jewelry party for girls

 My 8-year old niece wants to have a jewelry-making party with a few of her friends on her birthday in February 2010.  Has anyone ever done anything like this?  Do you have any good necklace patterns for this age group that aren't too hard, but not to "babyish" either?  I think I would want to limit this to about 5 kids and provide all the supplies, maybe getting the same beads and crystals in different colors so they can have some "design" choice.  Anyone have any suggested patterns for this?  

 Well, I did this with a bunch of 12 year olds

I provided a kit with clasp, crimps, ear wires, head pins, bead wire, and 7 or 9 inexpensive freshwater pearls. Then I put out all my seed beads and let them make up any design they wanted to. I did the crimping, and you could do the loops too. That allows for a lot of creativity, and limited expense....

Lois

I did this with a group of girls age 9-11. There were 6 girls. I did memory wire bracelets rather than necklaces. I cut all the wire in advance and made a loop in one end. I got a bunch of inexpensive beads together (stone chips, glass bicones, fake pearls, those plastic cube beads with letters on them) and just put them all in the center of the table for them to choose and make their own thing. I made one ahead of time so they could see one finished, and figured if any of them were having trouble making their own pattern, they could copy mine or do something similar. None of them had any trouble choosing which beads they liked or coming up with their own design. They loved the letter beads.

I gave them all a small bowl to put their beads in, and cloth placemats on the table to keep the beads from rolling around. I just gave them basic instructions on how to string the beads and to leave about a quarter inch at the end of the wire to turn a loop. When they were finished, I just turned the loop for them and they had a finished bracelet. They all had a good time and nobody had any trouble. It was really fun!

Erin

I think this is a great idea! You could also use stretch cord instead of a regular beading wire, etc. You could measure each girl's wrist and put a piece of masking tape down that is the length of their wrist. Then cut the stretch cord longer, you can put a bead stopper or simply take down the end to catch the beads as they string. Then you simply come back and measure to make sure it is right and then crimp!

I agree that a small variety would be great. You don't have to go to a huge expense. Watch local craft stores ( ie Hobby Lobby ) and pick up things on sale!

I just did a birthday party for a bunch of 6-7 year olds, and I had them do stretch-cord necklaces & bracelets.  I filled a bunch of my display trays with all kinds of beads and gave them each a tray to lay out their designs.  They strung them and I helped them with extra stringing and the finishing.  Everyone had a great time, and I saw the b-day girl's mom over the weekend and she said they wear their jewelry all the time.

Gigi - This could be a great way to use up the odds & ends from other projects and not really have to buy a lot. Just go through your stash and bring out the odds & ends that you may not really need or want anymore. Just have some great beads that they can use for spacers such as black or clear crystal beads. 

Just another thought...

Hi Gigi, I did this with a bunch of Daisy girl scouts (5 or 6 year olds) several years ago, on the stretch cord and the girls loved it, I just put out a bunch of beads and some letter beads and each girl made a bracelet.  I had several prarents help finish the bracelets for the girls  and they had a very good time.   Some of the girls still have their bracelets and are making jewerly for themselves and friends .

 I've done this with eleven year olds - I have a big bag of beads leftover from various projects and beads I know I'll never use.  I put all the beads into watercolor dishes on the kitchen table. I didn't buy any additional beads but I think those plastic letter cubes are a good idea - I cut lengths of the stretchy cord for bracelets, phone charms or backpack charms - I tore out the bracelet pages of Stringing to give them some ideas.  I finished all the jewelry with knots or clasps.   Another project that I did with my daughter and her friends was to bling up thier cell phones with flatback Swarovski crystals, along with other flatback crystals that I got at Hobby Lobby on sale.  I mixed up some two part epoxy and showed the girls how to use it with the crystals.  They loved it. 

Good luck with your party and don't worry about providing patterns, in my experience they come up with lots of design ideas on thier own.