Bead Jewelry Idea: Custom Bead Fan Pulls
Now that the summer heat is here my home has been getting pretty warm during the day, so I’ve been using our ceiling fans a lot to cool things down. I was working on a beaded bracelet for my niece today and as I reached up to pull the chain to turn on my ceiling fan I realized that I was holding a fan chain in one hand and a jewelry chain in the other!
I quickly looked around and found that a lot of bead jewelers had beaten me to this idea, but it still seems like a fun one: making custom beaded fan pulls! Most fans come with pretty standard teardrop or round balls on the end of ceiling fan chains that may match the fan, but don’t really pull any sense of style or elegance into the room.
Beaded fan pulls look like they’re something that are really pretty easy to make, and they would probably sell pretty well at craft shows during the summer months. The nice thing about a custom fan pull is that it is a simple short strand of several beads, similar to the beaded bookmark or beaded cell phone charms I’ve covered before.
The only real concern you might have with making beaded fan pulls would be how to attach them to existing fan chains so that they could handle a good tug without breaking. There are several ways to accomplish this. You could use a brass ball chain enclosure and crimp one end to hold the beaded strand off of it while the other end of the enclosure slips over the existing fan chain. Or you could loop the end of the fan chain and run it through a loop of wire. The most versatile attachment method is most likely some sort of clasp that would attach to most fan chains.
A custom fan pull could consist of just one or two beads (perhaps larger lampwork beads) or be made of several colorful or Swarovski crystal beads. I like the idea of using crystal beads and charms on a fan pull because of the way the light from outside windows may flow in and reflect off it. I would caution against using too long of a strand, though. You don’t want your beaded ceiling fan pull to be so long that it’s only a few feet off the floor!
Now if you excuse me, it’s getting a little warm in here and I’m off to try to craft a stylish beaded way to turn up my ceiling fan!
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Comment by Michael
Thanks for this post. I am totally new to this and am interesting in making something like this using Swarovski pendants. I have a few questions—
Do you know where I could find a clasp that affixes to the chain (like the one in the picture?)
I’m also curious if the widely available Swarovski crystals have a hole all the way through them. It’s hard to tell on the websites. I’m assuming so.
Comment by Kay
Actually, I was looking for something like those, too. After I wrote the post I sat down and tried to put together a pendant but I also got stuck with the best way to attach the line of beads to the ball chain. I came up with two options:
1. My husband says you can get the clasps seen in the photo from a hardware store. I haven’t checked yet, but that’s where I’ll look first.
2. If I can’t find anything there then I think some of these crimping clasps from jewelrysupply.com might work. I may have to order a few of each type and experiment with what works best…
Most Swarovski crystal pendants have a hole through one portion where you can fit a ring or string through to hold it.
Good luck! If you find something, let us know!
-Kay
Comment by lesaint
Hi, I just wanted to point out the ball chain end rings available at http://www.kyledesigns.com/product/BALLCHAIN-END-RINGS. I use these when making my fan pulls, just using a sturdy jump ring (or two) to attach the pull to the end of the connector.
I believe the 3.2mm size is a pretty standard ball chain size.