braided wire into six-, or eight-inch lengths. Grasp one of the strands with your pliers. A slight pull will be all that is necessary to separate the wires.

THE BASIC procedure consists merely of making a loop of beads strung on wire and twisting the wire tightly. Example: String five beads on wire (Figure 1), bend into a loop and twist tightly (Figure 2), making a tiny twisted wire shank. Repeat by stringing five more beads (Figure 3) and twisting loop again (Figure 4). Repeat until you have the desired number of loops to form a circle which we call a bead frame (Figure 5).

With a bit of practice, you soon learn a to space the beads so that the loops and twisted shanks are uniform in size and length. You may use any number of beads on a loop, depending on the size loop you prefer. However, it should be an uneven number such as five, seven, nine, etc. This allows for a bead at the tip of the loop and an even number on each side. You must count your beads, making sure each loop has the same number, to make for uniform work.

To hide the wires in the center of the bead frame, you may cement a small fancy button, cameo, sew-on type rhinestone, or a flat-backed moonstone. Do the cementing on waxed paper and allow to harden before disturbing. If a shred of the paper remains on the back of the frame, it will not matter.

CAMEOS AND flat-backed moonstones can be purchased from shell companies and jewelry finding companies for just a few pennies and look especially lovely with the lacy bead frames. All kinds of combinations are possible and the variety is endless. They may be simple or elaborate, as you choose.

I took some black cut beads from an old beaded bag and made a frame of five loops. The number of beads, of course, depends on the size of the bead used. Some beads are extremely tiny. In the center of the frame, I cemented a jet button. Easy and simple, but it made a lovely pair of earrings. I took the same beads, made smaller loops, but made seven loops instead of five, and in the center, cemented a black and white cameo purchased for five cents. If the button you want to use has a shank which you can't cut off with your cutting pliers, be sure to let the opening in the center of the frame be large enough to allow the button shank to slip through. This will allow the button to lie flat against the bead frame. Turn upside down to cement, in this case, making sure you do not allow any of the cement to get on the front of the frame. Pearls and moonstones are easily marred when cement is allowed to touch the face of the stone. Keep it on the back of the frame.

All that needs to be done now, is to cement an earwire or pin-back to the back of the frame. If you make an especially lovely and intricate pair of earrings, you will find it pays to purchase sterling silver earwires. They won't tarnish and cost very little more.

FROM A shell company, I purchased some tiny white cameo heads (without the background) for just a few pennies. I cemented two of them on a pair of blue mother-of-pearl buttons from my button box—presto, a pair of blue and white cameos! I made bead frames as before, using white seed beads from a broken chalk white necklace and cemented our "cameos" in the center. You can also purchase black cameo heads to use on white and colored backgrounds.

A pair of rhinestone buttons looked much more elegant after I made a frame for them of crystal and gold cut beads. Gold cut or seed beads also contrast beautifully with white mother-of-pearl buttons. "White satin" beads match mother-of-pearl buttons almost exactly. White, pink and blue pearl-type seed beads look just right with certain shells, especially the glistening venetian snail shells. Silver seed beads and cut-steel beads are used almost more than any others, as they make such good background frames for almost any color. Hundreds of colors and types of beads can be purchased from bead companies as you become more adept, but start with what you have on hand and surprise yourself.

There is no rule which says your bead frame must lie flat. You may bend the loops down or cup them up like flower petals or shape them to a point or any way you desire. Shaping must be done before cementing, however, for once the cement hardens, you cannot change it.

A more intricate earring or pin can be made by making two or three frames of varying sizes and cementing the smaller ones on top of the larger frame. The loops of the top frame can be bent up cup-like, to hold a large pearl bead or any other center, cemented in of course.

It is quite effective, too, to make your loops large enough so that each loop can encircle a small pearl bead, rhinestone, or tiny moonstone ball. Place your bead frame on a piece of wax paper and with a toothpick, put a tiny drop of cement in each loop. Then insert the bead or rhinestone and allow the cement to harden before disturbing (Figure 6).

A VARIATION of the loop is made by using bugle beads. String a bugle bead on wire, then one small bead, twist wire, then run wire down through bugle bead again, twist again (Figure 7). Three small beads may be used in place of one (Figure 8). You may also use two bugle beads and three small ones (Figure 9). You may either match or contrast colors of bugle and small beads. Bugle bead loop frames may be combined in various ways with small bead loop frames.

Drop-type earrings are another variation. Merely break the center bead of one loop with your pliers, being careful to leave the wire intact, and replace with a jump ring, then fasten to drop-type earwire (Figure 10).

Spray type earrings are made by stringing three tiny beads and twisting, repeating this over and over, forming them into a branch (Figure 11). This is quite easily done by spacing the beads at various distances along the wire and then twisting. A little experimenting will show you how easy it is. Cement a button or small bead frame at the base of the branch. The sprays may be made as large or small as desired.