Meinssen Handmade Rosaries, Rosary Construction Materials and Techniques Section
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Rosary beads handmade by Ann Meinssen
Navigation overview for rosary construction pages
WELCOME TO OUR DIY LEARNING CENTER!

Our photo guides teach you how to construct your own rosaries.

Click on the four main picture catagories or the bulleted list to navigate.

Scroll down for general information on what these pages offer.
Materials & Sizing

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Welcome rosary-makers!

If you have never crafted your own rosary with wire looped beads and chain, the place to start is on our materials and sizing page. That's where we share what we've learned about wire gauges, bead drills, sizing beads caps and how to shop efficiently for beads and structural parts.


Then it's on to wire looping basics and actually crafting a rosary.


We are also building a new bronze parts section in our rosary catalogue,

which will include bronze wire, reproduction crucifixes and centers and

religous medals to use with chaplets or to attach to your rosary creations.


We've begun work on the Avoiding & Correcting Mistakes section.

If you have a tip you'd like to share, send us a letter and we'll include it

and give you credit for your contribution.


Thank you for your kind patience as we add pages.

Please bookmark and visit us again for updates.

Learn to wire loop beads and create your own rosary
Click to read about sizing and choosing rosary materials
Link to information on bead strands, wire gauges, chain, caps rings and connectors

Size Your Findings

Match your beads to wire gauges, caps and medals.


When the objective is to create a rosary that's tight and strong and feels smooth in the hands, it can
be surprisingly tricky to make all
the parts fit together.

Trial and error purchases can get expensive. We hope these very detailed basics will give you
a great start on your first rosary.
Click for a photo guide on how to wire loop beads
Link to wire looping basics and adding rings, caps and two hole connectors

Photographic Guide

Bend wire loops for a tight fit against your beads.


Pictures take you through the process of making wire loops to
join one bead to the next.

Also included are instructions on how to use ring caps and bead
caps to add elegance to your designs.
Click to find instructions on creating your own handmade rosary
Link to a photographic guide on bead counts and how to make a rosary

Put It All Together

Make decades, add Paters, finish with crucifixes and centers.


Bead counts and the construction layout for a five decade rosary. How to start and finish a decade with different types of chain or connectors.

How to add a center medal and crucifix.
This section is not yet available; coming soon!
This section is not yet available; coming soon!

Avoid Pitfalls

The devil is in the details!


Does your rosary do the twist?
Are half of your connectors reversed? Are you wasting
beads for faulty drills?

Check here for little tips that will help you, especially when adding special details to your handmade rosaries.

Making the classic chained rosary
An antique rosary in the chained style.


The instructions that you will find in this construction section

are for the classic, hand chained rosary,

in which beads are linked to one another with wire loops.

We take our instructions to the next level with

information on how to add bead caps,

ring caps, and jewelry connectors in place of chain

to make your rosaries uniquely beautiful.

Rosary beads have been handmade in the wire looped manner for hundreds of years.

And for good reason: the drape of this style as you pray it is wonderful.


Do it right, with quality beads, heavy wire, and well-formed loops,

and you will make a rosary with every chance of surviving decades of rigorous use.


Closeup pictures of rosary construction
Rosary construction information from bead choices to the finished rosary.



To make our beading instructions easier to follow,

we've included a range of

original photographs to help you.

From choosing your materials to completing

your own handmade rosary, clear, closeup photos

augment our text every step of the way.

header, you can do it

If you feel a calling to make rosaries for personal use or to share with the world,

we can't encourage you enough to get started. The work is so rewarding.

The techniques found here may be used to refurbish old rosaries from family and friends,

and are also easily translated for use in beaded jewelry.


Our Blessed Mother has promised graces to those who spread her rosary message.

If you reach toward the love of her Son through the rosary and rosary making,

don't be surprised when your first rosary is joined by a second and a third.

That's how it happened for us. That's how it happened for many rosary makers

whom we have come to know.


And the first time you give one of your handmade rosaries as a gift,

and gratitude is expressed in genuine tears of thanks?

You may realize that you just never know

who needs an encouragement toward the things of heaven, or why.

Touching someone's heart in this way is truly a promised grace fulfilled.


Happy beading, friends!
Beads, wire and parts used in a rosary


All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by Me in their necessities.


~ 12th promise of Our Lady of the Rosary ~

© 2007 meinssen handmade rosaries