Emily is making bead necklaces for her w friends. She made x necklaces and each necklace takes 2 beads. How many beads did Emily have?
First, we need to find out how many beads Emily used in total. We know that she made x necklaces and each necklace takes 2 beads. This means that she used 2x beads in total. 

Now, we need to find out how many beads she had in total. We know that she had w friends, so she must have had w + 2x beads in total. 

This means that the answer (symbolic expression) is: 

w + 2x