General Tips How Many Beads do I need? How Many Beads do I get? How Long Should I Make it? Measurements & Weights Which Needle Goes with Which Thread & Beads? Exactly How Big IS that bead? What is the Birthstone for...?
	Love the look of the Galvanized beads, but want the finish to stay? Dump your beautiful beads in a shoe box and spray with clear Krylon® spray. Roll the beads around while spraying so that they do not stick together. This clear acrylic is available at most hardware stores.
	Stiffen thread or elastic with Super Glue (regular, not gel, works best) to make a self-needle that will pass through small-holed beads.
	Use a big-eye needle to get large-holed beads onto hair for braiding.
	To carefully place crafters glue (such as Hypo-Cement or 527) on a knot, squeeze it slowly onto a needle or small piece of wire.  You will be better able to see the glue, and will have a LOT more control over where it goes and how much you use.
	Use a rubber earring-stopper on the ends of Tiger Tail or Soft-Flex™ to keep beads from falling off while you're designing or stringing.
	Wire tip:  When making a loop at the end of a piece of wire with round-nose pliers, try holding the pliers stationary and wrapping the wire around one nose of the pliers, instead of twisting the pliers around to wrap the wire.
	To shrink up stretched out Stretch Magic™  stretchy bracelets, dip the bracelet in boiling water for a couple of seconds.
	When making a loop on memory wire, hold the wire near the end and turn the end of the wire against the grain.
	Make Your Own Silver Polish! 1 tsp water softener 1 tsp salt 1 cup warm water 1 aluminum plate (disposable silver foil works best) Stir into plate, drop in silver pieces. Shines to a bright white silver instantly! NOTE: Use only with Sterling Silver--Stone will crack! Thanks to Laura, our own Big Purple Fish, for this one!
	Another Silver Polish Recipe  Line a vessel with Aluminum foil, add baking soda (½ to 1 cup depending on the size of the vessel), add boiling water to fill and submerge the silver object! Thanks again to Ruth Bernstein!
	Use empty floss containers for your beading thread. The beading spool fits perfectly and you pull off as much as you want. It even has a built-in cutter! Thanks to Lindy Knox of Madison!
	To easily thread a needle with a thread such as Nymo, wet (lick) the EYE of the needle AND the thread. The thread will be pulled through the eye by some secret scientific principle! Thanks Ruth!
	For faster seed bead stringing, hold a small tray of single-layer beads in your non-dominant hand at a slight downward angle. Touch the tip of your needle to the opening of a bead and it will fall/rotate onto the end of your needle!  EVEN FASTER: To string more beads, use the index finger that's holding the needle to pull the newly added bead a short way up the needle. This way, you can fit more beads on the needle before sliding onto the thread. Thanks to Laura Schneider!
How Many Beads Do I Need? (numbers are approximations) Bead Size 16" 18" 24" 2 mm 200 225 300 3 mm 132 144 200 4 mm 100 112 153 5 mm 82 90 124 6 mm 68 76 100 7 mm 57 63 85 8 mm 50 56 76 10 mm 40 45 61
* If you are knotting between beads, add an additional 1"-3" to your finished piece, or 1-2" mm per knot. Beads may be irregular in shape, requiring some additional space.
How Many Beads do I get? all #s are approximate 1 Masse 1200 pieces 6/o / "E" seed bead ½ kilo 9,120 beads 6/o / "E" seed lg. tube 570 beads Czech 11/o hank 2,640 beads Czech 10/o hank 2,400 beads #1 bugle hank 1,200 beads 5 Gram bag of Delicas 850 beads 8º  14 gram tube of TOHO® 600 beads ½ kilo bag of 8º TOHO® 20,400 beads 11º  14 gram tube of TOHO® 2,200 beads ½ kilo bag of 11º TOHO® 75,000 beads 1" size 15º  TOHO® seed 25 beads 15º  14 gram tube of TOHO® 4,200 beads ½ kilo bag of 15º TOHO® 143,000 beads Hank of 14º Czech seed beads 5,280 beads 14 gram bag of ½ bugles  16,000 beads 1 inch ½ bugles 12 beads ½ ounce 3mm Miyuki® Cube 290 beads ½ ounce 4mm Miyuki® Cube 150 beads
How Long Should I Make It? all #s are approximate   Choker for women 16" Choker for men 18" Princess, and / or pendant length for women 18" Pendant length for men 20" Matinee 20"- 24" Opera 28" - 32" Rope 40" - 45" Lariat 48" or longer Bracelet 7" & 8" Anklet 9"
Measurements & Weights 1 Gross (Gr) 144 pieces, 12 dozen, or 72 pair 1/2 Gross 72 pieces, 6 dozen, or 36 pair 1 Mass (Ms) 1,200 pieces, or 100 dozen 1 Mille (M) 1,000 pieces 1 Inch 25.4 mm, or 2.54 cm 1 Ounce (Oz) 28.35 grams 1 Pound (Lb) 16 Ounces 1 Meter 39.4 inches, or 3.3 feet, or 1.1 yards 1 Millimeter (mm) 1/25th of an inch 1 Kilogram (Kilo, or K) 1,000 grams, or 2.2 lbs, or 35.27 oz. 1/2 Kilo  500 grams, 1.1 pound 1 Gram (G) .035 ounces 1 Centimeter (cm) 10mm