Part Two Baltic Amber Teething Necklace- How to Make One For Your Baby

I decided to make my daughter her amber teething necklace, which I first wrote about in post "Part One". If you don't want to make your own necklace there are several places you can buy one online. If you go to Etsy.com and search on "amber teething" many sellers pop up. If you would like to make one please follow the simple tutorial below. I bought my beads online from Amberizon. My beads came from Latvia and are good quality. It is possible to get fake glass beads if you don't have a reputable source. Amberizon has many kinds of beads to choose from as well as necklaces that are already made. I ordered raw baltic amber beads as these are said to have the strongest calming properties. The one ounce package contained enough to make one 12.5 inch necklace, with some left over beads to add to the length of the necklace as my daughter grows. The quality is great, the various colorings of the beads are beautiful, and the holes are quite uniform.
PLEASE NOTE: I ordered 1513, which from the photo looks like rusty rocks, but what I received are the beads you see in this tutorial. They do have a frosted unpolished look, but they vary in color and don't look like the photo on the Amberizon site...

How To Make an Amber Teething Necklace Tutorial

What you need:
1 oz of Baltic amber beads
1 magnetic barrel clasp
beading thread of your choice (I made this necklace twice before I opted for six strand embroidery thread because it is strong and makes good sized knots. Other people use silk thread or hemp)
beading needle
elmer's glue


Step One
Tie one end of your thread around the end of one part of your barrel clasp. Tie several secure knots. Glue the knots. I didn't glue the knots the first two times I made this necklace and both times the knots came undone at the clasp. When this happens, you have to retie the whole necklace because the thread is too short to just retie it to the clasp. Tres frustrating! If you know anything about crimp beads, as seen in this photo, you can use one, but in the end, I didn't.


Step Two
Slide a bead onto your needle, then down securely to the knots at the clasp, and knot behind the bead, then repeat until you have a necklace that is the length you want. Knotting after each bead serves two purposes; if the necklace breaks your beads will not fly all over the place and your child is less likely to choke on a bead.


The best way to get a tight knot, right against your bead, is to make your knot, then slide you needle halfway into the knot (see photo above), then pull the loose thread coming up from the knot tightly down against the needle against the bead (see photo below). Slide your needle out as you continue to tighten. You want your knot to sit firmly next to your bead but not pull into the bead. For more on basic beading using knots see this video.





Step Three
Repeat step two until you get to the length you want. Now you can tie on the other end of the barrel clasp securely to the end of the necklace and glue the knots. Once it has dried, put your necklace on your baby and admire it.

To Care For Your Necklace
Some people leave their child's necklace on all the time but I take my baby's off when I bathe her. Do not wash your necklace with soap, which will leave a residue, hindering the healing properties of the necklace.