Both the elephant and the rainbow are symbols of autism, so I decided to combine the two in an autism support necklace. This necklace is a classy piece that would be fun to wear wether or not you are going for autism support, but it has a special meaning for those of us who have family or friends with autism.

Supplies

Small jump rings(for making chain tassel)

10mm jump rings or bail

24 mm headpins

Braided cord

Silver chain

Elephant charm

Black seed beads

Sparkly beads in every color of the rainbow(I used 6mm bicones for red through indigo and a 8mm rondel for the violet)

Wire Cutters

Jewelry pliers(as well as the usual needle-nose, round-nose, and bent nose pliers, I like to use a one step looper to make neat, professional looking loops)

Tape measure

Step 1: Prepare the Chain Tassel

You will want to start by prepping the chain tassel that the rainbow sparkles go on. You want seven pieces of chain. The shortest of the pieces should be 3/4" long and the longest should be 2 1/4" long, each piece longer than the last by 1/4". Once you have all seven pieces cut, assemble them on a small jump ring in order, smallest to largest.

Step 2: Add Sparkles

Once you have the chain tassel done, prepare the sparkles by placing them on a headpin on top of a small black seed bead and using your pliers to make a loop in the top. After you make all the dangles, add them to the tassel as shown, starting with the red sparkle on the shortest piece of chain, the orange sparkle on the second longest piece of chain, and so on. I like to do tassels like this from the top down, simply because then all the beads down below won't get in the way of your pliers.

Step 3: Assemble the Elephant Pendant

With the tassel prepared and sparkles added, you can now assemble the elephant pendant. You will want to wrap the top of the small jump ring with wire as shown and thread the wire tail through the hole in the elephant charm. Then you can wrap the wire tail around a larger jump ring and tuck it back through the hole. If you have the space and coordination inside the charm, the pendant would be stronger if you can wrap the tail back around the small jump ring, but I had neither, so I just tucked the end of the wire behind the small jump ring and it worked fine.

Step 4: Ta-daa!!!!

Now you can just string the pendant on the cord and you're done!!! You now have a gorgeous rainbow autism support necklace! Enjoy all your hard(or not so hard) work and show off your necklace.

Nene Granato