How to Make a Buckeye Necklace (2024)

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The Ohio State University Buckeyes are named after Ohio's state tree. Every fall, these robust trees scatter extremely hard nuts all around. Enthusiastic Ohio State sports fans wear these nuts in beaded necklaces around their necks. Stores and bead jewelers sell their buckeye necklaces for a pretty penny, but you can make some yourself with a little elbow grease.

Here's how to make a buckeye necklace.

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What you need:

• Buckeye nuts
• Scarlett and gray beads
• Necklace string
• Power drill with 1/16 inch bit
• Vice grips, preferably mounted to a table or sturdy surface
• Scissors

Here's what you do:

1. Dry your buckeye nuts in the sun for a few days. If you want to speed things up, you can dry them in an over at 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93.3 degrees Celsius) for two hours [source: Buckeyetree].
2. Mount a dried buckeye nut securely in your vice grips. Be careful not to tighten the vice too much or the nut will crack.
3. Drill a hole through your buckeye nut using the 1/16 inch bit.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for all your nuts.
5. Cut a length of necklace string several inches (centimeters) longer than the desired length.
6. Tie a knot larger than 1/16 of an inch (.16 centimeters) in diameter about two inches (five centimeters) from one end of the string.
7. String your buckeye nuts and beads onto your necklace in the pattern of your choice. Keep in mind that simple patterns usually look better than random ones. Use the beads to spread out the nuts.
8. Hold your string of beads and nuts by the unknotted end so gravity pulls everything down together.
9. Tie a knot larger than one-sixteenth of an inch in diameter at the other end of the string to finish up the necklace. Tie the knot as close to the last bead or nut as possible, so they don't slide around too much [Source: Craftbits].
10. Put on your necklace by tying the loose ends of strings together behind your neck and go support the OSU Buckeyes!

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