This diy ladder necklace tutorial with quartz is a necklace you can make that you won’t be tired of wearing in like 3 weeks. You may have seen the ladder bracelet tutorial, where beads are threaded between two pieces of leather. A ladder necklace is a similar construction concept, only a little sturdier for your neck. Beads are threaded on gold wire between two chains. The effect looks like a ladder. I happened to have a ton of quartz chips and thought to put them to good use in this project, but this necklace design looks so cool with quartz points, especially a darker quartz in graduated sizes. I love with the way this necklace looks with iridescent quartz points.
DIY Ladder Necklace Materials
2 Strands of 32 Inch Chain
1 Lobster Clasp
2 Jump Rings
1 Strand of Quartz Chip or Quartz Points
1 Roll of Gold Wire, or 10 Bars of 1.5 Inch Loop Pins
1 Strand of 3 Inch Chain Extender
1 Small Charm
Needle Nose Pliers
Round Nose Pliers
Wire Cutting Snips
I found most of the materials for my ladder necklace at Fire Mountain Gems, but Etsy and Ebay are both great for finding quartz points.
DIY Ladder Necklace Instructions
Snip 10 pieces of gold wire into 1.5 inch strands.
First, make a small loop in one of a wire strand. To do this, grasp one end of a gold wire with the round nose pliers, and use the needle nose pliers to wrap the wire around the outside of the round nose pliers. This will make a small loop in one end of the wire.
Stack quartz chips through the pin, leaving a little more than a quarter inch at the top of the wire for the second loop. Choose quartz chips with a sturdy hole drilled fairly close to the center. Sometimes the holes are off to the side and thin – these chips can break after the necklace is finished.
Make a second loop to close off the top of the wire.
Repeat this 9 times. When you are finished, you should have 10 bars of quartz chips with little loops on either end.
The finished necklace will have a 24 inch drop until the first bar. Measure 12 inches down a piece of chain. This is where the first bar will go. Use the needle nose pliers to pry one of the bar loops open, loop it around the 12-inch chain link, and use the pliers to close the bar off. Connect the other end of the bar to the other side of the necklace chain in the same way.
Measure 1 inch down the chain necklace. Smooth out the chain, and connect the second quartz bar in the same way. Continue to add the next quartz bar an inch down until you reach the end. You should have two swinging strands at the end of the necklace.
Now for the clasp. Use the needle nose pliers and a jump ring to attach the lobster clasp to one end of the chain. Use the other jump ring to attach the extension chain to the other end of the chain. I like to embellish the end of the extension chain with a small lightweight charm. This helps the extension chain to hang straight down.
Tada! That’s it. This is a great foundation for a ladder necklace, but get creative here and make it your own! Add a chain tassel or bead to the end of the necklace to make it swing or chime. You can even bend the ladders in a V shape to make this a chevron ladder necklace. Or, add some little charms and chains to embellish the quartz chip bars.
How to Style a Ladder Necklace
Chokers are having a huge moment right now, but what do you wear when you’re not feeling that high neck style? Accessorize with a long, winding, embellished ladder necklace. Sometimes I shy away from styles that are too trendy, like chokers, because I tire of them soooo easily.
If a ladder necklace had a personality, it would be swinging, breezy, and easygoing. This necklace looks great with any long boho dress with florals or a print. Necklines that have a similar shape to the draping of the necklace work best. One advantage to the clear quartz is that it picks up the color of whatever you are wearing. So, clear quartz goes with pretty much anything.
Not feeling up to making a ladder necklace? No problem. Sometimes it’s hard for me to find the free time too. Here are a few places that you can buy a similar style necklace from:
