Obviously, the first thing you should do is choose your beads. You will probably want a bigger size to start out with, about 4mm and up. Then comes the fun part--designing! There are five basic design types. The simplest design would be a repeating pattern. For a southern favorite, take small coral rondelle beads and use them as spacers between beautiful turquoise beads. The opposite of that would be a random design, which pretty much explains itself. You can make a fabulous random turquoise necklace by pairing turquoise beads with different kinds of sterling silver bali beads. Symmetrical is probably the most common design in jewelry. Find a gorgeous pendant for a center piece and hang it from a complementing pattern. And of course there is asymmetrical, where you do the same thing but with the center piece off to the side. There are hundreds of different designs, but most necklaces fall into one of these categories.

Of course, you will need something to string your design together. Material ranges from thread to plastic line to wire. Over time, the rubbing and jostling of beads will wear on whatever material you use. Beading wire is the most popular since it will resist wear the longest. It is a must for turquoise beads, which will surely shatter on the ground if the necklace were to snap. However, beading wire cannot be used for some types of beads and designs since it is thick and not as flexible as thread or line.

The next thing you will need is a clasp. Large, fancy clasps are tempting, but do not buy them unless you are making a bracelet or the clasp is intended as your centerpiece. Lobster claw clasps are a staple for all beaders. Besides being affordable, they are easy to fasten and work great for most turquoise necklaces. You will probably need to purchase jumprings, simple metal rings that the lobster claw hooks to, separately.

You will also want to get a pack of crimp beads and some crimping pliers. Crimp beads are made of soft metal and they are used in place of knots. Where ever your instincts tell you to tie a knot, such as when you are attaching the clasp, slip on a crimp bead and squeeze it with your crimping pliers. Crimp beads are hard to remove once you get them on, so do your best to avoid mistakes. You can also buy crimp covers which disguise the flattened crimp bead as a small round silver bead.

That should be enough to get you started. Check your bead or craft store for step by step patterns on more styles of jewelry. You can find great free patterns on the Internet.