A birth flower bracelet uses the colors of the flower tied to someone's birth month. It works well for months whose birthstone is hard to match, because flowers come in yellows, oranges and greens that birthstones rarely do. Below are each month's flowers, the stones that match them, and a way to draw a flower with beads.
Find the month's flower, pick one or two library stones in its colors, and either use them as accents or build a five-bead flower: two petal beads, a center bead, two more petals. An April daisy is Clear Quartz petals around a Yellow Jasper center. Birth flower lists vary by source, so choose the flower whose colors suit the person.
What are the birth flowers for each month?
The flowers below are the ones most often listed for each month in the US and UK. Lists differ between countries and sources, and none is official, so treat a second flower as an equally valid choice. The last column gives natural stones from the BVDIY bead library in matching colors.
| Month | Flowers often listed | Colors | Matching stones |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Carnation, snowdrop | Pink, red, white | Rose Quartz, Rhodonite, Garnet |
| February | Violet, primrose | Purple; pale yellow | Amethyst, Iolite; Yellow Jasper |
| March | Daffodil, jonquil | Yellow | Yellow Jasper, Rutilated Quartz |
| April | Daisy, sweet pea | White with a yellow center; soft pink | Clear Quartz with Yellow Jasper; Rose Quartz |
| May | Lily of the valley, hawthorn | White with green leaves | Clear Quartz with Green Aventurine |
| June | Rose, honeysuckle | Pink, red | Rose Quartz, Rhodochrosite, Garnet |
| July | Larkspur, water lily | Blue-violet; pink and white | Iolite, Sodalite; Rose Quartz |
| August | Gladiolus, poppy | Coral, orange, red | Peach Aventurine, Carnelian, Red Jasper |
| September | Aster, morning glory | Purple with a yellow center; blue | Amethyst with Yellow Jasper; Sodalite |
| October | Marigold, cosmos | Orange and gold; pink | Carnelian, Sunstone; Rhodonite |
| November | Chrysanthemum | Bronze, rust, gold | Bronzite, Red Jasper, Tiger's Eye |
| December | Narcissus, holly | White; red berries on dark green | Clear Quartz; Garnet with Bloodstone |
Many of these flowers were also given meanings in the Victorian language of flowers, but the flower dictionaries of the time disagree with each other, so there's no single meaning to quote. Pick by color and by the person.
How do you show a flower with round beads?
Use a five-bead cluster: two petal beads, one center bead, two petal beads. On the wrist it reads as a small flower seen from the side, and the center bead is what makes it look like a bloom rather than a color block. You won't find flower charms or carved flower beads in the bracelet studio, since every bead in it is a natural gemstone; the cluster replaces them.
- Two-color flowers (daisy, aster, narcissus) work best: petals in one stone, center in a contrasting one.
- One-color flowers (rose, violet) look better as accent groups of 3 beads than as clusters, since the center disappears.
- Leaves: fill the rest of the strand with a green stone, such as Green Aventurine or Jade, for a garden look, or with a neutral for something plainer.
Leave at least two filler beads between clusters, or the flowers merge into a stripe. That puts the limit at about 7 positions per flower: 4 flowers on a 16 cm wrist at 6 mm (29 positions), 3 on an 18 cm wrist at 8 mm (24 positions).
What does an April daisy chain bracelet look like?
An April daisy chain uses three five-bead daisies on a green strand and costs $58.79 for this build. For a 17 cm wrist, the studio gives 31 positions at 6 mm:
- Daisy: two Clear Quartz, one Yellow Jasper, two Clear Quartz.
- Five Green Aventurine.
- Second daisy, then five Green Aventurine, then the third daisy.
- Six Green Aventurine at the back to close the strand.
That's 12 Clear Quartz at $1.60, 3 Yellow Jasper at $1.40 and 16 Green Aventurine at $1.40, plus the $12.99 stretch base: $58.79. All three are quartz-family stones, about Mohs 6.5 to 7, so the bracelet can go through a day of handwashing. At 8 mm, three daisies need at least 21 positions, which means a wrist of 15 cm or more.
What does a December holly bracelet look like?
A holly bracelet puts a cluster of three red berries on a dark green strand. Bloodstone works well as the leaf color, because it's a deep green chalcedony with small red spots of its own, and Garnet gives the berries. For a 15 cm wrist at 8 mm (21 positions): three Garnet at the front center and 18 Bloodstone around them. With 3 Garnet at $3.20 and 18 Bloodstone at $1.80 on the stretch base, the total is $54.99.
A holly bracelet looks seasonal, which suits a December birthday. For a design that suits the rest of the year too, use the narcissus instead: Clear Quartz petals with a Yellow Jasper center, on a Clear Quartz strand.
How do you put several birth flowers on one bracelet?
Give each person one cluster or accent group of the same size and keep one filler stone throughout. A mother with children born in March, June and October could wear a Yellow Jasper group, a Rose Quartz group and a Carnelian group of three beads each, evenly spaced on Clear Quartz; on a 16 cm wrist at 6 mm (29 positions) that's 9 accent beads and 20 Clear Quartz. Order the groups by birth order, starting at the top of the wrist. Matching sets for two are covered in mother-daughter bracelet ideas.
If the person's birthstone is in the library (January, February, March), a birthstone may suit better than a flower; the birthstone guide by month lists which months have the real stone. For other ways to mark the day, see birthday bracelet design.
Birth flower lists are tradition and vary by country and source. Bloodstone and quartz facts: GIA Gem Encyclopedia.